Faculty and staff services and resources

Northstar Digital Literacy (Northstar) is a suite of online, self-paced digital literacy assessments and tutorials that define basic skills needed to perform tasks on computers and online. Northstar is available in English and Spanish.

Faculty can refer students to Northstar in two ways:

1. Students can independently access and use Northstar and "skill up" on their own
2. Students can work with a CCC Northstar support person to access and use Northstar with assistance

Please contact reference@clackamas.edu to learn more about Northstar and connecting students to it.

Digital literacy encompasses three big categories of skills that students use all the time: "1) finding and consuming digital content; 2) creating digital content; and 3) communicating or sharing it" (EducationWeek).

Northstar gives students (and employees and community members) the opportunity to check their digital literacy skills, learn and practice new skills, and demonstrate mastery of these skills. Northstar teaches essentials like using email and navigating the Internet, using Microsoft Office, and searching for career and job information.

How Northstar works:

1. Set up a learner account.
2. Log in.
3. Choose a digital literacy topic (e.g., Microsoft Word).
4. Take a digital literacy skills assessment on your topic.
   • There are 14 assessments to choose from.
   • This initial assessment will help you identify what you already know and what you need to learn.
   • You’ll receive links to lessons to develop some skills you need to learn. Lessons are under development, so might not be available for all of your skills gaps.
5. Work through the topic-specific lessons to learn and practice new skills.
   • Use self-paced Northstar video lessons or recommended learning resources.
6. Optional: Take a proctored assessment to demonstrate your new knowledge and skills related to that topic.
   • When you successfully complete a proctored assessment, you can access a certificate that shows your competency in each area of digital literacy. (You'll learn more about proctored assessments later.)

Select Getting started with Northstar to continue.