[DD] - NETS Standards

NETS Standards - International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)

The International Society for Technology in Education’s NETS Standards states: “Simply being able to use technology is no longer enough. Today's students need to be able to use technology to analyze, learn, and explore. Digital age skills are vital for preparing students to work, live, and contribute to the social and civic fabric of their communities.”

This is extremely true, with virtually all jobs now requiring technology skills, all students need to leave school with certain technological skills in order to be successful.

Standard 1: Creativity and Innovation

Students learn these skills, such as generating ideas using existing knowledge and creative thinking, through the use of Web 2.0 sites and other technology schools for educational purposes.

Standard 2: Communication and Collaboration

Students learn how to communicate and collaborate using technology through the use of social networking sites and Google Docs and other document sharing and editing platforms.  These sites allow them to interact, collaborate, and publish items with their peers even when they are not in the classroom and working at home.

Standard 3: Research and Information Fluency

Students learn how to conduct research safely and efficiently online as well as organize their data and sources through organizational tools like bookmarking.

Standard 4: Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making

Students learn how to identify problems as well as investigate them, plan and manage projects/activities, and use data and research to create multiple solutions when they are allowed to use technological and internet based tools to work on classwork and projects both individually and in a group.

Standard 5: Digital Citizenship

Students learn how to practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology when technology is used and taught in the classroom.

Standard 6: Technology Operations and Concepts

Students need to understand and be able to use technology tools, choose proper applications for specific tasks, as well as troubleshoot problems regarding technology.  If these tools are used in classes, students will begin to learn these skills.

It is obvious, by looking at these standards, that these skills are imperative in order to be successful in school as well as after formal education.  From reading the articles previously explained in the blog posts, it is clear to see that if students do not have access to technology and internet based tools either at home or in school, they will be lacking these necessary skills.  If teachers begin to work these skills into their lessons, students will be able to acquire and develop these important skills.

[DD] - "21st Century Workforce Readiness" by 21st Century Leading and Learning Conference

"21st Century Workforce Readiness" by 21st Century Leading and Learning Conference

In 2009, leaders in education, business, and other organization held the 21st Century Leading and Learning Conference.

They found that "students need to have the tie in - that what they are learning has relevance to the career they choose."  We have seen, in the previous articles, that this is not the case since we are not integrating the technological tools and skills that these students use on a day-to-day basis into our curriculum and classrooms.

They believe that our schools need to inventory technological skills and identify gaps.  We should also have the students teach the teachers ho to use technology and how they envision these tolls being used in the classroom.  THIS IS A VERY INTERESTING POINT.  In the previous articles, we found that there is now a digital divide between students and their teachers.  Many teachers do not know how to use these tools and do not want to relinquish the control of their classroom, so they do not integrate them.  This point of having the students become the teachers for a moment is a very interesting, and not often tested out, point.

Some issues mentioned in the notes from the conference are that many schools have money issues and cannot afford to purchase technology.  They also believe we are not teaching our students to develop critical thinking skills and we are also not tapping into the knowledge base of students regarding technology.  Another issue that was mentioned was student home-life.  Many students do not have the support or tools at home in order to develop the skills necessary for workforce readiness.

This conference hit on many of the digital divide topics mentioned before, such as how not having access at home can affect student success in school and after graduation, and the new digital divide between student and teacher and how this is a barrier that is affecting our students' ability to ready for the technological workforce after graduation.

Click here for access to the notes from the conference.

[DD] - "A Nation of Opportunity: Building America's 21st Century Workforce - by US 21st Century Workforce Commission

"A Nation of Opportunity: Building American's 21st Century Workforce by US 21st Century Workforce Commission

This article stated that every American worker needs a proper education and training in order to be successful in our ever-evolving technologically based economy.  Job security rests on the skills and knowledge each person has - and many of our students are lacking some the skills necessary to be employable.  As technology continues to evolve, new jobs are created, and old jobs are eliminated or changed making it important that workers can be adaptable and lifelong learners.

There is currently a lack of American workers who can read and understand complex material, think analytically, and use technology efficiently.  EVERY American youth and adult needs to acquire a proficiency in using technology.  It has been seen from the articles previously mentioned, that this is just not the case.  "American schools need to make a sustained and continuous improvements so that students are prepared for postsecondary learning and 21st Century jobs.

The US 21st Century Workforce Commission states that making technology access and Internet connectivity universal is an important thing that needs to happen.  The "Digital Divide"reveals significant disparities based on income, race, education, and geography.  This "Digital Divide" is causing pockets of high unemployment in rural America, small towns, and inner cities.

Our schools are currently being taxed due to the fact that there are more children enrolling in our nation's schools (due to increased population), increasing the pressure on school's capacities and resources.  The Digital Divide also "threatens to exacerbates the economic disparities that already exist based on education and other factors.  This is causing more people to enter the US workforce with poor basic technology skills which are needed to employment nowadays.

The workforce commission also states that America needs curriculum aligned with tech skills starting in elementary schools so that students have the foundation necessary to build on these skills later in their education.  They also need access to technology and Internet (especially in rural and urban areas) that these inhabitants are not separated from the information economy and workforce.

As can be seen in this article, the current Digital Divide is causing these students to be a disadvantage once they graduate from school.  They are unable to secure a job since the majority of all jobs in the US require a certain level of technology skills.

Click here for the link to the article.

[DD] - “Trading Roles: Teachers and Students Learn with Technology” by Janet Fairman – Main Education Policy Research Institute

“Trading Roles: Teachers and Students Learn with Technology” by Janet Fairman – Main Education Policy Research Institute

This study focused on the implementation of one-to-one computing in the middle school classroom using laptops. The main finding of this research was that, due to increased technology usage (computers in the classroom), students became a valued source of knowledge and for help for both teachers and other students. It created a more reciprocal relationship between teachers and students.
The study explained how teachers and students both felt a shift in roles for both students and teachers. There is a gap in teachers’ and students’ technology skills and general comfort with using technology. Teachers self-rated their technology skills lower than their students (29% of teachers rated themselves advanced or expert while 47% of students rated themselves advanced or expert). This is showing that our students’ skills far surpass our own as teachers.
This study found that teachers needed to relinquish control of the class and allow the students to help and teach both themselves and other students. Many teachers fear the fact that they may not know how to do something and therefore, choose not to do it. They characterized this shift as a move from being the “keeper of knowledge” to one of a “learner” within a “community of leaners.”

[DD] - “Digital Divide Between Students and Teachers” by Frank Lovejoy – Classroom 2.0

“Digital Divide Between Students and Teachers” by Frank Lovejoy – Classroom 2.0

This article explains how students are “powering down” to go to school. Once school is over, they can “power up” and re-enter the digital world. Their teachers are so busy with the daily tasks of preparing lessons, quizzes, tests, and grading that they have little time or initiative to become tech-savvy like their students.

Many teachers lack the confidence to learn from their students. Many senior teachers do not care about incorporating such tools and want to teach the same way they have been teaching for decades. Professional development for these teachers just angers them even more.

School Board members are usually ill versed in the topic of technology and instead just make technology purchases without thinking of how they will be utilized in the current classroom/curriculum. For example, they purchase multiple SMARTBoards and have them installed in various classrooms.


If we are to close this digital gap between students and teachers, it does not require purchasing the newest technological gadget. It requires standard hardware and standard software and teachers who are comfortable with their strategies and tech level before they are pressured to train for new waves of educational technology.

[DD] - “Effects of Technology on Classrooms and Students” by Office of Educational Research and Improvement - U.S. Department of Education

“Effects of Technology on Classrooms and Students” by Office of Educational Research and Improvement - U.S. Department of Education

This research study looked at nine school sites where school staff members were active participants in incorporating technology in ways that support education reform. They found that when technology is used as a tool in the classroom or way to communicate with others, there is a shift in teacher and student roles. Students take an active role as opposed to the passive recipient of information transmitted from the teacher or textbook. The student needs to make choices about how to generate, obtain, manipulate, or display information.



The role of the teacher changes as well. They are no longer the center of attention or the sole dispenser of information. They play the role of facilitator, setting project goals, and providing guidelines. This shift in roles allows for increased motivation and self-esteem, technical skills, ability to accomplish more complex tasks, more collaboration with peers, increased use of outside resources, and improved design skills and attention to audience.

[DD] - “The Digital Divide in Students’ Usage of Technology Tools: A Multilevel Analysis of the Role of Teacher Practices and Classroom Characteristics” by Seung H. Kim and Joshua Bagaka – Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education

“The Digital Divide in Students’ Usage of Technology Tools: A Multilevel Analysis of the Role of Teacher Practices and Classroom Characteristics” by Seung H. Kim and Joshua Bagaka – Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education

This study chose to investigate the inequity in student experiences with technology across the school district, within the school, and among students. They found that the student to computer ratio is close to 5:1 or less (which was not the case in the early 1990s), yet there is still inequity in technology usage since many teachers and students do not properly implement them. Tying the improper use of technology in the classroom to SES is the fact that in lower SES schools, teachers will use the computer for basic skills review as opposed as for higher order literacy and cognitive schools, like the more affluent schools. 

The study did find that teachers lack of technology integration aid in the ever widening digital divide between students. They call for better technology integration skills and literacy to be included in higher education teacher preparation so that incoming teachers will know how to integrate technology into their subject matter and not just teacher computer literacy skills in isolation.