Digital Learning Day took over at Dayton ISD on Feb. 28. Nearly 250 classroom teachers, across every campus in the district, participated as “Showcase Classrooms” for this special day. In many classes, the participant teachers committed to implementing digital learning activities in every lesson throughout the day.
Digital Learning Day began in 2012 as a grassroots movement. It has become a nationwide celebration for highlighting great teaching practices and showcasing innovative teachers, leaders, and instructional technology programs that are increasing student achievement and improving student outcomes. Additionally, this movement was designed to increase equity and access to educational opportunities, providing student-centered learning to ensure college and career readiness for all students.
Digital Learning Day is not about technology; it’s about learning. The ultimate goal is to promote the effective use of modern instructional tools to improve the learning experience.
On Digital Learning Day, a certificate was placed outside the doors of all participating teachers so that campus administrators, district administrators and peers would know which classrooms were participating and what digital activities were planned. Campus visitors and colleagues were invited and encouraged to stop by those classrooms during the day and see digital learning in action! When they left, they were asked to leave a brief video message for feedback using an app called FlipGrid. Over 1240 feedback videos were uploaded by classroom visitors. This was a great opportunity for our students to show off their digital skills and our teachers to learn something new from their peers.
A friendly competition took place for the campus with a combination of the highest percentage of showcase classrooms and the highest number of feedback videos. Participation rates were calculated by the Dayton ISD Instructional Technology Specialist team, and the campus winner was announced on Friday, March 1, during a live feed. Additionally, all participating teachers were entered into a random drawing for a number of prizes that had been donated for this event. Winners and prizes were announced during that feed as well.
“Overall, the day was a tremendous success! Students were engaged and classrooms were hopping with activity, excitement and enthusiasm. Dayton ISD is already looking forward to Digital Learning Day, 2020,” according to a statement from the district.
Students at Woodrow Wilson Junior High work on a Digital Breakout in science. 
A Colbert Elementary student uses a digital task card and interactive pen to practice counting.