Enabling Students as Digital Learners

Co-Designing Powerful Learning Experiences With Your Student Tech Team

When every student has access to technology, it amplifies educators’ ability to facilitate students’ consistent access to powerful learning experiences.

Our students, a lot of it is really self-driven. They’re researching and coming up with the topics and ideas that they want to learn about. And then they learn about them. I’ll say, “I saw a teacher using this but I’ve never used it, can you guys go in and figure it out?”…When they go out and share it with others in the building, it’s their thing. It’s impactful and motivating for them because it’s student-led and student-driven.

Alison Francis

Verizon Innovative Learning Schools Coach, Fulton County, Schools (GA)

Inviting students to be co-creators of their own learning pathways can contribute to an inclusive, engaged learning environment that fosters student agency, meaning the capacity to actively participate in making choices in service of learning goals¹. It also provides an opportunity for educators to center students’ experience and voice to determine what, when, and how they learn.

Designing with—not just for—your students can be transformative in reimagining students’ and teachers’ roles in the learning process². This is called co-design, and within a school setting it might look like:

Students co-develop a project-based learning unit by providing direct input on topics and final product formats while the teacher provides direct instruction and support on research methods.
Students ideate and prototype solutions for a global design challenge (such as the Ciena Solutions Challenge) facilitated by the teacher to generate innovative solutions to a UN sustainable development goal.
Students collaborate with the teacher and an AI tool to co-design a digital assessment tied to their unit’s learning objectives.
The teacher facilitates a partnership with a local organization looking to find a solution to a real-world community problem; students meet with the community leader to ideate, plan, build, and implement solutions for the problem throughout the semester.

Giving students the freedom to explore can lead to impactful results. Check out the video about Samya, a student leader at Lamar Middle School, to see the impact that co-design and student-centered learning with technology had on her experience as a learner.

Differentiating Learning Experiences With Your Student Tech Team

The following ideas for enabling students as digital learners are divided into two categories: (1) project and challenge-based learning and (2) career and college readiness. Many educators may find the first category more applicable to middle school grades and the second category to high school grades; however, all ideas can be used in both settings.

Remember: there is no one-size-fits-all all idea for students! We encourage educators to embrace learner variability³ to identify the strategies and resources that work best for their own students, regardless of category.

Project- and Challenge-Based Learning Ideas

Career and College Readiness Ideas

Extend Your Learning

These ideas focus on engaging students in authentic project- and challenge-based learning opportunities that foster students’ creativity with technology and build foundational digital skills.

Virtual Field Trip and Documentary: Students co-design a virtual field trip experience by selecting a location, crafting research questions, and developing a narrative for a documentary, interactive map, or other digital resource.
Digital Citizenship Campaign: Educators guide students in tackling real-world digital citizenship issues through challenge-based learning. Students research, design strategies, and create digital content (videos, social media, infographics) to raise awareness and promote responsible digital practices. This project empowers them as informed digital citizens, enhancing critical thinking, communication, and social responsibility.
Coding for Social Good: Students learn basic coding skills and use them to create a simple app or website that addresses a local community need (e.g., a resource guide, a volunteer sign-up platform). Students help identify the community need, brainstorm solutions, and design the app or website.
Interactive Science Simulations: Students use online simulations (e.g., PhET, Gizmos) to explore scientific concepts. They then co-design an interactive presentation or tutorial explaining the concept to younger students or to the whole class. The tech team can help with screen recording, creating interactive quizzes, and designing the presentation.
Student-Led Podcasts: Educators introduce podcasting as a project-based learning opportunity, challenging students to explore a topic of interest, develop a compelling narrative, and utilize audio technology to effectively communicate their ideas. Students actively engage in this process, taking ownership of their learning by selecting their topic, conducting research, collaborating on scripts, and mastering audio production techniques. This project fosters creativity, communication skills, and digital literacy while providing students with a platform to share their voices and perspectives.
Digital Portfolio Development: Students create online portfolios showcasing their best work and reflecting on their learning experiences. The tech team can include artifacts they have developed, such as training on web design or other technology applications, digital storytelling, or interactive subject-relevant multimedia content. Co-design element: Students choose the platform, design the layout, and curate the content for their portfolios. They also reflect on their learning journey.

These ideas focus on cultivating students’ career and college readiness and providing work-based learning opportunities, particularly in STEM-related fields.

Vendor Device Training: Educators coordinate device training directly from vendors to upskill their student tech team. Many vendors will do this at no charge. One way to ensure this opportunity for students is to add a clause in vendor contracts to support student training during procurement. This might include initiatives such as esports equipment, lab design, and/or internships.
Guest Speakers: Educators coordinate guest speakers such as programmers, vendors, gamers, graphic designers, and others who can support students in creatively engaging with members of the community and potential future career paths. You can even leverage technology to bring speakers in virtually, reducing costs and simplifying logistics.
Internships: Educators support students in securing internships, such as a summer internship, by connecting them with relevant organizations, assisting with resume and cover letter preparation, and guiding them through the application process. Students actively seek out and apply for internships in their fields of interest, contributing to real-world projects and gaining hands-on experience under the mentorship of industry professionals. This immersive experience allows students to develop valuable technical and professional skills, explore potential career paths, and build their professional network, ultimately enhancing their college applications and preparing them for future careers.
Field Trips: Educators facilitate field trips that engage students with available community technology partners, such as the district technology team, by bringing in district IT or coordinating a visit to their offices. Apple or other commercial technology vendors and even other student tech teams within your district can expand learning opportunities at little or no cost.
Job Shadowing: Educators connect students with local professionals, guiding them in researching mentors, preparing questions, and reflecting on their experiences. Through observation and engagement, students gain real-world career insights, explore options, and connect academics to future goals, shaping their college and career planning.

Additional Resources

Verizon Innovative Learning HQ: This free resource from Verizon provides teacher professional development, turnkey lessons, and STEM engagement ideas for K-12 students.
Verizon Esports for Schools: This webpage from Verizon provides resources for creating and supporting an esports initiative with K-12 students.
When Students Lead: Insights from the League of Innovative Students 2024 Design Sprint: This blog post highlights what’s possible when you incorporate students in co-design and focuses on Digital Promise’s League of Innovative Students, who led design sprints to advance research, provide feedback on edtech tools, and advocate for their peers.
How One District is Scaling Student Tech Teams to Support Sustainable Technology Systems: This blog post highlights the work of a student tech team from Cleveland Metropolitan School District, which created a playbook to help any school in the district build and support their own student-led technology team.
Co-Designing Schools Toolkit: This toolkit provides research-based practices, tools, and resources to engage students in the co-design process.
Digital Promise Career and Technical Education (CTE) Resources: This collection of resources for CTE educators, developed by Digital Promise in collaboration with the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE,) Advance CTE, and other experts, includes professional development courses and resources to assist with incorporating global skills into their courses.
Student Global Competence Training Modules: This collection of short, self-paced modules for high school and post-secondary students (15-20 minutes each) supports CTE students in developing global competence.
Learner Variability Navigator: This free tool helps educators find research-based strategies that support the whole learner.

Interested in getting started now? Download this Student Tech Team Toolkit 1-pager for editable links to helpful resources found in the Student Tech Team Toolkit.

CAST. “The Goal of UDL: Learner Agency.” Udlguidelines.cast.org, 2024, https://udlguidelines.cast.org/more/udl-goal/.
Corio, Larry, and Adha Mengis. “How to Co-Design Better Schools.” Www.ideo.com, Nov. 2020, https://www.ideo.com/journal/how-to-co-design-better-schools.
Pape, Barbara. (n.d.) “Learner variability is the rule, not the exception.” Digital Promise. https://digitalpromise.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Learner-Variability-Is-The-Rule.pdf

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