Exciting news for teachers of primary grades! TechnoKids has refreshed TechnoMe, a ready-to-go course that builds self-awareness, digital literacy, and foundational computer science skills. Designed for Grades 1–3, students follow clear, illustrated steps to create a fun “All About Me” slideshow-building confidence with technology while learning to share and express themselves.
All About Me Slide Show
It’s easy for young learners to make a presentation in Google Slides or Microsoft PowerPoint using the simple, eye-catching template provided in TechnoMe teacher resources. Students can quickly and confidently create their own one-of-a-kind mini biography. Step by step instructions in the student workbook guide them to design five exciting slides while building essential digital skills:
- Title Slide – Learn to format text to make a strong first impression.
- What Makes You Special – Personalize a fun template with interesting facts about themselves.
- Goal – Insert a picture of a dream job and add text boxes.
- Things I Like – Search for clip art and crop a photo into a circle.
- My Family – Create a colorful pictograph to represent family members.
Plus, optional activities extend learning even further! Students can design a Family Tree, sort their favorite school subjects on a School Subjects slide, and more.
All New Features to Kick Off the School Year
Teachers tell us they love using this course at the start of a new school year. Students get the chance to visually express themselves, build self-confidence, make connections with classmates, and celebrate individual differences.
What’s new? In response to teacher feedback, we enhanced the course to not only spark creativity but also to include lessons that build digital citizenship skills and meet computer science standards. So we updated it to deliver exactly that.
Nurturing Digital Citizenship Skills
A bonus feature in this updated version of TechnoMe includes assignments that foster digital citizenship. Through a variety of activities, students develop essential skills such as responsibility, online safety, peer collaboration, empathy, and respect for multiple viewpoints. These are all key elements as outlined by ISTE Standards.
As students create their “All About Me” slide shows, they engage in tasks that promote these skills, including:
- Tech Talk
After completing their Goal slide, students pair up to discuss their projects. They share the choices they made in designing their slides, offer positive feedback to their partners, and compare creative techniques and tools. This collaborative exchange encourages both confidence and respect for the ideas of others. - School Safety
In this optional assignment, students work in pairs or small groups to illustrate school, gym, and playground safety rules. They apply their digital skills to design a “Do or Don’t” slide, while also practicing the important habit of giving credit to team members for their contributions. - We Are the Same! We Are Different!
In the culminating activity, students present their mini biographies to the class. They then engage in a reflective discussion. Students pose questions to their peers to discover common interests and appreciate unique differences – building self-esteem and reinforcing the value of diversity.
Aligning with Computer Science Standards
In upgrading TechnoMe, we aligned with key learning objectives from the CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards. This framework specifies the core concepts and practices that should guide computer science education.
Through the TechnoMe course, students achieve several important standards, including:
Data & Analysis:
Store, copy, search, retrieve, modify, and delete information using a computing device and define the information stored as data.
Identify and describe patterns in data visualizations, such as chart or graphs, to make predictions.
Impacts of Computing:
Work respectfully and responsibly with others online.
By embedding these standards into engaging activities, TechnoMe ensures students build foundational computer science skills while working creatively and collaboratively.
All About Me Bonus Activities
And there’s more! In the new updated version of TechnoMe, every one of the six sessions now includes a variety of optional activities. Teachers can pick and choose, tailoring instruction to their class and individual student needs:
- Reviews – Quick quizzes to assess students’ technical skills.
- Skill Reviews – Additional theme-based assignments to reinforce newly learned presentation skills.
- Extension Activities – Extra challenges for students who are working ahead or eager for more.
These new options make it easy to differentiate instruction and keep all learners engaged and motivated.
I’ll be sharing even more details about these great additions in my next blog. Stay tuned!