As I come to the end of my GAME plan process for this course, I am reviewing not only my GAME plan for my students, but more importantly, how to continue to incorporate the National Education Technology Standards for students and teachers. The technology may continue to evolve and change, and the software and hardware may go out of date, but the ideas of integrating technology will continue to press heavily on educators in the future.
As educators look to encorporate more elaborate programs for students, it is important to keep students thinking “creatively.” Technology is not a substitute for knowledge. As NETS-S Standard 1 states:
1. Creativity and Innovation: Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. Students will apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes. Students will also create original works as a means of personal or group expression.
I believe the key words in that standard are “original works.” It doesn’t matter the software used, as long as studentscare taught to think “outside the box” and develop their own thinking.
NETS-S Standard 2 deals with students using technology to enhance communication and collaboration.
“Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.”
As funding cuts continue to wreck school budgets (Our local school district just announced that they will be $4.5 million dollars short next year), schools need to look for creative ways to allow students to work together, even though they may not be sitting in the same area. I will allow students to work with partners in other classes, as long as they find positive ways to contribute to each other’s project. With the continued integration of wikispaces and blogs, this type of partner work will get easier. I even see the day when possibly half of our class sits not in our class, but sits at their home computer and participates “virtually” online. School districts need to look at ways of enticing students to enroll, and at ways to keep students interested in class. Our students are already thinking in a technology-based 21st Century literacy style, it is time for teachers and administrators to also move to the next generation of schooling.
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You make a very important point in your statement "Technology is not a substitute for knowledge." How true that is! It is easy to get caught up in the excitement of using new technology in creative ways in the classroom. We must make a conscious effort to be sure we use the technology to enhance the instruction, rather than replace it. Thank you for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteI think it is interesting how the NETS-S standard 1 is on creativity and innovation. I think for too long, standardized testing has caused teachers to "teach-to-the-test" and creativity is pushed aside. As a music and drama teacher, I see more and more students having less of an imagination. I like creativity and innovation being the number one standard in what is considered the basis for 21st century education. Our students need to learn to be creative again. I don't know how many times I have read those standards and yet reading it this time it really jumped at me.
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