5 July 2025
Information Literacy: How do algorithms work?
How to use a CTRL-F lesson to help emergent readers understand how algorithms shape our online experiences.
Educator Resources
How can I turn everyday tech use into learning activities?
How can we (literacy practitioners) use what we know about learners’ daily lives to better answer their learning needs?
In a series of 3 workshops on Wednesday, January 14, 21, 28, 2026 we explored different ways to use learners’ daily digital tasks to create activities that develop digital skills, other skills and knowledge.
We looked at how to go from a simple daily activity such as using a web mapping app to identify digital skills that can be developed through various means and
- Develop a practice of integrating daily life apps and websites into curriculum and lesson plans
- Explore how integrating daily-life technology supports literacy learning
- Expand your list of apps and websites that support learners in completing daily life tasks and accessing resources
Workshop 1: Search
Basic searches, AI augmented searches and using chatbots to get answers to questions, using search skills on websites.
Learn about basic search
Basic Search – 3 lessons and a practice: Search engines, Basic search, Ads in search results.
Learn about AI-augmented search
AI-Augmented Search Lesson Plan – CTRL-F Online Search Skills Lesson 2
Lateral reading: CTRL- F has a series of lessons and videos based on the SIFT method.
Learn about chatbot search
Coding Ireland Digital Skills Curriculum: Using AI for Web Searches
- This lesson explores how AI is transforming the way we conduct web searches. The lesson gives learners the opportunity to compare traditional search engines with AI-powered tools and discuss the appropriate situations for using each.
PBS News Hour Classroom: AI Unlocked — finding facts with generative AI search
- This lesson teaches students how AI responds to different types of prompts and how prompt engineering might be able to help them generate additional information.
Using Search skills on websites – Housing Rights
Steps to Justice website from CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario)
- Free information about legal problems in Ontario.
- Reliable, practical, and easy to understand.
- Written by lawyers and edited by trained plain language editors.
OJEN (Ontario Justice Education Network) A Foot in the Door
- This 6-module resource, produced by the Lawyers’ Professional Indemnity Company (LAWPRO) and the Ontario Justice Education Network (OJEN), provides an introduction to real estate and housing law in Ontario, including the various considerations and processes involved in purchasing and renting a home.
Workshop 2: Reading
Reading the news and using the library.
Reading the news
Media Smarts lessons
Libraries
Using the Libby app
Links from the chat
Workshop 3: Creating
Creating a budget, using a shopping app and storytelling with Google maps.
Budgeting and shopping
- Your budget @ Desjardins
- AlphaPlus OER – Numeracy in Daily Life
- AlphaPlus Useful Apps
- Shopping with Flipp activity
Maps and stories
Learn about mapping
Google: Create or open a map
Maps and stories lesson plans
Google Applied Digital Skills – My Maps activities
The GFCGlobal link in the slides went missing and can be viewed in the Wayback Machine (crawled on December 31, 2025) here: https://web.archive.org/web/20251231202220/https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/google-maps/
The GCF site has been moved and can now be found at LearnFree but the maps tutorials do not seem to be on that site.
I tried to replicate the tutorials here: LearnFree Maps Tutorials
The making stories with maps resources are on the same site and can be found here: Google Maps and Storytelling
Links from the chat
- Government of Canada Budgeting Site
- AlphaPlus Information Literacy Resources
- Google Applied Digital Skills
- AI for Educators (AlphaPlus and EdTechTeacher workshops):
This resource from AlphaPlus was created by Tracey Mollins after a workshop series called Digital Technology in Daily Life.
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