ISTE Standards

I honestly didn't even know that the International Society of Technology in Education existed until last year when my husband was working on his Master's in Educational Technology. Through him I became a little bit familiar with the the NETS for students and teachers, but had never really gone through all of the standards and assessed where I stand with using technology in my high school Biology classes in reference to the standards. What I have chosen to do for this assignment is go through each of the NETS*S (standards for students) and evaluate where I believe myself to be within my own classroom/school and with my students.

Standard 1: I believe this standard is addressed by other courses that my students take. Basic technology skills are taught at the high school level in Keyboarding and Computer Tech I and II. Additionally, most students enter high school with a lot of prior knowledge in this area.

Standard 2: Again, I believe this standard is partially addressed in other courses. However, I definitely believe that I could address this standard more with my students. Appropriate and ethical use of technology is imperative to successful student use of technology. We discuss plagiarism as it relates to the Internet, but that is about it.

Standard 3: This standard is adequately covered in my Biology classes. Students work on several research projects throughout the school year during which they are required to share their information with peers in some format. Some students create PowerPoint presentations, some make brochures, etc.

Standard 4: I don't believe that I adequately address this standard with my students. Emailing and instant messaging is prohibited at my school, so other outlets of communication would be necessary. As I become more informed throughout this course and others in the master's program, I hope to become more familiar with tools that could be used by my students. I am already realizing that we could participate in online research projects, as well as create Web Pages and Blogs.

Standard 5: In conjunction with standard 3, standard 5 is adequately covered. As I mentioned earlier, students are required to work on several research projects throughout the year. Students collect their research from several Internet sources as well as utilizing library materials. One struggle with this standard is impressing upon students that some sources of information on the Internet are reliable, while others are not.

Standard 6: Using technology to solve problems in the real-world is one of the standards that I believe to be most lacking within my curriculum. As I mentioned above, I hope that the more I learn about technology, the better able I will be to address this standard with my students, perhaps by joining an online research project or possibly creating our own.

Overall, I believe I do a decent job of addressing the NETS*S with my Biology students, but I see now that there is much room for growth and improvement. Additionally, while looking over the NETS*T (standards for teachers) I realized that Standard IV (using technology in assessment and evaluation), in particular, needs work. Additionally, I feel that I need to become more active in trying to upgrade technology in our building. There is only a single teacher computer in my classroom. In order for students to utilize technology currently, we must travel to the library and use the computers there. However, I do realize that this is no excuse for inadequately addressing the NETS.