The grassroots effort that is Digital Learning Day started as a way to spread innovative practices and ensure that all students have access to high-quality digital learning opportunities, no matter where they live.

In the four years since it began, Digital Learning Day has become a powerful opportunity to highlight great teaching and showcase innovative teachers, leaders and programs using digital age techniques to improve the learning in K-12 schools. 

But today is not about technology, it's about learning, points out the Alliance for Excellent Education, founders of Digital Learning Day.  

No matter where you are on the path to ed tech implementation, becoming a digital learning master is just a few steps away.

Use these tips to achieve sensei status:

1. Start with the Essential Conditions and ISTE Standards. 

The Essential Conditions are the 14 critical elements necessary to effectively leverage technology for learning. Think of them as the ingredients for comprehensive digital age learning and teaching. To get a snapshot of where you are on the road to alignment with the Essential Conditions, use the ISTE Lead & Transform Diagnostic Tool. The tool generates a free report with helpful data to guide your tech planning and implementation decisions.

The ISTE Standards are the standards for learning, teaching and leading in the digital age. The family of ISTE Standards — for  students, teachers, administrators, coaches and computer science educators — transform education by setting the bar for excellence and establishing best practices for the use of education technology.

2. Connect with peers.

Project ReimaginED is your opportunity to collaborate with fellow educators to redesign your classroom activities to meet the Common Core and ISTE Standards. Within this new social learning community, K-12 teachers and coaches work with standards experts and other community members in real time to develop real lessons they can freely share and implement anywhere.

Participation is free, so invite colleagues from your school and personal learning network to join  the community platform to deepen your understanding of the standards and get support in applying what you learn to what you do every day.

3. Try a new instructional approach.

Flip your classroom. Make the shift to personalized learning.  Create a makerspace or try a maker project tied to a current topic in your classroom. Incorporate project-based learning  (PBL) into your lessons.

No matter the approach you try, use it to shake up your classroom, and watch your students soar.

4. Experiment with new tools.

Digital Learning Day is all about discovery. Take a few minutes to discover some of the leading-edge tools educators like you are using to advance learning and teaching. 

Among the hottest education topics you can explore with digital tools are STEM learning, 3D printing, making, engagement through gaming and augmented reality.Today's tools engage students, personalize learning and ensure you're meeting your learning goals.

5. Assess and crunch the numbers.

Now that you've modified your instruction and tried new tools, it's time to track the outcomes.

Let real-time student data guide you so that you can differentiate learning and personalize instruction. There's simply no better way to maximize student success.

Jenny Rankin, a former teacher and chief education and research officer at a student data systems company believes the ability to quickly capture, analyze and apply data on student learning and progress has the potential to facilitate some of the biggest improvements to our educational system we've seen yet. Be sure you're using the data at your fingertips to drive student achievement.