Try to assess your “technological proficiency’ using the criteria listed in the ISTE (2008) document and in the Chickering & Ehrmann’ (1996) article, see to what extent these “ideal types” represent your digital competencies and skills acquired and used in your professional or educational context.
After critical examination of both Chickering & Ehrmann (1996) and the ISTE Standards for Teachers (2008), Implementing the Seven Principles strikes me as a set of best practices providing educators with viable options for actively engaging students. In other words, it is what educators should be doing on a daily basis while engaged in teaching their students. The ISTE Standards for Teachers provide educators with the opportunity to critically assess their practice of technology implementation and use while planning for successful integration of technology into pedagogical practice. While I do see some overlap, the Seven Principles seem to be what educators would do on a daily basis. For example, student-teacher contact most certainly encourages student motivation and involvement, whether technology is involved or not.
I do see the benefits to the Seven Principles in the classroom, and I most certainly see how technology in the 21st century has provided the opportunities through the affordances available. Example, active learning techniques has changed since I began my teaching career. Where I used to have a back and forth book for example, today I have my students blog. Student engagement has increased, along with synchronous and asynchronous learning opportunities. Providing prompt feedback in real time is also now possible through blogging and opportunities for students to work through affordances such as Google Drive. However, I often wonder when my student questioning does not stop when the bell rings at 2:30 and they are still asking questions well into the night, if this synchronous learning experience has created a ’24 hour teacher’.
- Which of the sets of criteria seem the most informative and relevant to your experiences?
As I discussed above, the Seven Principles are in my mind more of best teaching practice, and therefore something that I work hard at doing throughout my teaching practice. Therefore, the ISTE Standards for Teachers speaks more to the relevance of integration of technology into my daily pedagogical practice. Inquiry Based models of learning are certainly on the rise, and the relevance of promoting the solving of authentic problems and reflecting through collaborative tools best describes the application of the ISTE standards in the inspiration and creativity that technology affords in developing critical thinkers in the 21st century.
- Are there any other criteria that you normally use for assessing your technological proficiency?
While I have used the ISTE standards in previous MET courses, I have not specifically looked at how they could be used to assess my technological proficiency. I think that they will be beneficial to me as I incorporate technology in greater detail. In particular, I believe that it will enable me to ensure that I do not take the technology stance to far in lessons and have it become too much of the central focus within a lesson. I sometimes find that this happens with my Grade 7’s and there is a disconnect from pure engagement in the lesson to distraction. Without going into great detail here, criteria that I use when assessing technological proficiency at the moment comes through use of the Substitution Augmentation Modification Redefinition Model (S.A.M.R.) for technology integration.
- What are some of the “digital-age” skills that you plan to learn and start practising, or want to further develop?
In the near future, I hope to incorporate the promotion of stronger digital citizenship and responsibility in my students. As a grade 7 teacher, practicing and developing student strength in appropriate documentation of sources I believe is integral to successfully enabling students to give credit where credit is due. Further, developing student sense of culture and the different cultures throughout the world is of extreme importance. Digital communication and collaborative tools make this possible and provide synchronous opportunities for students to become more culturally aware.