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ISTE NETS Standards - Why do we need technology standards?

6/28/2011

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Why is it important for students, teachers and administrators to have technology standards?

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) offers a framework for students, teachers, and administrators to improve teaching, learning, and leadership through technology in education.  The site describes the digital age we live in, and how - as society changes - education must change.  Students have to be prepared to collaborate beyond the walls of their classrooms, just as today’s business leaders reach out globally.  And to keep up with the changing world, teachers and administrators have to prepare the students for jobs that may not have even been thought of yet.  Teachers and administrators must lead in new, innovative ways - and they have a duty to keep up with professional development and changing technologies.

Standards for Global Learning in the Digital Age

"Educational technology standards are the roadmap to teaching effectively and growing professionally in an increasingly digital world. Technology literacy is a crucial component of modern society. In fact, the globalizing economy and technological advances continue to place a premium on a highly skilled labor force.

Education Must Change

As technology dramatically changes our society, educators need to demonstrate the skills and behaviors of digital-age professionals. Competence with technology is the foundation.
  • Societies are changing
  • Expectations are changing
  • Teaching is changing
  • Educators must lead

Transforming Learning Environments with Technology

Today’s educators must provide a learning environment that takes students beyond the walls of their classrooms and into a world of endless opportunities. Technology standards promote this classroom transformation by ensuring that digital-age students are empowered to learn, live, and work successfully today and tomorrow. "

How I feel about The Standards

I have always been a HUGE advocate of standards - technology based or otherwise.  If you don't have a map, sure, you'll drive around for a while, you might happen upon some cool stuff, but how do you KNOW what is out there?  When I used to teach Biology at a high school in Texas, there was another teacher who was considered to be one of the best Biology teachers.  Whenever you walked into her room, her students were doing some project or pasting leaves on the walls or drawing something cool.  Come to realize, she taught her students about plants the whole year.  She loved plants, and she never taught anything else.  Sure - it WAS Biology, but what about all the other aspects of Biology like cells, DNA, the environment, ecology, etc???  And just because her students were cutting out pictures of leaves, and drawing plants, doesn't mean they know anything about plants biologically.

Just because the students are banging away at a laptop, doesn't mean they are "becoming proficient at technology."  Students, teachers, and administrators need to know what other people are doing.  They need guidance and activities.  They need ideas and inspiration.  And they need to know how to launch our students into learning with 21st Century skills.

Teaching is not just standing in front of the students, lecturing and memorizing facts.  Teaching is a whole new profession, where we are learning coaches - facilitating the students as they think critically about real world problems, and collaborate to solve the problems.

1 Comment
Kersten
6/29/2011 11:00:22 pm

I agree that standards are necessary in order to guide the material that students are taught. I am hoping that the updated standards and the format of the standardized tests begin to resemble each other. The tests need to reflect the inquiry based, critical thinking skills that teachers are increasingly trying to incorporate into lessons and rely less on rote memory.

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    Amy Hollingsworth is The Natural Science Biology Lab Coordinator and Part-time Lecturer.  She is also working on a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on STEM education

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