5 Reasons Digital Literacy Centers are Important for First and Second Graders
While digital learning is new for many teachers, it is the primary mode of learning that many students know – especially first and second graders.
For many teachers, especially those that have created their curriculum around a more traditional in person teaching model, digital learning may feel overwhelming. At times it may even feel like just another “thing” to do.
Digital learning is not just a new fad in education though. It is the new norm in education and is on its way to being the primary learning model for many students. Therefore, the more you can implement digital activities in your classroom the better!
Digital Literacy Centers
One thing we have found helpful in looking at this shift to digital learning is to focus on why it is important. More specifically, why shifting from paperless centers to digital centers – such as for literacy and math – helps the students.
Read this article if you are looking for digital math center activities.
For today, let’s take a look at 5 reasons why digital literacy centers are important for first and second graders.
Reason 1: Student Engagement
The more students are engaged, the more they are learning. Therefore, using tools that keep them engaged should always be a primary focus in the classroom. Digital literacy activities are a great way to keep students engaged, both on their own and when working in groups.
Reason 2: Increase Independent Learning
Digital literacy centers, and all online learning activities, are great for helping students to develop the skills necessary to be effective independent learners. Whether students are learning online or completing digital centers in the classroom, they learn the importance of managing their time while they work at their own pace.
Reason 3: Creates Opportunities for Collaboration
In addition to helping students learn necessary skills for being independent learners, digital literacy centers also help them learn to collaborate with their peers. While groups can also be done in traditional centers, digital centers teach students how to collaborate online. This is a necessary skill for kids to learn to be successful in secondary school, and even the future workforce.
Reason 4: Expands their Learning
Beyond learning how to collaborate online, digital literacy activities also provide students with a variety of ways to share their understanding. Through digital centers, students can learn how to create presentations and share online resources. This expands their learning beyond just the lesson on literacy, teaching them new technology skills.
Reason 5: Develops their Communication
Digital literacy centers are the perfect combination of teaching basic communication skills through literacy, while also teaching students how to effectively communicate in a digital world. As today’s first and second graders are growing up in a primarily digital age, this is essential to preparing them to be able to effectively communicate in their world.
If these 5 reason were not enough to convince you to start using digital literacy centers in your classroom, you can try one digital activity by clicking the button below.
Digital Literacy Centers First Grade
We love using digital literacy centers in our classroom. If you are ready to explore using digital literacy with your first graders, check out our ready-to-teach resources to help you get started. We have 100 digital literacy centers preloaded to seesaw and google slides. This make it easy to start using digital literacy centers in your classroom today!
We'd like to send you a free interactive read-aloud that is easy to use in either a print or digital format!
