Take a look at the current 3-5 Michigan Educational Technology Standards:
http://www.techplan.org/METS2005Checklist.doc
There are 38 standards listing in the 3-5 Michigan Technology Standards. Obviously, we cannot spend equal time covering all 38 standards. Also, some standards are probably seen as more important than others to you. I have heard the argument that everything on this list is a standard, so it has to be taught. I want to focus this discussion on a more narrow thought.
Let's debate the 2-3 standards that you feel are the most important to teach to your students. Which 2-3 standards should we spend the most time teaching? Try to address the following points (please add any other thoughts you might have too):
- Which 2-3 standards will be most important to the student as they continue in education, as a lifelong learner, and as they become an adult?
- parents might want to see some standards covered more than others, but this is our chance, as a highly qualified educator, to show what standards we think need to be taught often
- Some standards might be on the verge of being "phased out", as new technologies are introduced
Dr. Amy Tracy Wells article: http://www.msu.edu/~wellsat/writings/Wells_&_Chen_2007.pdf
I personally think it is easier to talk about the standards I don’t teach and why, it is a much shorter list. Most of the other standards I think are pretty relevant or at least we can make them relevant. The standards I spend the most time on are Basic Operations and Concepts, and Technology Productivity Tools. Technology Research Tools is something I use somewhat as an introduction in early el, but spend much more time on it for upper el.
ReplyDeleteHere are the standards I don’t teach and why………
1-a-6 proofread and edit their writing using appropriate resources including dictionaries and a class developed checklist both individually and as a group.
I personally don’t touch on this standard too much because students are beginners in putting their ideas into words. I don’t have them do any proofreading except using a period at the end of a sentence or starting a sentence with a capital letter.
2-b-3 Students discuss the consequences of irresponsible uses of technology resources at home or at school.
I feel this standard is better suited for grades 3-5. I never have had a student at this age use a computer for inappropriate reasons.
4-a-1 Students will identify procedures for safely using basic telecommunication tools (e.g., e-mail, phones) with assistance from teachers, parents, or student partners.
Not a standard I touch on. We don’t talk much about e-mail at this stage of the game. They know what email is but don’t have any experiences with it.
5-a-2 Students will use a variety of technology resources (e.g., CD-ROMs, DVDs, search engines, websites) to locate or collect.
I don’t touch on this standard since we do not have CD-ROMs or DVD’s as a choice for technology resources.
5-c-1 Students can provide a rationale for choosing one type of technology over another for completing a specific task.
Rationale for choosing a type of technology? Not at this stage of the game. Too much of a higher level thinking standard for this age group.
My top 2 standards are:
ReplyDelete3. Technology productivity tools.
a. Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity.
4. Technology communications tools
b. Students use a variety of media and formats to communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences.
############################################
I think the above standards are important and lifelong because they focus on producing something. I think parents like to see this standard covered, especially when students bring parents for the fall conferences to see what they have designed. I think students like bringing in their parents because the product showcases their own creativity.
My favorites are digital story telling projects that team up with the 3rd and 4th grade general ed teachers on a writing project that they have to cover anyhow. Students get to bring their stories to life during the animation process, while mixing in a favorite song, sounds, photos, clipart and their own voice.
I also like to use a variety of engaging, interactive websites that give immediate feedback to students and lead them to make decisions. I see these websites as tools that enhance learning. I especially like finding good ELA, science, social studies and math websites that tie into the core GLCEs for any given grade level.
Another question for you all to ponder. As a technology leader at your school, how would you back up your choices for the 2-3 standards to spend the most time teaching to parents or administrators for today, 2 years from now, and 10 years from now?
ReplyDeleteIn other words, why are the standards you choose important to the students future success?
ReplyDeleteThe 3 standards that I would like to spend the most time teaching are:
ReplyDelete________________________________________
5a1 Students use Web search engines and built-in search functions of other various resources to locate information.
4b1 Students use a variety of media and formats to create and edit products (e.g., presentations, newsletters, brochures, web pages) to communicate information and ideas to various audiences.
4a1 Students use basic telecommunication tools (e.g., e-mail, WebQuests, IM, blogs, chat rooms, web conferencing) for collaborative projects with other students.
________________________________________
I like to think about the big ideas that I want students to leave Hutchings with. So, I started with a broad picture (big ideas), and then found the standards that I think would help teach these big ideas.
Three big ideas I think are extremely important are:
1. Technology is used to learn
2. Technology is used to produce or create
3. Technology is used to communicate
5a1 would teach the students online search strategies so that they could learn information anytime, 24/7. No longer do students need to rely on a teacher or textbook to learn about a topic. Now, the information is EVERYWHERE. 5a1 gives students the experience they need to find what they want to learn about.
4b1 is all about creating something using technology. It is of upmost importance for my students to understand that technology can be used to create something meaningful and appropriate.
4a1 is a standard that I really want to do more of! Technology gives us incredible opportunities to communicate with others. Students can chat, share their creations, have discussions, share new sources, etc.
All three standards together work in what I call the Technology “Power Cycle”. Using Technology we LEARN, CREATE, & SHARE. Go online, search & learn. Produce something from what you’ve learned. Share your creation with others. Get feedback on your creation. More about the “Power Cycle” later.
Interesting discussion about standards. At our last PD days we were asked as middle school tech teachers to 1. Come up with a definition for what it means to be technologically literate, 2. Decide on a uniform way of assessing said literacy and 3. Decide on the "Power Standards" that we think are the most important of all of the standards we teach.
ReplyDeleteDilemma:
1. How do you define a literacy that is changing as we blink? Impossible.
2. There is no uniform way to assess said literacy.
3. The standards we are using currently (METS) are outdated. The NETS were revised in 2007 and no doubt will be revised again soon.
I personally believe that our 8th graders are no where near being "technologically literate" in spite of a perception by some that they are so by virtue of the fact that they are "digital natives." Sure, they know how to use their cell phones, instant messaging, iPods and My Space...but ask them to do research on the web and discern quality information from garbage and they fail miserably. Ask them how to apply the skills they do know natively to a broader life spectrum and they have no clue.
I'd be interested in knowing if you think that when these students leave you in the 5th grade they are well on their way to being technologically literate? As I see them in the 6th grade, I do not believe so and since I then only get them (remember, these classes are not required) for nine weeks maybe once, maybe twice and bingo...they are supposed to be ready for the 21st century...I don't think so!
Your thoughts...
Carole :-)
Carole said, “I personally believe that our 8th graders are no where near being "technologically literate" in spite of a perception by some that they are so by virtue of the fact that they are "digital natives." Sure, they know how to use their cell phones, instant messaging, iPods and My Space...but ask them to do research on the web and discern quality information from garbage and they fail miserably. Ask them how to apply the skills they do know natively to a broader life spectrum and they have no clue.”
ReplyDeleteCarole brings up some interesting points from her middle school perspective. I see a matching game, where we try to match our certain standards with some of the issues that Carole is seeing.
• “…ask them to do research on the web” = which standard?
• “…discern quality information from garbage” = which standard?
• “…apply skills they do know to a broader life spectrum” = what standard?
I look at it like this: “You know best, what you do most”. Our students have been born into a culture of easily accessible technologies. They have been using these technologies for their entire life, informally, with little or no formal instruction on how to use these technologies (check out a great article from my friend, Dr. Amy Tracy Wells, which deals with this topic: Social Capital and Technology Instruction.) I posted a link to this article at the top of the “Choose Wisely” post.
With the little time we have to inject some kind of instruction in our student’s lives, where could we best focus this instruction on what our students will need in their future, not our past?
Carole said, "Ask them how to apply the skills they do know natively to a broader life spectrum and they have no clue. "
ReplyDeleteCheck out a quote from Mike Wesch's Blog, Participatory Media Literacy: Why it matters: "We use social media in the classroom not because our students use it, but because we are afraid that social media might be using them - that they are using social media blindly, without recognition of the new challenges and opportunities they might create."