This session will help participants work with younger students or patrons toward transliteracy -- that is, a facility with information intake and output across platforms and circumstances. It’s important to balance the need for concrete learning in elementary grades with critical exposure to professional & public uses of technology. The focus is on student involvement, with an eye toward minimizing barriers for adult facilitators. We’ll touch on the prevalence and nature of the digital divide as it affects young students and build a set of processes that adults can use to get children communicating online. We will look at the benefits of connecting classrooms to the world beyond the walls of the school, as well as some suggested parameters for student communications. Finally, we’ll see what successful global connection can look like in an elementary school, using both mature technologies like Skype and newer tools like Periscope.
