ISTE NETS-S Standards
Information and Communications Technology Literacy Grade-Level Expectations (MO grades K-8)
Information and Communications Technology Literacy Course Expectations (MO grades 9-12)
We have now talked about what kids think they should know. Now we need to cover what the state and the International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE) say/mandate students should know. These standards are meant to be integrated in to all classes and NOT just taught in the computer classroom. These standards will be used in projects that you will be making in this class so please look them over. I know that these standards are meant for k-12 education and most of you work with higher ed. You should look at these as what you students should be able to do when you get them in college. Read all the stands below. Do they cover what they need to? Are they missing anything? Can schools really do this?
ISTE NETS-S Standards Information and Communications Technology Literacy Grade-Level Expectations (MO grades K-8) Information and Communications Technology Literacy Course Expectations (MO grades 9-12)
41 Comments
Heather Carlton
2/12/2013 12:45:56 am
I think those standards are doable and should be implemented in each classroom. They revolve around students learning to communicate, think critically, problem solve, research/gather information, learn the basics of technology, and live ethically. I believe those are reasonable standards and are skills all students need to be successful in the "real world".
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Laurel Thornton
2/12/2013 07:42:42 am
Heather;
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Colie Trawick
2/13/2013 12:18:42 am
I worry about the standardized testing too. Our culture relies so much on standardized testing and if they expect to change the teaching of technology in schools then the standardized test will have to change to cater to that.
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Caleb Haynes
2/13/2013 08:25:39 am
I agree that we rely on standardized testing to much and if we truly want our students to become more creative and better critical thinkers we have to allow them to be able to express their ideas on test instead of always relying on standardized testing.
Mary McGee
2/15/2013 04:43:15 pm
I worry in general about teaching to standardized (i.e. MAP) testing. I am not certain how these test will change but am very curious as I watch the journey develop.
Kayla Y.
2/16/2013 06:35:04 am
I've always thought that standardized testing can hinder some students more than help them. I think the standards don't cover enough area for our changing world. Now with the rapid rises in technology maybe they'll start to alter them to fit the new knowledge and concepts that we are asking our students to understand today.
Melissa Lovette
2/13/2013 10:20:21 am
Heather, yes I also noticed the links were a few years old and I wondered how often they updated the standards. I don't know how much work goes into updating those, however when it comes to technology I'm assuming it would need to be quite often since it is always changing.
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Cassandra Nappier
2/13/2013 05:21:39 pm
Heather,
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Zech Bowman
2/14/2013 12:21:22 pm
Here is the thing about standardized testing. Something is needed to measure the growth and progression of students during the year. The problem is though that not every student is going to grow and progress at the same pace and rate.
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Heather Carlton
2/15/2013 03:22:30 am
I don't currently teach, and haven ever taught, so I have limited knowledge in this area. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I have read before that the curriculum these days revolves around preparing for the tests, limiting their time and flexibility all year.
Troy Holbrook
2/15/2013 11:44:03 pm
In the world of education we are taught that every child learns in their own unique way and success is measured at the individualized level. Then we test our students with the same assessment, e.g. MAP, and determine their success collectively based upon the results of the MAP test. It seems futile. What about those occassions when you have a group of students that are outliers and perform especially poorly on assessment test therefore skewing the data? In this instance, it appears as if the teacher is not effective in teaching. How do we isolate these instances?
Armegis Spearman
2/19/2013 10:27:07 am
I also agree that they are doeable and completely necessary. I guess my main concerns are with the communication and ethics that come with this adventageous expantion in technology. Students, especially young or immature individuals tend to exploit their communication skills via social networking and this also leads into the ethics and security aspect. Administrators must go above and beyond to ensure the security of the students, both ethically and emotionally. We have all watched the horrors that have been associated with young kids and their unethical use of their freedoms with social media.
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Laurel Thornton
2/12/2013 07:40:37 am
As far as student understanding is concerned, I believe that these standards are reasonable. They challenge students and cause teachers to plan lessons that are creative, differentiated and interesting. However, the issue I find is that teachers are stretched to their limit with the need to teach to the test, in our case the M.A.P. There are so many objectives already that must be incorporated during the school day. While many of them can be incorporated into other areas in the regular classroom curriculum, to ask for all of these standards to be taught in the regular classroom is asking a lot of both teachers and the students.
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Colie Trawick
2/13/2013 12:23:37 am
I think the collaboration of techers is key. In the State of the Union address, our President mentioned that certain NY public schools have partnered with technology charters as well as technology higher edu programs and their children are graduating H.S. with not only a diploma but an Associates degree in technology. The point I'm making, is that someway eventually Higher Edu and Pre- Higher Edu will have to partner up to help everyone be on the same page.
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Melissa Lovette
2/13/2013 10:30:58 am
I agree with you: the lessons would be creative, differentiated and interesting. I am lucky enough to collaborate with my computer teacher as we work together on projects to incorporate projects students can work on while in the computer lab. However, she is also pressured from adminstration to have students work on skills for MAP while in the computer lab as well. We only do what we can do...
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Heather Carlton
2/15/2013 03:27:30 am
I agree that it's definitely important for teachers in all areas to work together on meeting these standards. To put all of that load on one teacher or one classroom is asking a lot.
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Armegis Spearman
2/19/2013 10:42:39 am
I agree that they are reasonable also. The challenges that the teachers face are a bit concerning and the amount of time required to meet these standards may be a bit overwhelming. Collaboration is key to the success of any implementation at any level and with time and proper planning, eventually this discussion will be a thing of the past. With that being said, we must realize that continuous adjustments must be made to keep up with the ever changing standards that we face today and in the upcoming future.
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Wendy Walker
2/12/2013 10:42:43 pm
I think the lists present reasonable expectations for students. The problem I see is that teachers are behind on the technology themselves and are afraid to use social media for fear of being reprimanded or punished if used incorrectly. Teachers should be given training on what is appropriate and how to use the technology. But the majority would rather play it safe than fear for their jobs should they step passed a fine line that is constantly changing due to technology. Students are much more advanced in using social media outside of the classroom. I think it should be used more and that teacher should be given more opportunities. I would love to see classrooms complete a virtual project with students from another school to collaborate and share ideas more.
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Colie Trawick
2/13/2013 12:28:43 am
Social Media is a tough subject because more people use it for their own personal use than for buisness purposes. But finding a way to for our children to understand that companies look to hire persons from our social media sites as well as us them for buisness purposes. I know this thought it far out but possibly partnering with these social media websites and creating a tester forum that schools may use to teach our students how to use social media as if they were a buisness or an HR manager. It would be a sort of "fake account" with restictions and only partnered schools could use it...just a thought.
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Caleb Haynes
2/13/2013 08:23:25 am
I agree social media can be a pretty sticky subject when it comes to being used in the classroom. I feel like it could present many positives, but also many negatives as well. I definitely agree that many teachers including myself are not really comfortable with technology so I tend to shy away from it if possible. Training programs for teachers would be an excellent idea that I feel school districts should mandate.
Mary McGee
2/15/2013 04:45:20 pm
I agree Colie! I do believe that High School students in particular need to be taught the do's and don't's of social media. What one puts on Facebook, Twitter, etc. can impact them for life.
Troy Holbrook
2/16/2013 12:12:39 am
I think one of the keys phrases that you made here Wendy is "constantly changing", as in technology. Electronic technology is moving at such as pace that it is nearly mind boggling. Computers become obsolete every three years, the size of micro electronics is reduced by half every eighteen months, allowing for smaller and smaller electronic devices. We have laptops, smart boards, iPads, Zune, Bluetooth on everything, WiFi, interactive DVD, CD, thumb drives, etc. In terms of social media we have Facebook, Twitter, Globster, blogs by the millions,Pintrest, Linkedin, etc. An educator would be wise to carefully choose which technologies and which medias to incorproate. Trying to wrap our arms and brains around all of it could cause a cerebral melt down!
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Kayla Y.
2/16/2013 06:42:34 am
Training teachers in social media and the rises in technology is a good idea I believe. I know a lot of people will find a lot of negatives with the use of social media in the classroom because it can present problems with students, but I think that is the direction that the world is going in so we need to adapt our classrooms to it. I'm sure that there are restrictions that can be applied to social media in a way that will help be sure students and teachers alike use them for the right reasons. I love your idea of using social media as a collaborative tool between schools. I'd never thought of that, and think it is a very intriguing thought. I would like to see that happen some day.
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Colie Trawick
2/13/2013 12:15:55 am
I believe these standards are doable...the only problem is that they seem very vague to me. Are they expecting the teacher to decide what projects will work to fit into these catergories? Do they plan on training the teachers to have tools, project, or senarios so that the teachers are comfortable in the understanding of what they are suppose to teach as well as undertsanding how to do it themselves.
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Wendy Walker
2/17/2013 09:13:48 am
I also feel that these are vague standards. It is hard as a teacher to decide how far you are allowed to go in using various social media.
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Caleb Haynes
2/13/2013 08:20:30 am
I believe these standards are very doable and pretty realistic for the most part. I feel like they cover a lot of things that students need to learn and know about technology especially since it is such a big part of today's society. The only thing I see wrong with some of these standards are that they leave open a lot of ideas. I feel like they could be more specific in some areas on exactly what the students need to learn to be able to do. Interpretation by the teachers seems like it plays a good size roll in the many of the standards set.
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Heather Carlton
2/15/2013 04:54:22 am
I think the vagueness of the standards gives teachers the opportunity to be flexible and introduce new ideas as they see fit for that particular classroom.
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Melissa Lovette
2/13/2013 10:15:15 am
I agree with most of you on the fact that most of these standards are doable however, as a classroom teacher myself I am pressured from adminstration that standardized tests are our focus. Those tests represent our schools report card so to speak. I do believe schools could accomplish some of these standards through many lessons however we are condiitoned at times to teach to the test therefore, hendering our ability to incorporate many of these standards into our lessons. It might be much easier to implement many of these standards into a classroom which is an emints classroom where students are able to utitlize comptuters on a daily as well as, individual basis. These students would have easy access to resources in addition to, working in projects when other lessons are completed. These standards if given the abiltiy to be used, would provide the students with a lesson which is exciting drawing upon their creativity, communication, critical and problem thinking skills. These are all skills which they will need later in life as well. I also feel these standards are not specfic in regards to areas of study; to me they seem very vague.
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Crissina Kemp
2/14/2013 06:39:41 am
I can see and understand how these standards can add additional pressure and frustrations for teachers who are pressured from administration to keep teaching for standardized tests a priority, particularly when schools received funding and are being held accountable based on tests scores.
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Heather Carlton
2/15/2013 05:43:16 am
If I were teaching, I can see the pros and cons of the guidelines being somewhat vague. The pros include being able to be flexible and interpret the guidelines as you wish. The cons include having little guideance and not knowing what is considered meeting the standards. I'm guessing this article is just an introduction of the standards, and that there are many tools and resources for teachers to learn from.
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Cassandra Nappier
2/13/2013 05:18:55 pm
I believe these standards do not ask much and are therefore doable. I noticed that they may be outdated judging by the time frame of the websites. I feel as though these allow for a good guideline for teachers who want to set up their own rules in the classroom concerning technology. It seems as though they would be simple to build upon to meet the needs of each individual classroom. I can see a problem spawning from the lack of knowledge on a teacher's end, but know that workshops are available to help with that. I can also see it being a potential problem to associate these standards with current curricula standards. Otherwise, I see them as being a great guideline and like that they build as the grade level increases.
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Kayla Yount
2/14/2013 12:26:14 am
These standards seem very reasonable to me, and I think that they cover a lot of areas that students should be taught to excel in. However, I find it as perhaps being difficult to be sure to incorporate all of them into a curriculum. For one they were very vague and open to interpretation, and some teachers may find it uncomfortable to step outside the box if they are not as comfortable with technology as they would like to be. Another thing that I thought while reading these, and then realized that a lot of you had also wrote about was standardized testing. That is the main focus of the states, and in some cases all they and the teachers are concerned with for the most part. It's hard to change a curriculum to meet technology standards when the state testing stays the same, and that is what the schools are "graded" on at the end of the year. Incorporating these standards into the classrooms would be beneficial though in teaching students many lessons that they can use post-school days. Since these standards are a few years old, my hope is that maybe more and more these things are starting to be implemented into lessons and curriculums by teachers and administrators alike.
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Crissina Kemp
2/14/2013 06:33:23 am
I agree that the standards are reasonable, but I could see how they could be difficult for teachers to incorporate in current curriculum, particularly when they have to focus on teaching areas covered in standardized tests. I can also see how these standards could be difficult for teachers to implement who are not familiar with new technology or have been teaching for a long period of time and have their curriculum pretty set it stone. It would be helpful for school districts to provide training for teachers on ways to implement the technology and make sure these standards are covered within the curriculum. Also, the rapid changes in technology could make it difficult to constantly make sure these standards are being taught and met, and I can see where it could get pretty frustrating for teachers.
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Dane Frazier
2/14/2013 01:18:31 am
I like the standards and see no reason why we cant have these standards in the classroom. Everything that was talked about is important to academic excellence at all levels and in the real world. We will all need to problem solve, research, and learn how to use technology, communicate and live ethically together. All of this is important and should take priority over some of the things that we are currently doing in our school systems. It is always important to remember that technology is continually evolving and growing and will most certainly be a major part of the future. It is our job to ensure that the current students are properly prepared to use this technology to the fullest extent.
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Crissina Kemp
2/14/2013 05:31:07 am
After reading the blog question for this week, I started brainstorming and jotting down important skills students should be taught to be prepared for college and beyond other than cores areas such as reading, writing, and arithmetic. These skills included both oral and verbal communication skills, analytical and proglem solving skills, critical thinking skills, initiatve, and research skills. As of I read through the standards and realized most of these skills were included in the standards. I noticed most standards we reviewed were related to technology but could be carried over into the classroom. These standards do provide teachers with good guidelines when transitioning to utilizing new technology to teach students.
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Troy Holbrook
2/14/2013 10:56:34 am
I find it interesting how the ISTE.Net has taken the digital initiative and applied the modes learning, i.e. cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills to the specifics of learning in the digital realm. In addition, the Bloom’s taxonomy is also embedded into the six categories reflected in the website link.
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Zech Bowman
2/14/2013 12:05:39 pm
This certainly is possible. But I think the way it is implemented should be a little bit of a build up process. Should kindergartners be introduced to a strong dose of technology? I do not think so. I really liked some of the emphasis on being able to look up and gather information from various forms of media and not entirely on technology.
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Mary McGee
2/15/2013 04:48:59 pm
I agree the list certainly seem doable but I worry that we are focusing too much on technology at too young of an age. I am floored that writing cursive is no longer a must, what we saw a youth, as the fundamentals are being left behind in order to catch up with the technological times.
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Cassandra Nappier
2/16/2013 03:11:24 pm
Mary,
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Dane Frazier
2/17/2013 11:38:23 am
I also agree that we are focusing on technology now more then ever and sometimes we don't focus on some of the things that teachers focused many class room hours teaching such as cursive. I do believe though that it is very important to teach technology to our youth because it is the way of the future.
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Armegis Spearman
2/19/2013 09:58:47 am
I beleive these standards can be realized and are quickly becoming a necessity with the continual change in technology and education. The fact that our schools can barely afford to pay teachers or provide the necessary tools/books for students are just a few of the issues for concern. How can we afford to supply all of this new sensetive tchnology to immature students with the budget allowed to most school districts. In dealing with student athletes, I witness many of them that cannot hold a true conversation nor are they capable of speaking in front of crowds or their own peers and teammates.I beleive there is definitely a fine line in the approach that we take in the future education of our kids and there has to be a balanced approach between technology and the basic foundation of traditional learning and communication skills. I also realize that without consistent strides in the implementation of tech programs, our kids will definitely fall behind the rest of society. This issue will not go away and will always be a part of our educational society for the forseeable future.
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Class BlogThis blog is for class conversations for Ed 514 at Central Methodist University. We invite input form other teachers about how they use technology in their classrooms. Archives
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