Saturday, April 6, 2013

Interactivity #5: A Standards-based Approach to Technology Integration

Due date: Wednesday, April 24, 5:00 PM

Interactivity #4 required you to select a lesson plan and to identify teaching strategies that ideally achieve content standards in your particular subject area. For Interactivity #5, you will explore a second layer of standards that both students and teachers are expected to achieve: The National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S) and The National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T).

For this purpose you will collect some basic data from a classroom teacher of your choice (currently working in a school that can be in New Jersey or out-of-state) about the impact of national technology standards and to what extent they are taught, integrated and achieved. Keep in mind, the NETS are not considered a separate subject area. They should be accomplished throughout your pedagogy/teaching strategies as you teach toward your curriculum content goals. This is in contrast to the (Common Core) standards in Technology and Engineering that the National Assessment of Educational Progress will officially debut in 2014. [click here to see a draft of those standards]. You can see that there is overlap between the NETS and the NAEP's standards; however, the significant difference lies in technology as a separate subject area versus technology as a pedagogical means to another curricular end. For this interactivity, we will be using only the NETS-S and NETS-T because they are integrative by design. Update: Check out this link  that more closely aligns the Common Core with the NETS-S. You might find it useful, as the Common Core standards gain momentum.

Step One: Know Your Standards

First, become familiar with the NETS-S and the NETS-T. "Familiarity" means that you know how to locate them and you understand them. You can find them in Appendix B (pp. 127-130) in Rethinking Technology in Schools. Additionally, you can find Student Profiles for specific grade levels by [following this link]. The NETS were originally created in 1998 and then updated in 2007 and 2008 by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).


Step Two: Select a Classroom Teacher

Reach out to a teacher that you know from fieldwork in previous or current courses or a relative who is a teacher or any school district where you have a contact. Any teacher will do, but the optimal choice is to select a teacher within your content area and grade level. Ask the teacher if you can conduct a short interview about instructional technology use in their school and/or classroom. (If you are already a substitute teacher and/or working in a school district, you may complete this Interactivity in the school where you work).

Step Three: Interview the Teacher about the NETS

Once you have secured permission to interview the teacher (In-person, by phone, via email or using Skype are all acceptable methods), then use the following NETS Adoption Survey as a general guide on which to base your interview. Keep in mind if you submit your responses, you cannot retrieve them as they go directly to ISTE. So, record your responses in a separate document first. The survey questions are meant to generally assess whether the teacher and the school in which they work are successfully implementing the NETS-S. Here are some additional suggestions/considerations:

  • It is not uncommon for teachers to be unfamiliar with the NETS as many administrators are not trained in this area and cannot provide the leadership and support needed (see the NETS-A). It is therefore a good idea to present/email a copy or link to the NETS-S and NETS-T to your teacher for reference during the interview.
  • You must secure their permission if you voice record the interview. Be mindful of excluding anything that the teacher says is "off the record."
  • It is a good idea to let the teacher know that his/her identity will be concealed (although the school district and grade level will be mentioned) and that the interview data will be used only for purposes of a larger discussion in your teacher preparation program about technology integration in the K-12 setting.
  • Make sure to document in some way the teacher's responses to the questions—either through your interview notes, voice recording or email chain.
Step Four: Share and Reflect

Describe the teacher's responses in a narrative post/paragraph on your blogspot (approximately 400-500 words). Make sure to conceal the teacher's identity (to protect their privacy) and begin your post with some basic contextual information about the school setting (e.g., 9th grade math teacher in Nutley School District). As concisely as possible (in paragraph format) address the following questions:

  • Based on the survey responses, was this teacher knowledgeable about the NETS-S and/or the NETS-T? If not, what was their initial reaction when you presented those standards to them for the first time?
  • Has this particular school and/or district begun to implement the NETS-S and/or the NETS-T? If not, what other technology initiatives exist to increase students' proficiency and media literacy?
  • Were you surprised at any of the teacher's responses? Why or why not?
  • As a future educator, how would you speak to others within your school about the NETS-S and NETS-T?

Step Five: Add the NETS-S to your Interactivity #5 Spreadsheet—in the Standards Column alongside your content area standards.

Keep in mind that your strategies column as well as the technologies that were either included in the lesson plan or that you added should dictate what NETS-S indicator your students are achieving. Somewhere within your post, please provide the link to your Google Spreadsheet. It should be the same spreadsheet and link for Interactivity #4.

Your final score for this assignment will be calculated according to the following criteria:



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