ISTE Teacher Standards and Collaborative Professional Development Plans

Video Transcription

Hello there and welcome. In this lesson, we're going to take a closer look at how the ISTE teaching standards impact your practice and your professional development. Let's begin.

There's a huge difference between technology use and technology integration. When skilled educators are able to take advantage of the latest technologies available, students will benefit. However, in order to do this, teacher training is necessary, and that is where the ISTE standards for teachers can make a big difference. Collaborative teacher teams can work together to develop their professional growth plans that will help create and take advantage of technology-rich environments. It's not difficult for teachers to find opportunities to grow in the area of technology today. The ISTE standards can help frame feedback for that improvement.

The International Society for Technology and Education has established standards for students, coaches, teachers of technology, and administrators. In this lesson, we will focus on the standards they have set forth for teachers. They are to facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity. There are so many research and professional tools available out there that can help to do this. For example, apps like ThirtyHands, Vokey, Prezi, and PowToon can get students excited and help them demonstrate creativity.

Likewise, there are many tools that can help teachers design and develop digital age learning experience and assessments. Sites like IXL and TenMarks make it easy to blend learning and monitor progress. The third standard calls for teachers to model digital age work and learning. In my opinion, this is no longer an option but rather a necessity. We may have gotten to a place where our students know more than we do, but that doesn't mean we stop growing professionally. We can use tools like social media, flip lessons, and Google Classroom as part of our practice.

Next, we want to promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility. We can do this, for example, by modeling how to cite resources and also by taking measures to protect ourselves from online threats. But we must first seek out professional development in order to be able to know how to do this ourselves.

And finally, we as teachers have to engage in professional growth and leadership. There are ways to do this now without even leaving your home. Twitter chats, webinars, and online courses make it easier than ever for us to advance our own learning.

Just like with our work with children, technology should be embedded as part of our practice and not an add-on. If you look at teacher evaluation models like Danielson, there are plenty of opportunities for doing just that. By aligning professional teacher standards with ISTE for teachers, you are really demonstrating what it is you hope children to do.

For example, domain three in the Danielson model is instruction and component C is engaging students in learning. That can be aligned with the first ISTE standard-- to facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity. What better way to engage students in learning than by using an app, for example, called News-O-Matic to teach kids current events and reading. You wouldn't want to deny your students the opportunity to learn this way because you don't know how to use an iPad. The right thing to do would be to seek out help through collaborative PD to learn how.

Here's another example. Domain two is classroom environment and component A is creating an environment of respect and rapport. Here's what that might look like if aligned with the fourth ISTE standard-- promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility. As we begin to let more and more technology into our classrooms, it's important for all users to remember to practice digital etiquette and cyber safety. Students are never too young and teachers are never too old to explore these concepts at a deeper level.

As you can see, the ISTE standards for teachers can play a key role in increasing effectiveness in integrating technology as well as into content and pedagogy. In both these examples, for a teacher in the 21st first century to align the ISTE and Danielson standards shows a real dedication and understanding of what we're trying to do in schools, and that is prepare our students for college and career. Using these standards will help guide our own growth to help achieve that.

ISTE standards for teachers are also a great vehicle for meeting the goals in your professional growth and development plans. By taking one of the standards, you and a partner teacher can work collaboratively to plan initiatives that will extend your own learning. Think about the ways you can take a tired old lesson and bring it into the 21st century.

By adding them four C's-- creativity communication, collaboration, and critical thinking skills-- in the context of the ISTE standards, you will be improving your practice in reaching professional goals. And with a partner, you get the added bonus of feedback and support as you work towards that end. The ISTE standards actually played a key role in my personal involvement with organizing technology unconferences across the state of Rhode Island. It's something I would never have done on my own. However, I was working with two other colleagues that had a similar professional goal as mine-- to expand our knowledge of technology integration in the 21st century classroom.

The first thing we had to do was better educate ourselves on what technology integration looked like. We read, we talked, and we visited classrooms. That was us engaging in professional growth. Next came the leadership. We decided to step out of our comfort zone and plan an unconference ourselves. That is a perfect example of how we designed and developed a digital age learning experience-- in this case, for other teachers.

Let's summarize what was covered in this lesson. We began by introducing ISTE-- the International Standards for Technology and Education. Then we looked at them in conjunction with the Danielson Framework and gave some examples of how the two can be aligned. Finally, we discussed the application of standards in relation to professional development.

Here's a little food for thought. The ISTE standards are making their way into our professional lives more than ever. What measures have you taken to embrace them? For more information on how you can apply what you've learned in this video, check out the additional resources that accompany this presentation. There you'll find links useful for applications of the course material, including a brief description of each resource.

Thanks so much for watching. We'll see you next time.