Using Digital Tools For Inquiry, Collaboration, and Learning

You've used Padlet. You've tried Nearpod. You've watched a colleague use Pear Deck and wondered whether your students were actually learning more, or just clicking more.

This microcredential is for K–8 educators who want to know the difference. Across four microcourses, you'll examine what digital tools actually reveal about how your students think, how they collaborate, and what they understand; and you'll redesign lessons you already teach to make that thinking sharper, more visible, and more useful to you as a teacher.

You won't start from scratch. You'll bring lessons from your own classroom—math, ELA, science, social studies, the arts, or any subject you teach—and use the course to analyze and enhance them based on evidence of how your students actually respond. Each microcourse includes a monthly office hours with instructor La Toya Caton, where you can discuss lessons in progress, share student work, and learn alongside other K–8 educators wrestling with the same questions.

The program also looks closely at access, participation, and digital equity, because tools that work for some students and not others aren't really working. By the end, you won't just have a stronger lesson, you'll have a framework for every lesson that comes after it.

Format: Asynchronous Online Modules

Full Microcredential (Microcourses 1-4) Price: $425

Please Note: This microcourse has rolling registration. Once registration is complete, learners will have 6 months to complete their chosen course.

For more information, questions or to register:  Email tcacademy@tc.columbia.edu