Embracing twenty-first-century skills in the classroom means that students will need to develop both collaboration skills as well as information literacy skills. To be a digital leader, students will need experience developing and refining their skills in some areas. Here are ten activities that will make students better digital leaders:

1. Using a mind-mapping tool, such as Coggle, for a learning project helps students learn to collaborate in meaningful ways. It can be used in the brainstorming, researching, and presentation stage of a project-based learning experience.
2. Students can use productivity software, such as Todoist, to develop the project management skills that are essential for digital leaders.
3. Have students learn more about their digital footprint. Be sure they understand how inappropriate content on social media can impact their future options, and help them understand the importance of always being professional and pro-social online.
4. Give students a simple assignment such as “line up in order of height”—but with no further instruction. Afterward, ask them what made the experience easy and what made it difficult. Use their comments as a springboard for developing the skills to lead group efforts successfully.
5. Engage students in problem-solving activities related to online bullying. Provide them with scenarios where someone is being bullied online and ask them how they can intervene to ensure that the bullying ends. Digital leaders not only do not bully others, but they are also “upstanders” instead of “bystanders,” which means that they don’t observe silently but rather intervene when others are bullied.
6. Consider using a tool such as Padlet to engage in collaborative large-group activities (such as brainstorming or a book discussion) to demonstrate to students how tech tools make it possible to collaborate easily.
7. Use a digital citizenship curriculum to teach students about copyright. Digital leaders follow applicable rules in their use and re-use of copyrighted materials.
8. Teach students how to recognize and combat “fake news” using examples from a fact-checking website since digital leaders need to know how to discern truth from falsehoods.
9. Choose a curriculum to teach students more about online privacy and security so that they understand how to protect their personal information.
10. And, finally, help students understand how to set their limits for their use of screen time, because even digital leaders need to know how to interact with others face-to-face. Practice the art of personal, face-to-face conversation in class.