Describe how you can apply the current use/role technology plays in the day-to-day life of students
(include social networking) in your classroom to help achieve the six educational standards identified by ISTE for students.
There are many ways to use technology for every day use in the classroom and meet the ISTE standards. The first standard is creativity and innovation. The students can create many things online including wikipages, Prezis, YouTube videos and even Facebook groups. When students need to present, the world of technology is open for them to use to present in new and create ways instead of merely creating a PowerPoint slide or slapping information down on a poster.
The second ISTE standard for students is communication and collaboration. It is a great idea for students to have a Facebook group and communicate through the Facebook group about what they have learned that day, homework questions, and so on. Blogging is also a good idea for students to communicate through. Students could post their papers or ideas on a blog and other students could have a discussion through comments and feedback. This is also a great way to share ideas online and work as groups together. The great thing about the internet is that everyone in the world has access to it and students in America can cooperate with students from other parts of the world.
Next, the ISTE standard for students is to research information and fluency. Students are already constantly Googling information for their papers or researching ideas for topics to write about online. It is a great idea to allow students to research information online and have them blog about it daily. However, it is important for students to recognize the difference between reliable websites and ones that the information may not be entirely correct on, such as Wikepedia.
Standard of ISTE addresses critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making. A great practice for students is to go online and do their homework for practice problems. This is a fun way for students to practice their critical thinking and problem solving as well as working on their skills. For example, there is a website called Freerice.com. Teachers can create a group on this website and students can practice their vocabulary. The great thing is that for every answer students get correct, they donate ten grains of rice to help feed hungry children. There are a dozen other websites online that are similar to this website but for other content areas, like math or science.
The fifth standard of the ISTE is digital citizenship. Online bullying has recently become a problem in the world and particularly in schools. I think it is important for students to go online and maybe keep a journal to report some online bullying they might see when they go online. In addition, it is important for students to learn what is acceptable to go on when they are online and the importance of being nice to others online. Learning this in the classroom from an early age can prevent the bullying that may not go on in school, but also outside of the classroom.
The final ISTE standard is to understand technology operations and concepts. It is important to give a small tutorial to make sure students understand how to work Microsoft Word or how to upload a podcast. If there is new technology out there (which there always will be) it is important that students are using it. For example, in ten years there may be a new social networking site or form of Skype. Students should understand how to use this new technology and explore with it. It may help them to be assigned homework with the new social networking site such as creating a page or a group and then using this site in the classroom.
Reading over these standards, I realized that technology in the classroom is not something I always thought about. I worry more about the subjects I will need to teach. However, technology is almost like its own subject and it needs to be taught just as much as other subject needs to be taught. It is just as important that students learn a little bit about technology everyday and utilize the technology they have as it is important to learn English or Science.
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