So who should teach the NETS? The technology teacher/Instructional Technology Coach? The homeroom teacher? Counselors? Specialists?
Thanks go to my fellow COETAILer and future colleague, Tim Pettine for his posting of the video by Matthew J. Koehler and Punya Mishra-Thinking Creatively Teachers as Designers Content, of Technology, and Pedagogy. I thoroughly enjoyed and encourage readers to view the entire presentation. To keep things brief, Koehler and Mishra skillfully illustrate how educators work lies at the intersection of pedagogy, content, and technology. I have embedded part 5 of the 5 part video series in order to give the conclusion of their 40+ minute talk if you do not have the patience.
ISTE Music Video: Say Hey (I Love School)
Technology is a part of our daily lifes now. The connectivity that we experience with our laptops, desktops, handhelds, and so on has changed the way we not only access information, but produce content. I am thankful that ISTE has created a framework and standards for thoughtfully integrating NETS in education.
I thank ISTE for having a specific set of standards individualized for the role of students, teachers, coaches, and administrators. Having the key players in schools understanding their roles is beneficial for the bigger picture–improving student learning utilizing the technology that is available today. With the changes that have occurred with IT, it is important that educators can talk about the incorporation of IT using the same vocabulary and standards. How is IT being utilized in the music room, PE, 5th grade homeroom, etc.? How and where does the use of technology overlap? For example…How is the use of technology scaffolded so that the first graders reinforce and build upon the skills developed in kindergarten?
Searching the Internet, I found several school districts have already implemented use of the NETS. Many of the schools or districts that I saw, however, had the NETS as a stand alone document. I was able to find that Washington State had incorporated the tech standards with the subject area standards in what they called, Standards Crosswalk document.
I find that this way of documenting the tech standards along side the subject matter standards makes it a much more user friendly format. It is a given that teachers are busy, therefore, providing such resources to teachers, empowers teachers with the ability to evaluate current or past units of study and to identify how each lesson addresses standards in both the areas of tech and subject matter.
(A shout out goes to my colleagues–Mike Moody and Wouter Laleman, who found the Nets for Administrators booklet for me.) As I will be moving from the role of classroom teacher to the role of administrator, my lens on the question, “Who should teach the NETS?” starts to zoom out to the bigger picture. Is the current educational environment supportive of leveraging technology for student learning? ISTE highlights the aspects of the bigger picture with the Essential Conditions document.
The infrastructure needed for supporting (not only) a change in hardware , but also, a change in school culture is multi-faceted and crucial to supporting a Professional Learning Community and improving student learning. If teachers are expected to learn to use new hardware, software, incorporate new standards, change teaching practices, curriculum map, etc. then as many obstacles as possible need to be removed. As I once again put on my educational leadership hat,
Just as the African proverb goes, “It takes a village to raise a child”, now more than ever, I believe this saying holds true. With technological advances changing at such a rapid pace, it is a challenge to stay abreast of what latest technologies work the best to enhance student learning. Documents such as the NETS help keep the focus on student learning and provide a common lens for educators and students to look at what is happening with technology in the classroom.