Northstar Digital Literacy gives subscribing organizations the ability to increase access to digital equity by providing constituents with tools to master the digital skills needed to work, learn, and participate fully in daily life. These tools include the following:
- Assessments: Online, self-guided assessments measure basic skills in each of 16 areas, allowing individuals to identify current skills and opportunities for learning new skills
- Education: Educational materials provide for self-guided online learning, one-on-one digital navigation, and instructor-led classes. Northstar standards define the basic skills needed to perform tasks on computers and online.
- Reports: Individuals and instructors see progress and opportunities for learning, including organizational statistics on number of learners, number of assessments, and percentage of assessments passed.
If you would like to learn more about this program please refer to their website at Northstar Digital Literacy or watch the Northstar Digital Literacy Overview (50 min) recording.
Application Process
The annual fee for this service is funded for eligible public libraries through the REAL Program. The REAL Program is an annual appropriation in HB12. This appropriation is made to the Office of the Secretary of State and is administered by the Missouri State Library.
The Missouri State Library will announce periodic application windows. The availability of the application window will be announced through the publibdir discussion list as well as other channels.
Once the applications have been approved by the Missouri State Library, Northstar will provide each library their account information.
Resources for Current Participants
- Training on using the Northstar Digital Literacy platform has been recorded. Please contact Jeanne Sullivan at jeanne@more.net to request the URLs.
- Administrators for each library are automatically subscribed to the northstar@lists.more.net discussion list. This list is intended for Missouri public library staff to discuss issues or best practices to encourage a successful implementation and use of this service.
Technical Support
Northstar provides technical support for this service. You can contact Northstar through your Admin Portal – under resources – Create A Support Ticket (lower right-hand corner).
You can also reach Northstar by going to the Northstar home page https://www.digitalliteracyassessment.org/ and clicking on “Contact Us” in the upper right-hand corner of the black navigation bar next to the Log In oval.