What it Covers and Sample Content

Five interactive self-paced lessons and four teacher-led activities cover the following:

• Instant Messaging
• Blogs
• Mapping Technology
• Podcasts
• Community Sites
• Information Validity
• Internet Safety
• Ethical Use of Information

Sample Lesson - Blogs
This lesson teaches students how to be critical readers and critical thinkers as they read blogs, respond to writing, and create blogs for an audience. View sample lesson.

Sample Activity - So Sayeth The Blog!
In this activity, students create and respond to blogs as they read and write about literature. To begin, the class is divided into two teams. Each team brainstorms prompts about the current reading and theme for the other team. The teams then break into pairs to respond to the prompts in their blogs. Students post blog entries in first person as one of the main characters, and respond to other students blogs in their own voices. View sample activity.

Communicating Online

In this new EasyTech unit, students develop their communication and collaboration skills while learning the technology behind today’s online communication tools. The lessons and activities also support students to develop and strengthen critical 21st century skills in listening, researching, critical analysis, global awareness, problem-solving, and creativity.

The Communicating Online unit directly addresses issues of online safety and develops students’ digital citizenship and information fluency, including how to evaluate, analyze and ethically use information. As with all EasyTech units, students perform the skills they are learning within engaging language arts, math, science and social studies.

Students safely practice the use of online communications tools to explore cities around the world, practice self direction, communicate ethically, and contribute to community sites.

As with all EasyTech content, the unit features a digital coach that guides and encourages students. Lukas Blackwell, a jovial, guitar-wielding musician, takes students to many interesting spots around the globe to reinforce concepts, and to provide them with opportunities to apply what they are learning in engaging and relevant tasks.

Automatically Part of EasyTech
Because Learning.com solutions are Web-delivered, EasyTech customers automatically have this new unit as part of the curriculum: No need to download any upgrades or change any settings.

Customers merely select the unit, as with any other unit within EasyTech. Teachers can even view lessons in their entirety before assigning to students. Note, while this unit is designed for grades six and seven, it is also available in the fifth- and eight-grade curriculum to make it simple for teachers to assign as appropriate to those students who would benefit from this curriculum.