The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) is an organization committed to providing guidance to teachers and administrators “as they transition schools from Industrial Age to Digital Age places of learning” (ISTE, 2011). ISTE has formalized its core objectives into the National Education Technology Standards (NETS), which have been differentiated for each group in the education system: NETS-T for teachers, NETS-S for students, and NETS-A for administrators (ISTE, 2011). These standards are importance because they establish criteria for technology competence that should to be incorporated into my curriculum whenever possible.
I recognize the value of including technology education in the classroom, however, as a pre-service teacher, the question I have to answer is how. Dr. Donald Leu of the University of Connecticut has created several lectures regarding projects and methods for achieving the NET-S goals.
Dr. Leu recommends four models for teaching with the Internet: Internet Workshops, Internet Projects, WebQuests and Internet Inquirty. Similarities among the four models include opportunities to develop competency in the NET-S goals: learning about internet safety; using technology effectively and productively to conduct research and use web-based information (ISTE, 2011); developing critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making skills in order to evaluate the validity (or bias) of web-based information (ISTE, 2011); and the importance of collaborating and sharing information (ISTE, 2011). (Leu, 2002)
The differences among the models are a result of each model’s purpose. An Internet Workshop is designed as a simple group-research activity that can be adapted to most curriculum units. It is effective in developing content knowledge, strategies for finding and using Internet information resources, and develops skills for collaboration. An Internet Workshop is best used with open-ended questions related to the curriculum unit, thus allowing students to find and collaboratively present multiple-sources of information. Collaborative contribution to the curriculum unit is the primary object. An Internet Project includes all the objectives of the Internet Workshop but its goal is to have an inter-classroom, possibly an international experience to solve a problem or simply to increase understanding. Web-Quests are internet projects that have already been established online. Clear directions and a list of resources required for participation is provided online. Internet Inquiry is distinct in that the topic of research is student-directed (Leu, 2002).
My collaborative teacher has informed me that there is no smart board available for the classroom. Technology in the classroom is limited to an overhead projector and a portable, shared projector unit for the computer. I personally have a projector that will integrate with my computer and the classroom is equipped with a rolled-up white screen, so I will be able use power point presentations and web-based resources. After considering the NET-S standard and Dr. Leu’s discussion, I believe an Internet Inquiry project will be very compatible with my curriculum to bring a discussion of current events in science into the classroom.
References:
Leu, D.J., Jr. (2002, February). Internet Workshop: Making time for literacy [Exploring Literacy on the Internet department]. The Reading Teacher, 55(5).
International Society for Technology in Education, 2011. Standards for Global Learning in the Digital Age.
I have a few concerns with your post... First, your post, while informative and related, is more like a paper than it is a response to two questions. You don't actually get to answering the question that I asked about the four models until the third paragraph in your response. With blog posts, you want to be concise and to the point. I appreciate your discussion of the NETS and Leu - however, these are not necessary. If you want to connect the models to the NETS - you can do so in 1-2 sentences while you are discussing the similarities and differences, as required by the question.
ReplyDeleteFor citations - with the NETS.. the citation should be (ISTE, 2011) and for Leu, the citation should be (Leu, 2002).
In your references - you need to italicize the journal name and in your second reference I do not see a link to the web site - and the title of the web page needs to be italicized. Also - you need to put the year of publication in parentheses.
If you are citing two references in a sentence it should look like the following - in alphabetical order (ISTE, 2011; Leu, 2002).
You did a good job discussing the different models and identifying similarities as they relate to the NETS - but in future posts - try to be as concise as possible.
Nice attempt with APA!
How will you discuss current events in an Inquiry Project. A little more detail when you connect to your future classroom is required.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. I appreciate that blogs should be more concise,I will work on that in the future. I found a good reference for APA formatting so I will make sure to get that right from now on. Finally, I think including autonomous (e.g., student-directed), collaborative Internet Projects that investigate current events and theories of physics would be interesting for my students and me and (hopefully) increase their feeling of competency in Physics.
ReplyDeleteTake Care,
S