Search every subject world, from Preschool to Grade 12. The first five courses of every subject path are free.
17 courses
Computers & Digital Literacy · Every grade
A hands-on start for anyone new to computers, tablets or PlayOwl. Children really point, click, tap, drag, scroll, zoom and type, open and close tabs and windows, search on a pretend web, and take a tour of PlayOwl, all inside safe practice screens. It works with a mouse, a touch screen or a keyboard.
Computers & Digital Literacy · Grade 6
Learners describe any computing device, from a laptop to a thermostat, with the input-processing-output-storage model, compare device types by their tradeoffs, and turn a person's needs into checkable requirements. They meet the accessibility features built into most devices and finish by choosing and justifying a device for a new user in an unfamiliar setting.
Computers & Digital Literacy · Grade 6
Learners read and build file paths, name files so they sort correctly, and learn what a file extension and a shortcut really are. They plan backups with the 3-2-1 idea and version history, find out why a synced folder is not a backup, and practice a step-by-step troubleshooting routine that ends with a clear request for help.
Computers & Digital Literacy · Grade 6
Learners follow data from a tablet in the Cedar Valley Library to a web server across the internet. They learn that the internet is a network of networks joined by routers, that data travels as numbered packets that can take different routes, that DNS turns names into IP addresses, and that agreed rules called protocols are organized in a simple four-layer model, explained with a postal analogy.
Computers & Digital Literacy · Grade 6
Learners discover how a computer stores everything with bits: why n bits give 2^n^ patterns, how 8-bit binary numbers work with place values from 128 down to 1, how text becomes numbers through a code table such as ASCII (with Unicode covering the world's writing systems), and how images become grids of pixels whose size depends on resolution and bits per pixel.
Computers & Digital Literacy · Grade 6
Learners work in a fictional spreadsheet program with a library reading challenge, a community-garden harvest log and bike-share ride counts. They write formulas with cell references, use SUM, AVERAGE, MIN and MAX on ranges, predict how formulas change when filled down, sort and filter to answer questions, and choose the chart that fits the question: bar, line, pie or scatter.
Computers & Digital Literacy · Grade 6
Learners protect their accounts with long passphrases, unique passwords and multi-factor authentication, decide what personal information to keep private and how a digital footprint forms, and practice spotting the warning signs of scam messages and unsafe downloads. The course ends with respectful communication, a clear plan for responding to cyberbullying and asking for consent before posting about others.
Computers & Digital Literacy · Grade 6
Learners check sources by author, purpose, date and evidence, read laterally to see what independent sources say, and separate facts from opinions. They investigate photos shared out of context, then look inside AI text and image generators: tools that predict likely output from patterns in their training data. Learners practice verifying AI output claim by claim and disclosing honestly how they used it.
Computers & Digital Literacy · Grade 6
In this project course, learners plan and make a short research product, such as a one-page web guide, poster or slide set, that everyone in its audience can use. They write a focused research question, take notes with citations, and design with real headings, meaningful alt text, strong contrast without relying on color, plain language and descriptive links. They check their work with a checklist, give and use peer feedback, and write a statement that explains their design choices.
Computers & Digital Literacy · Grade 7
Learners open up a computer one layer at a time: the processor's control unit, ALU and registers running the fetch–decode–execute cycle, what clock speed and cores really change, and why every computer needs both fast, volatile memory and large, non-volatile storage arranged in a hierarchy. The course ends with choosing and justifying computer setups for fictional users in the town of Cedar Valley.
Computers & Digital Literacy · Grade 7
Learners see how agreed rules (protocols) let computers talk reliably, tracing how TCP numbers, acknowledges and resends data. They find out exactly what HTTPS protects and what the padlock does not prove, build and break a toy shift cipher to see why real encryption needs huge key spaces, and learn how multi-factor authentication, updates, backups and least privilege defend against common threats. Everything is defensive and set in the fictional town of Cedar Valley.
Computers & Digital Literacy · Grade 7
Learners follow the Cedar Valley Middle School Green Commute club from a question to a chart: turning a vague question into a data plan, choosing between surveys, observation and sensor logs, and then cleaning real-looking messy data (duplicates, inconsistent labels, missing values, impossible values and unit mismatches). They keep a cleaning log and see how much dirty data can change an average or a chart.
Computers & Digital Literacy · Grade 7
Learners use spreadsheets to help make decisions. They write IF formulas that choose between results, use absolute references so one input cell can feed a whole column, build a budget model for a fictional club trip and run what-if tests, and compare options with a weighted decision matrix. The course ends by examining a model's assumptions and why its output is an estimate, not a fact.
Computers & Digital Literacy · Grade 7
Learners become careful readers of the media they meet every day. They tell news reports from opinion, analysis, sponsored content and satire; compare headlines with the articles under them and spot loaded language; check photos and videos that are edited or shown out of context; separate misinformation from disinformation; and see how recommendation feeds shape what they see. Lateral reading ties it together as a quick, practical habit.
Computers & Digital Literacy · Grade 7
Learners look inside simple AI models. They train a toy message classifier by hand from labeled examples, watch it make confident mistakes that show it finds patterns rather than understanding, and use fictional test tables to see how unrepresentative training data produces biased results. They trace how a library recommender picks books from other borrowers' choices, then apply privacy, transparency, human review and disclosure to real-feeling decisions.
Computers & Digital Literacy · Grade 7
Learners prepare to make digital work with and for other people. They organize accessibility around four principles (perceivable, operable, understandable, robust) and choose captions, transcripts, audio description and keyboard access for real needs. They learn what copyright protects, what the public domain is, how Creative Commons licenses work and how to write a complete attribution. Finally they practise team roles, comments versus suggestions, version history and useful feedback.
Computers & Digital Literacy · Grade 7
In this project course, learners take a real-feeling client brief from the Cedar Valley Community Garden through the whole design process: understanding the users, defining the problem, writing testable requirements, choosing an idea, sketching a wireframe and user flow, testing with users and improving the design, and finally presenting it with evidence, honest limitations and next steps. The course ends with a teacher-reviewed presentation plan.
