Meeting the NETS-S

ISTE, TheInternational Society for Technology in Education has established a set of standards called The National Educational Technology Standards for Students.  These standards are neither grade level nor subject specific. This is the part of the standards I find most interesting.  Rather than having the standards tied to specificities they are developed to ensure that we teachers best prepare our students for a twenty-first century.  These standards help ensure best practices among educators when it comes to incorporating technology into the classroom.  They also help ensure that teachers are using technology as a tool for learning and not the learning in and of itself.

There are six components to the ISTE standards: creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, research and information fluency, critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making, digital citizenship, and technology operations and concepts.  Each standard can be met through the use of a variety of Web 2.0 applications.

When looking at the creativity and innovation component it is important that students are able to show that they have synthesized their ideas and new learning through creation.  With a Web 2.0 tool like Glogster EDU students can make a multimedia digital poster to apply existing knowledge to create new ideas or to take notice of trends and predict outcomes.  ZooBurst allows students to create a digital story.  This 3D digital pop up book is a great tool for a student to create an original piece of work individually or with a group.

The second ISTE standard focuses on communication and collaboration.  This standard includes collaborating with other students at a distance.  Students must be able to interact, collaborate, and publish with a variety of media.  Google Apps for Education (GAFE) provides a sort of all in one safe place and space to meet this standard.  Google Docs allows all participants to type on one document at one time, while making comments on the work.  Students can also work together on presentations and then communicate through Google Hangout.  Through Google Hangout students can connect with any expert or any student from anywhere in the world.  The possibilities are endless!  Another great application to help meet this standard is Wikispaces.  It is a great collaboration tool and it is very user friendly.

Research and information fluency is the third ISTE standard.  This standard emphasis the importance of students using digital tools to collect and then in turn use the information.  Tools like Diigo or Edmodo are invaluable for groups to be able to collect, share, and then apply information collected.

All of these tools work together to allow students to meet the final three standards.  These applications help students use their critical thinking skills, problem solve, and make decisions.  They also help them demonstrate their understanding of technology while displaying digital citizenship.

There are so many choices when it comes to meeting each standard. Each tool appeals to a different type of learner.  One tool may work better for one student over another.  That same student may have a higher level of success with another tool.  It is important that students are exposed to a variety of tools and given choice whenever possible.

Resources

Transform teaching and learning. (2015, January 1). Retrieved April 10, 2015, from http://iste.org