ISTE Standards
Technology is an important part of our society. It is becoming a major teaching tool that is being used in most every classroom. As a future educator, it is important for me to continue my learning and understanding in the realm of technology, gaining skills and tools that I can provide and use with my students. As the first half of my MAT program comes to a close, I am able to reflect on the projects I have worked on and created thus far that have allowed me to work towards proficiency on the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) standards. Although I have yet to completely master these standards, I have made effort towards meeting them through many different individual and collaborative technological projects.
Learner: Educators continually improve their practice by learning from and with others and exploring proven and promising practices that leverage technology to improve student learning. Educators:
a) Set professional learning goals to explore and apply pedagogical approaches made possible by technology and reflect on their effectiveness.
b) Pursue professional interests by creating and actively participating in local and global learning networks.
c) Stay current with research that supports improved student learning outcomes, including findings from the learning sciences.
My Reflection:
Throughout my technological learning environments course, I was able to improve my skills and learn how to use tools that can be used in my future classroom, as instructional tools as well as student resources for their own learning. One of these projects was an animated presentation video that I created using a website called Powtoon. Through this project, I learned the process of making a motion video, including researching a topic, writing a script, recording audio, choosing images, and adding animations. This project allowed me to expand my knowledge with a tool that I was unfamiliar with. Animated presentation videos can be used as an engaging instructional tool, as well as a tool students can use to present their knowledge of a subject. Another project that I worked in this technology course was a tool called a webquest. This is an interactive digital lesson that students navigate through to complete a task. This project allowed me to further my learning and understanding of how to create a digital lesson that was clear enough for students to follow on their own. This type of interactive digital lesson is another pedagogical approach that I plan on using in my future classroom. This webquest allows to students to learn about a topic through their own research, expanding their understanding of the content as well as a technological tool. These projects are examples of my progress toward meeting this standard.
Evidence:
Leader: Educators seek out opportunities for leadership to support student empowerment and success and to improve teaching and learning. Educators:
a) Shape, advance and accelerate a shared vision for empowered learning with technology by engaging with education stakeholders.
b) Advocate for equitable access to educational technology, digital content and learning opportunities to meet the diverse needs of all students.
c) Model for colleagues the identification, exploration, evaluation, curation and adoption of new digital resources and tools for learning.
My Reflection:
Throughout my technology course, I feel as though I have grown as a technological leader. Before this course, I thought of myself as a moderate when it came to using technology. Through different projects, I was able to expand my knowledge of technological tools. I was then able to help my peers with their own projects with my new found knowledge. One project that allowed me to become a technological leader was my teacher website. While creating this website, I spent hours navigating around Wix.com to find different elements to include on my website. I experimented with many different elements to find the ones that I wanted to include. By experimenting with these different elements, I was able to help peers with their own teacher websites, assisting them with design elements as well as attaching links to their site. Another project that I created in this course that allowed me to make progress toward meeting this standard was my animated presentation video. This project allowed me to learn the process of creating a motion video that can be used as an instructional tool in the classroom. This is a tool that I believe can benefit students who need visual support to understand a complex topic. As I continue to work toward meeting this standard, my hope is to model to colleagues and other educators how animated presentation videos can be beneficial tool for students in their classroom.
Evidence:
Citizen: Educators inspire students to positively contribute to and responsibly participate in the digital world. Educators:
a) Create experiences for learners to make positive, socially responsible contributions and exhibit empathetic behavior online that build relationships and community.
b) Establish a learning culture that promotes curiosity and critical examination of online resources and fosters digital literacy and media fluency.
c) Mentor students in safe, legal and ethical practices with digital tools and the protection of intellectual rights and property.
d) Model and promote management of personal data and digital identity and protect student data privacy.
My Reflection:
Because technology is so commonly used in the classroom today, students need to understand their responsibility when creating personal pages or projects. Throughout my technology course, I have progressed toward meeting this standard for myself. I have learned valuable information about online safe and legal practices while creating many different projects. One of these projects was a video podcast. This was a project where myself and a colleague worked together to research and present a person who worked toward social justice. This project required us to use information and images from many different sources on the internet. Through this process, I was able to learn how to safely and legally cite and use these sources for an educational purpose. Another project that allowed me to model and promote management of personal data was my teacher website. This website provided one place to present my projects and lessons that I have created. Through the creation of this website, I have begun to create my digital identity for students, parents, and the public to view.
Evidence:
Collaborator: Educators dedicate time to collaborate with both colleagues and students to improve practice, discover and share resources and ideas, and solve problems. Educators:
a) Dedicate planning time to collaborate with colleagues to create authentic learning experiences that leverage technology.
b) Collaborate and co-learn with students to discover and use new digital resources and diagnose and troubleshoot technology issues.
c) Use collaborative tools to expand students' authentic, real-world learning experiences by engaging virtually with experts, teams and students, locally and globally.
d) Demonstrate cultural competency when communicating with students, parents and colleagues and interact with them as co-collaborators in student learning.
My Reflection:
Collaboration is an important part of learning. Collaborating with peers and colleagues allows us to expand our knowledge and widen our skill set in different areas. During my technology course, I was able to collaborate with my peers and my mentor teacher to create projects that displayed this new found knowledge. One of these projects was my video podcast. This project required myself and a peer to collaboratively research a social activist and create a video podcast that presented all of our research. Together, we were able to learn how to utilize technological applications such as iMovie and Garageband, both of which I had never worked with before. Through this process, I was able to learn from my research as well as learn from the knowledge of my partner. Another project that required collaboration was my Project TEAM. In this project, I needed to collaborate with one of my mentor teachers to create an expressive arts lesson plan for 29 first grade students. After we discussed the topic of the lesson, my mentor teacher videotaped myself teaching the lesson. Afterwards, we debriefed on what went well in the lesson and what could be improved for next time. Because of this collaboration, I was able to better reflect on how my lesson went, focusing on many positive areas, as well as areas that could be improved upon. As I continue to collaborate with students, parents, peers, and colleagues throughout my teaching career, I will continue to work toward meeting this standard.
Evidence:
Designer: Educators design authentic, learner-driven activities and environments that recognize and accommodate learner variability. Educators:
a) Use technology to create, adapt and personalize learning experiences that foster independent learning and accommodate learner differences and needs.
b) Design authentic learning activities that align with content area standards and use digital tools and resources to maximize active, deep learning.
c) Explore and apply instructional design principles to create innovative digital learning environments that engage and support learning.
My Reflection:
Throughout this technology course, I was able to design many different projects that allowed me to progress toward meeting this standard. There are many elements that go into the design process. Simplicity of the tool is one main element. These tools need to be easy to navigate for students, parents, and colleagues to ensure that they are using the tool for its intended design. The next element is intentionality. I had to be intentional about what I was putting on these projects to again ensure that it was being used for its proper purpose. One of these projects was my webquest. In this project, I was to create a digital lesson task that aligned with content area standards and used different resources to maximize in-depth learning. This project allowed me to identify my target audience (in this case, fourth grade students) and create a task designed to promote critical thinking and deepened understanding of a specific subject through individual research. Another project that allowed me to create an innovative digital learning tool was my animated presentation video. This project allowed me to present information in a unique and engaging way. I was able to manipulate different images and record my own audio to ensure that my ideas and deepened understanding was presented in a way that was easy to follow. This is a project that I would love to implement in my future classroom, as an instructional tool as well as a project for students to create.
Evidence:
Facilitator: Educators facilitate learning with technology to support student achievement of the ISTE Standards for Students. Educators:
a) Foster a culture where students take ownership of their learning goals and outcomes in both independent and group settings.
b) Manage the use of technology and student learning strategies in digital platforms, virtual environments, hands-on makerspaces or in the field.
c) Create learning opportunities that challenge students to use a design process and computational thinking to innovate and solve problems.
d) Model and nurture creativity and creative expression to communicate ideas, knowledge or connections.
My Reflection:
As a teacher, I am a facilitator in the classroom. I facilitate discussions and group learning to encourage student participation and achievement in the classroom. This is no different with technology in the classroom. Through my technology course, I was able to create projects that allow me to be a facilitator of students’ learning. One of these projects in my webquest. This is a student-led task where students navigate through the lesson at their own pace and research the specific topic. As students are participating in this task, I am facilitating their learning. Through the webquest lesson, I have provided resources for the students to use, as well as questions to help prompt their thinking. I created this lesson to challenge students to be innovative and solve problems. Another project that allowed me to progress toward meeting this standard is my podcast. Through this project, I was able to model a creative, yet simplistic way to present information. This is a project that, when used in the classroom, will allow me to facilitate discussions centered around social activism and social justice. In the future, I plan to create more video podcasts as a way to expressively communicate ideas. This can also be a tool students use to present their knowledge and understanding in a unique and expressive way.
Evidence:
Analyst: Educators understand and use data to drive their instruction and support students in achieving their learning goals. Educators:
a) Provide alternative ways for students to demonstrate competency and reflect on their learning using technology.
b) Use technology to design and implement a variety of formative and summative assessments that accommodate learner needs, provide timely feedback to students and inform instruction.
c) Use assessment data to guide progress and communicate with students, parents and education stakeholders to build student self-direction.
My Reflection:
Throughout my technology course, I reflected many times on the projects and tools that I was creating. I use this self-reflection to help guide my lesson planning and future projects. Reflection on my learning with the use of technology was presented in my Project TEAM assignment. In this project, I was to record an expressive arts lesson with first graders. Once I had completed the lesson with the students, I was to watch the recordings with my mentor teacher and discuss the different aspects of the lesson, positive comments and constructive feedback. With this information, I used iMovie to combine my video clips into a cohesive product. I then reflected on my lesson through audio recording. I imported this audio reflection into my video to create a document that provided explanation of the lesson and my own reflection on how the lesson went and what I could change for next time. Through this project, I am able to identify students’ needs and my own teaching skills and use this feedback to inform future instruction. This standard is still a work in progress for me. I have put effort into projects that help me move forward in meeting this standard. In the future, I am hoping to utilize more technological applications and sites that allow me to assess students formatively and summatively and provide feedback in a timely manner.
Evidence:
