21st Century Teaching and ISTE
21st century skills are not just for students.
Gone are the days of the solitary teacher working alone. Educators work collaboratively in Professional Learning Communities. We have moved from “teaching” to “learning”, from the “sage on the stage” to the “guide on the side”. Teachers are facilitators, experts in the field of investigation and the art of learning. The classroom is differentiated with each student’s background knowledge and learning styles taken into account in the design of each and every lesson. Metrics are constantly and seamlessly taken, evaluated and used to refine learning activities though we endeavor to teach the whole child and not just the data. Standards are increasing, stakes are higher, the range of student skills entering the classroom is different, the demands of society are rapidly changing and teachers are asked to add technology to the mix?
Truth be told, it is a bit much. The trick is to realize that these are not separate and independent mandates. Through the proper leveraging of technology teachers can stream-line assessment in the classroom as well as student peer-evaluations, student self-evaluations, pretests and independent learning paths. More importantly the 21st century skills necessary for students to succeed post secondary life are the very same skills teacher need to survive and thrive in this new educational environment. It is my hope to share what I have learned (and am learning) to help teachers find their “new normal”.
The International Society for Technology in Education has set forth a set of standards as a guide for education in the classroom. The thing I love about the ISTE standards are that they have aligned standards for students, teachers and administrators.
The student ISTE standards have been updated for 2016 and a refresh is currently in the works for the teacher standards. Standards 3 and 5 emphasize that teachers are to model the use of technology with students, parents, peers and the community at large. Once teachers become digital learners, it is much easier, or at least a little more comfortable, for them to become digital educators. Like most things this works best when embraced by the organization as a whole.
Here is my EdTechTastic Pinterest board to get the juices going:
https://www.pinterest.com/heatherpedraza/edtechtastic/
The new standards for teachers should reflect those of the students. I will be adding pinterest boards that are specifically tagged for each standard in the near future.
