Standards # 1

There are three organizations that have helped shape the way that technology is taught in Texas today. Two of those three are government ran organizations: the Texas Education Agency and the Texas State Board for Educator Certification. The third organization, the International Society for Technology Standards, is an organization that was developed in 1979 for educators world-wide who were interested in bringing Technology into the school system.

Now that we are in the 21st Century all three organizations have a set of technology standards that serve as an avenue for both educators and students alike, to be able to plan, teach, learn and collaborate together! The Texas Education Agency added Technology Standards to the previously developed TEKS and named them Technology Application TEKS. The State Board for Educator Certification came up with standards for teachers who were interested in specializing in Technology Education. The standards are called the Master Teacher Technology Standards. Finally, the ISTE came up with a set of standards and performance indicators for both teachers and students. They call them the National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S) and Teachers (NETS-T).

One of the central connections between all three sets of standards is the idea that Technology should be integrated into the classroom. All three organizations promote the teaching and learning of digital software, computer systems, and the acquisition of electronic information. The Technology Application TEKS were designed as a curriculum specifically for students. Teachers are provided with strands that explain what students should know and be able to do. The teachers then take these strands and incorporate them into the already established TEKS for their curriculum so that students have an opportunity to use technology in the content that they are already studying. Similar to the Technology Application TEKS are also the National Educational Technology Standards for Students developed by the ISTE. One of the ways in which the NETS-S and the TEKS mirror each other are in the fact that they both emphasize student problem-solving in relation to technology. For example, Technology Application TEKS # 7 says “the student uses appropriate computer-based productivity tools to create and modify solutions to problems.” At the same time, the NETS-S # 4 says “Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources.” The students in my middle school are very social but at the same time they lack the critical thinking skills that they so desperately need, to work out daily problems. I have discovered that when you have the students work in small groups toward a common goal on something that they enjoy doing and something that they have to think about and plan out and design for themselves that it really helps them to tap into their creative side and gives the more opportunities for critical thinking and active learning.

In contrast to the NETS-S and the TEKS, there are specific technology standards that have been developed just for teachers. These standards help teachers develop lessons so that they can instruct students on how to use technology in the classroom. These standards are different in the fact that they describe what teachers should know and be able to do. The NETS-T and the MTT are both standards that focus on how the teacher should use technology in the classroom. Since both of these standards were designed with the teacher in mind there is a big emphasis on being a resource, modeling how to do something, and also continuing professional development in the area of educational technology. For instance, NETS-T # 5 says that teachers should “continuously improve their professional practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit leadership in their school and professional community by promoting and demonstrating the effective use of digital tools and resources.” The MTT Standard V says, “the master technology teacher facilitates appropriate, research-based technology instruction by communicating and collaborating with educational stakeholders; mentoring, coaching, and consulting with colleagues; providing professional development opportunities for faculty; and making decisions based on converging evidence from research.” As a 7th grade teacher at a middle school, I realize how important it is to be a resource not only for my students but also for my teachers. This year I have had the opportunity to work in two different classrooms with two different teachers and show them how to use PowerPoint to teach an effective lesson. The best part was that I even learned some new things about PowerPoint that I never knew!
As you can see, even though each of the standards that we have talked about focus on different populations of the school but all really have the same desire. They have the desire to teach, inspire, educate, and activate the minds of 21st century learners into a world where Technology and Education are becoming one!