EasyTech - Interactive Online Technology Literacy Curriculum

Engaging students with technology based lessons

EasyTech's self-paced, interactive curriculum teaches students critical technology skills in the context of core curriculum and real world challenges.

Integrate 21st century and technology skills into instruction

With EasyTech, teachers don't have to stop or change what they plan to teach to integrate technology and 21st century skills into their day. Instead, EasyTech provides comprehensive, scoped and sequenced lessons that incorporate 21st century skills and technology skills into the teacher's own curriculum.

Turn your core curriculum teachers into 21st century educators

Are your teachers prepared to teach 21st century skills? These skills are now in national and state technology and core curriculum standards and many teachers aren't ready to teach them. To help, EasyTech includes a comprehensive NETS-T professional development curriculum. With units for each of the 20 NETS-T 2008 performance indicators, teachers will master the skills they need. Enable your teachers to use 21st century teaching skills and technology in the classroom and in their careers.

Exceed E-Rate requirements for Internet safety education

EasyTech provides a comprehensive, grade-appropriate curriculum for Internet and technology safety that exceeds E-Rate requirements. Based on current research for how best to teach challenging online safety topics, the EasyTech Online Safety curriculum includes teacher and parent guides, and provides district reports that demonstrate E-Rate requirements are met.

Stay on top of tech updates

Because EasyTech is Web-delivered, Learning.com can and does continuously update its curriculum to reflect ongoing changes in technology. Recent additions include more units to support creativity and innovation, digital citizenship, financial literacy and collaboration skills.

EasyTech has also earned the ISTE Seal of Alignment to its NETS-S 2007 student standards.

Adaptability is a tech necessity

EasyTech teaches students the skills they need to adapt to changes in technology and software. Students learn tech concepts and functions rather than routines. Armed with an understanding of the tools, students will find themselves ready for the conditions they'll face after their school experience is over.

EasyTech also includes a robust collection of MS Office 2010 tutorials for a specific up-close look at the leading suite of productivity tools.

Flexible Implementation

Because it is self-paced and interactive, EasyTech is ideal for use in multiple settings. Use EasyTech in the classroom, in computer labs, in extended day programs, and even at home and strengthen the school to home connection.

More lessons in Spanish

Nearly all K-8 lessons are now available in both English and Spanish.

MS Office tutorials

We offer a robust and growing collection of video tutorials to help teachers and students master Microsoft’s suite of productivity tools.

Captioning for accessibility and ease of use

Most lessons are now captioned. This is a valuable resource for students with hearing impairment, for English language learners, and for those environments in which audio may be disruptive or is not available.

Save teachers time and headaches

More than a technology literacy curriculum, EasyTech is delivered through Sky, our digital learning environment. Sky provides teachers with online tools to individualize instruction, create their own lessons, to save time in classroom management tasks, and to collaborate and share best practices with other teachers.

Prepare your classroom teachers to teach 21st century standards

A comprehensive NETS-T curriculum for professional development is included with EasyTech and WayFind. This curriculum provides classroom teachers with resources and tools needed to:

• engage 21st century learners
• implement NETS-T standards
• support national and state technology standards
• support technology and 21st century skills that are present in core curriculum standards
• comfortably use technology in the classroom

The items in this curriculum are arranged in units that correspond to the 20 NETS-T performance indicators.

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Exceeds E-Rate requirements for Internet safety

Meet all your E-Rate requirements for online safety teaching and reporting for grades K-12, and support your teachers, parents and students to learn critical skills in Internet safety. Avoid using ineffective, fear-based Internet safety curriculum and resources, ensure that your curriculum is based on research and grade appropriate from K to 12.

• Provide teachers with effective curriculum on challenging online safety topics, including detailed lesson plans and guides.
• Understand how well students grasp content through reports and student tracking.
• Approach critical topics with positive, research-based lessons, discussions, activities and journaling, developed in collaboration with Dr. Patricia Agatston, co-author of Cyber Bullying: Bullying in the Digital Age.
• Support parents and the school-to-home connection with parent guides in both English and Spanish.

In-Depth Online Safety Curriculum includes

• Cyber bullying
• Proper online behavior
• Keeping personal info safe
• Safe texting
• Inappropriate content
• Avoiding online scams
• File-sharing
• and more

Prescriptive, effective touch typing games, lessons, and tutorials

Make keyboarding instruction fun, and entice elementary and middle school students to build their skills. This Web-delivered curriculum combines EasyTech interactive lessons with flexible, adaptive practices that quickly bring students to touch-typing mastery.

• Curriculum for grades K-1, 2-5 and for grades 6-12
• Includes Sky class and curriculum management tools
• Interactive, self-paced Lessons and Practices
• Library of skill-builder exercises and longer story-form challenges
• Reports on progress, and areas to practice
• Web-delivered, so no downloads or installations
• Automatically recommends practices when students log in

Prescriptive techniques

Teachers don't have to know best practices to build students' typing skills. Our design combines proven classic techniques in touch typing instruction with advanced prescriptive technology. It adapts to students' progress and automatically builds custom practices and exercises that focus students' learning and progression.

Designed for flexibility

Teachers may combine EasyTech with their own hands-on instruction, or use in class or computer lab settings with varied student pacing – whatever works best for them.

Save teachers time and headaches

EasyTech Keyboarding and Word Processing is delivered through our Sky digital learning environment. The Sky platform makes it easy for teachers to create their own lessons, assign curriculum, track student progress, and incorporate any Web-based resources into their lessons, all with just a few clicks of the mouse.

Includes Sky - digital learning environment

Sky's teacher-friendly design streamlines lesson planning and makes individualized instruction simple. Sky enables districts to use any Web resources to make every classroom a 21st century classroom.

Sky's class management tools

Sky makes it easy for you to manage classes to flexibly meet the needs of your students.

• Create online classes with unlimited combinations of assignments and students.
• Find, organize, assign, and create lessons.
• Generate reports to inform and adjust instruction.

Create and manage digital lessons and activities

Included with Sky is My Curriculum – an easy-to-use and flexible tool that enables teachers to write, create and manage their own lessons and activities and integrate those directly into their EasyTech curriculum.

• Include links to web sites to complement your activities.
• Upload and embed files and graphics related to your activity.
• Assign your activities to students and track and grade their progress.
• Create units that integrate your activities with EasyTech assignments.
• Share your lesson plans to teachers in the Learning.com community.

Learn more about Sky features and how Sky benefits Administrators, Teachers, and Students.

Scope and sequence interactive technology literacy curriculum and lesson plans

EasyTech is a standards-aligned, Web-delivered, K-8 technology literacy curriculum that contributes to improved student learning outcomes in language arts, math, science and social studies. EasyTech is aligned to ISTE NETS-S and your state's technology standards.

Each EasyTech curriculum unit includes lessons, activities, practices, discussions and quizzes that teach students to effectively apply technology skills to learn core curriculum objectives. Use this list to determine the most appropriate grade level(s) at which to introduce each EasyTech unit.

Click any of the following EasyTech curriculum units from kindergarten to eighth grade to learn its objectives and to view a slideshow of some of its lessons.

Mouse Basics: K-2

The Mouse Basics unit teaches students how to use a mouse to select, drag, and double-click objects.

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Computer Basics: Grades K-5

The Computer Basics unit teaches students about basic computer components, fundamental computer skills, basic troubleshooting, cyber bully awareness and response, netiquette, safekeeping private information, safe texting, and more.

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Introduction to Keyboards: Grades K-1

The Introduction to Keyboards unit helps students recognize letters and sounds as well as locate letters on a keyboard.

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Beginning Graphics : Grades K-2

The Beginning Graphics unit teaches students to use graphics software to draw shapes and pictures using a variety of colors and tools.

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Visual Mapping Basics : Grades K-2

The Visual Mapping Basics unit teaches students to organize ideas by using pictures and diagrams.

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Word Processing Basics : Grades 1-3

The Word Processing Basics unit teaches students the fundamental skills of word processing, such as entering, editing, and formatting text.

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Data and Database Basics : Grades K-4

The Data and Database Basics unit teaches students how to gather and classify data, use a database, search, filter, and sort.

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Keyboarding: Grades 2-5

The Keyboarding unit teaches students proper keyboarding techniques, including proper posture, hand placement, accuracy, and speed.

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Visual Mapping : Grades 2-4

The Visual Mapping unit teaches students to use more complex tools within visual mapping software to create idea webs and outlines.

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Computer Navigation : Grades 1-5

The Computer Navigation unit teaches students how to use computer tools and how to select appropriate software for specific purposes.

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Spreadsheet Basics : Grades 2-5

The Spreadsheet Basics unit introduces students to spreadsheets and how they can be used to organize information and solve math problems.

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Word Processing : Grades 3-5

The Word Processing unit teaches students the tools and commands they need to create a variety of documents.

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Graphing in Spreadsheets : Grades 2-5

The Graphing in Spreadsheets unit teaches students how to make and interpret pie charts, bar graphs, and line graphs.

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Email Basics : Grades 3-5

The Email Basics unit teaches students the fundamental skills of sending and receiving email and managing an email inbox.

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Presentation Basics : Grades 3-5

The Presentation Basics unit teaches students how to create slideshows that effectively communicate ideas and information.

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Web Browsing Basics : Grades 2-5

The Web Browsing Basics unit teaches students how to find information on the Internet and identify ethical issues involved in using information.

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Formulas in Spreadsheets : Grades 4-5

The Formulas in Spreadsheets unit teaches students how to enter and calculate formulas using spreadsheet software.

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Database Creation, Queries, Reports : Grades 4-5

The Database Creation, Queries, and Reports unit teaches students how to plan and build a database, create a form, enter data, edit data, delete records and fields, design basic queries, and create reports.

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Computer Fundamentals : Grades 6-8

The Computer Fundamentals unit teaches students about computer components and processes, including ethical issues, technology health issues, computer viruses, and more.

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Word Processing Software : Grades 6-8

The Word Processing Software unit teaches students how to use the tools and commands required to create a variety of documents, how to use word processor collaboration tools, as well as an understanding of copyright, fair use, and how and when to cite sources (in either APA and MLA styles).

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Spreadsheet Software : Grades 6-8

The Spreadsheet Software unit teaches students how to calculate formulas, create graphs, and format charts in spreadsheets. Students also learn how to use and display research data, and are introduced to financial literacy.

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Presentation Software : Grades 6-8

The Presentation Basics unit teaches students how to create slideshows that effectively communicate ideas and information.

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Web Browsing : Grades 6-8

The Web Browsing unit teaches students how to find information on the Internet, identify ethical issues involved in using information, recognize and avoid online and email scams, and more.

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Multimedia and Database : Grades 6-8

The Multimedia and Databases unit teaches students how to organize and present information using a variety of software.

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Communicating Online : Grades 5-8

The Communicating Online unit teaches students the fundamentals of instant messaging, blogs, online mapping, podcasting and use of community sites. It also addresses Internet safety and ethical use of these technologies, including cyber bullying awareness and response, netiquette, safekeeping personal information, and safe texting.

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Basic HTML : Grades 5-8

The Basic HTML unit teaches students how to use basic HTML tags to effectively organize and communicate web page information.

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Interactive self-paced technology lessons for Kindergarten, First, and Second grades

At the foundation of each EasyTech unit are Lessons — interactive, self-paced tutorials with guided practice and immediate feedback that teach students critical technology skills in the context of core curriculum and real world challenges.

EasyTech Activities are core curriculum lesson plans, complete with lesson details, student worksheets, models of completed projects and a flexible rubric tool.

ABCDE Keyboarding Lesson and Activity

The Introduction to Keyboards unit helps Kindergarten and 1st grade students recognize letters and sounds as well as locate letters on a keyboard.

Shapes and Fills Lesson and Activity

The Beginning Graphics unit teaches students to use graphics software to draw shapes and pictures using a variety of colors and tools.

Interactive self-paced technology lessons for Third, Fourth, and Fifth grades

At the foundation of each EasyTech unit are Lessons — interactive, self-paced tutorials with guided practice and immediate feedback that teach students critical technology skills in the context of core curriculum and real world challenges.

EasyTech Activities are core curriculum lesson plans, complete with lesson details, student worksheets, models of completed projects and a flexible rubric tool.

Pie Charts Lesson and Activity

The Graphing in Spreadsheets unit teaches students how to make and interpret pie charts, bar graphs, and line graphs.

Sourcing & Ethics Lesson and Activity

The Web Browsing Basics unit teaches students how to find information on the Internet and identify ethical issues involved in using information.

Interactive self-paced technology lessons for Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth grades

At the foundation of each EasyTech unit are Lessons — interactive, self-paced tutorials with guided practice and immediate feedback that teach students critical technology skills in the context of core curriculum and real world challenges.

EasyTech Activities are core curriculum lesson plans, complete with lesson details, student worksheets, models of completed projects and a flexible rubric tool.

Spelling & Grammar Tools Lesson and Activity

The Word Processing Software unit teaches students how to use the tools and commands required to create a variety of documents.

Lines, Lists, & Structure Lesson and Activity

The Presentation Software unit teaches students how to create slideshows that effectively communicate ideas and information.

Blog Lesson and Activity

The Communicating Online unit teaches students how to develop their communication and collaboration skills while learning the technology behind today's online communication tools.

Interactive self-paced Spanish technology curriculum for Grades K-8

EasyTech’s curriculum is fully adapted for K-8 Spanish-speaking students. EasyTech Spanish provides Spanish-adapted lessons and interactive journals to help Spanish-speaking students know when and how to use technology to solve core curriculum and real world problems.

Sample EasyTech Lessons in Spanish

EasyTech Lessons are interactive, self-paced tutorials with guided practice and immediate feedback that teach students critical technology skills in the context of core curriculum and real world challenges.

Sample EasyTech Journals in Spanish

EasyTech Journal activities are core curriculum lesson plans, complete with lesson details, student worksheets, models of completed projects and a flexible rubric tool.

Beginning Sounds Students identify the initial sounds they hear in high-frequency words by coloring letters on a paper keyboard.
view activity (PDF) >

Drawing a Vehicle Students use cut-out shapes and then a graphics program to create a vehicle.
view activity (PDF) >

Coin Toss Probability Students flip coins and use spreadsheets to record how many times they land on heads or tails.
view activity (PDF) >

My State Research Students participate in electronic communities by visiting their state websites and finding information.
view activity (PDF) >