🗑 How to do a digital learning upgrade

❤️ Digital learning your students will LOVE

How can we make learning relevant and FUN for students? How can we make it feel like the things they love in their personal lives?

My book, Tech Like a Pirate, is filled with practical teaching ideas that will create a spark and get students engaged!

It has entire chapters with tips and lessons to make learning feel like things students love, like: social media and apps, video, games, collaboration, images, exploration, global connections, and more! 

BONUS: I just checked Amazon and can’t believe the deal they have on this book (at least what I saw on my account) …

Amazon is selling it (in the U.S. at least) for 50% off the paperback … originally $26.95, now $13.38 USD!

You can get the Kindle ebook for $9.95 (and start reading it instantly) … but if you love physical books like I do, it’s only a few extra dollars!

🎯 QUICK TEACHING STRATEGY 🎯

🤔 Play the free “Two Truths and AI” game

Two Truths & AI is an interactive digital literacy game by Common Sense Education for grades K–12. It teaches students to identify AI-generated content and develop critical media literacy skills.

Through an engaging, 60-second challenge, students try to distinguish between real and AI-generated movie posters.

• Spot AI-generated content by noticing visual clues like text errors, odd details, and using their prior knowledge.

• Think critically about digital images and learn to verify what's authentic vs. altered.

• Explain their reasoning through discussion, practicing both quick decisions and thoughtful analysis.

You can also get the Educator Guide for the game with implementation strategies, educational connections, and technical support

💡 THE BIG IDEA 💡

✨ How to do a “Worksheet to WOW” transformation

Whether you’re a new teacher or a seasoned veteran, sometimes we start to notice something …

An activity that used to work just doesn’t have the pizzazz it once did.

Or we don’t have a great way for our students to learn a particular concept.

What we need is an upgrade.

I like to call this a “Worksheet to WOW” transformation.

When I work with teachers who are new to technology (or just want to get better), it’s usually the easiest way to make a tangible difference right away. Take a paper worksheet and find a digital upgrade that makes it more interactive … or more engaging … or more effective.

(In fact, when I present at teacher conferences, I have a whole session called “Worksheet to WOW”.)

Let’s walk through that idea in today’s 💡 Big Idea.

The Worksheet to WOW transformation

Transforming your traditional activities into digital experiences isn't just about making them look prettier. It's about enhancing interactivity, providing immediate feedback, and opening up new possibilities for learning. 

Here's a step-by-step plan to approach this transformation:

1. Identify the Core Purpose: Before you start upgrading, identify the main learning objective of your original activity. What are we trying to accomplish? This will guide your digital transformation.

2. Add Interactivity: Look for ways to make the activity more hands-on. Could you turn multiple-choice questions into a drag-and-drop activity? Could a reading comprehension exercise become an interactive timeline?

3. Incorporate Multimedia: Use images, videos, or audio to enhance understanding and engagement. For example, a vocabulary worksheet could become an interactive image where students click on objects to learn new words.

4. Provide Feedback: Use features like self-checking questions, comments or peer feedback to give students instant feedback on their progress.

5. Enable Collaboration: Consider how you can turn individual activities into collaborative experiences using tools like shared Google Docs or Slides or PowerPoint.

5 “Worksheet to WOW” transformation ideas

For each of these examples, you’ll get three things:

• The reason we use these worksheets in the first place

• An alternative (that could be considered an upgrade)

• A template you can copy and use

• Why this transformation works

1. Comprehension questions

Why we use these worksheets: When students read a story or learn about something, we want to know how much they've understood -- or comprehended -- the material. So we ask them questions in a worksheet that they should be able to answer if they understood what they read. If they can't answer the questions well, it's time to intervene. 

An alternative: A Booksnaps interactive Google Slides template (make a copy)

Why this works: Booksnaps are a fun way to talk about what you've just read. Educator Tara Martin coined the term, describing how you take a picture of a page of a book, then mark it up with underlining, emojis, and other visuals to annotate and comment. Students can show what they comprehend from what they've read this way. Learn more about Booksnaps and other ways to make them here.

2. Short answer recall

Why we use these worksheets: The answer isn't staring the student in the face. They have to either remember it -- or look it up. This is a slightly more rigorous recall activity to see if students remember specific facts or items.

An alternative: A digital brain dump (Get the template here)

Why this works: Brain dumps are a recall activity based on the concept of "retrieval practice," something cognitive science shows improves long-term memory. Students recall information directly from memory instead of looking it up. Brain dumps are quick and easy with a short answer. They can be broad ("What do you remember about this topic in general?") or specific ("What do you remember about what this person did during this event?"). It also eliminates playing "gotcha" with students (asking them a very specific question they don't remember even though they do remember a lot of other pertinent things).

3. Mapping

Why we use these worksheets: We want students to be able to pick out certain items on maps -- capital cities, rivers, countries, regions, etc. Giving them blank maps -- or maps with blanks to fill in or parts to mark up -- lets them do this recall activity directly on the map.

An alternative: An interactive Google Slides map template (get template here)

Why this works: The map in this template can be swapped out with any map you want to use. It uses draggable icons and the scribble tool and polyline tool to draw lines and shapes. You don't need colored pencils, markers, or crayons ... and mistakes can be erased with the delete key or undo. It also lets students bring in images, which isn't as easy to do in a worksheet.

4. Character profile

Why we use these worksheets: When we are studying a novel, a short story, a biography or historical figures, we want students to analyze those characters. They identify important details and things that are unique that set that character apart. When they understand that character, they can better analyze the context the character is in (history, story, etc.). 

An alternative: A Character Card template  (Google Slides template)

Why this works: This activity frames the character as a student might in a game like Pokémon. In lots of games, the characters have characteristics and ratings. This template lets the student analyze and describe a character much like one might in a trading card game.

5. Create a list

Why we use these worksheets: Lists are helpful tools that lots of us still use as adults. They help us make sure we aren't missing anything in a group. They also help us rank things in order according to a criteria. When we use them in learning, it helps students organize, prioritize and rank what they're learning to help it all make sense.

An alternative: Top 3 template (Get the Google Slides Template)

Why this works: There's something that just clicks with our brains and lists. We love a good list, and we love to know exactly how many things are on those lists and why!

Students can use this graphic organizer in a variety of ways such as:

• List the most important locations for a certain topic.

• List the most influential people in a certain historical time period.

• List the best (or worst) decisions and explain why.

• List the equipment necessary for a certain task.

Pro Tip: Web Resources as LMS Assignments

Did you know you can use almost anything on the web as an LMS assignment? This opens up a world of possibilities for upgrading your activities. Check out our guide on how to integrate web resources into your learning management system. 

You'll learn how to:

• Turn YouTube videos into interactive lessons

• Create assignments from news articles or blog posts

• Use virtual museum tours as the basis for engaging activities

🎁 BONUS: A filing cabinet full of ideas ...

I created this “Worksheet to WOW” filing cabinet template as a way to share more worksheet transformations in my conference breakout session. And now I’m sharing it with you!

These filing cabinets are packed with options for upgrading your worksheets, like …

• Tools for overhauling your worksheet activities

• Templates to assign students

• Recall activities to make learning permanent

• Visual activities to engage

• No-tech activities that are tactile

Click the filing cabinet drawers to open a cabinet. Then, click a folder to pull it out -- and open it!

One last thought …

Remember, the goal isn't to digitize everything, but to enhance learning where it makes sense. Sometimes, a well-designed paper activity is still the best choice. Use your professional judgment to decide what works best for your students and your teaching style.

👋 How we can help

There are even more ways I can support you in the important work you do in education:

1. Read one of my six books about meaningful teaching with tech.

2. Take one of our online courses about practical and popular topics in education.

3. Bring me to your school, district or event to speak. I love working with educators!