This week I have been asked to begin developing a personal game plan. After visiting the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) web site (http://www.iste.org/) I have become familiar with the National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T), and found that there are two that I feel very comfortable with. The first standard that I like is number one: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity. This standard states that teachers use knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face to face and virtual environments. I think that any teacher who has chosen this profession should have the ability and accept the responsibility to promote student learning through inspiration and creativity. In a time of evolving technology it is the responsibility of all educators to prepare students for the future.
The second that I feel good about is the fifth: Engage in Professional Growth and Development. Considering that I am in my second year of graduate studies, I am a strong believer in the lifelong process of learning. There is no way to ever be completely competent in education because the world is ever changing.
The standard that is a bit questionable to me is: Model Digital-Age Work and Learning. This one is scary to me simply because I tend to be weary of the unknown. If I have plenty of time to learn something, there is a good chance that I will implement it. However, I have the narrow minded philosophy that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". The only way for me to open my mind is to force myself to try new things, and experience different types of technology in education. In a way, I am doing that now through graduate studies, but it has been tough at times. That is not to say that I haven't learned many valuable new strategies and skills related to technology. The next step I have to take is to actually implement the ideas that I have learned, and document the pros and cons of what I implement until I have the perfect concoction of educational tools.
The other standard that raised my eye brows was number four: Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility. This one somewhat goes along with the previous standard that I had mentioned. Yes, I do enjoy having knowledge of technology, but I have not been in the world of technology long enough to know all of the etiquette that goes along with it. Obviously, there are common sense issues that anyone could understand, but there is so much more that could be learned on my end. Through professional growth and experience I will learn what is and is not acceptable in the world of technology.
Resources:
National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at www.iste.org
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This was the first time I have ever visited the iste.org website, and I too learned about some areas that I am comfortable and uncomfortable with. As we learned last week, we have to become successful self-directed learners in order for us to improve our students’ learning experiences. Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer suggest that we make a GAME Plan to help us with this learning process. “The GAME plan enables you to customize your approach to learning tasks, to develop relevant skills that are important to you , and prepare you for lifelong learning” (Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer, 2009, 4). So if your two goals are to Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility and Model Digital-Age Work and Learning, how do you plan to take Action, Monitor your progress, and Evaluate whether the goals were achieved?
ReplyDeleteI believe that I am like you in the regard of if it ain't broke, don't fix it philosophy. We are learning so many new technologies within these courses that its kind of mind boggling. I am trying to take more of an initiative and to explore and keep an open mind. I hope to utilize some of the new technologies that we have been introduced to. I'm really looking forwarding to trying a podcast with my students. Are there any new technologies that we have discussed that you believe you will try to implement?
ReplyDeleteRegarding your comments on the digital age ethics, I think we are very much responsible for teaching our students the ethics such as citing the correct references from the web. Making sure that the information they put on the web is authentic and researched on. These are only the basis we also have to teach our students to evaluate the information they locate from the web. Also you are right that we need to be life long learners ourselves in order to instill that quality in out students.
ReplyDeleteNoreen Sheikh
Josh, I understand your apprehension with things that are not familiar to you. I think that's natural for a lot of us. I think a way of easing the apprehension is to seek out other teachers who have have already learned these skills - whether that be in our own school district or through the internet. I myself like having someone show me and then being able to do it myself. It makes me more comfortable with any new tool.
ReplyDeleteResponse to Kyingling,
ReplyDeleteThank you for asking about monitoring progress in order to make sure that I meet the goals set for myself. When I found out that this assignment was due Wednesday, I had to rush a bit to finish the assignment.
I think that the best way for me to keep track of what is working and what is not, is to keep a an updated electronic journal. I tend to do better with information on a computer than a hand written copy. This way I know where I can find information that I need.
Response to Suzie and John,
ReplyDeleteIt is always good to know that I am not the only person feeling apprehensive about things that are being incorporated in teaching. It doesn't always feel as though the growing pains that we endure as educators will lead to anything good, but the positive impact that new and different strategies have on students is usually pretty rewarding.
Thank you for the comments!
Noreen,
ReplyDeleteI agree that the responsibility of authenticity on the web is ours. I was wondering if there is more to ethics in technology that I do not know about.