Thoughts on ISTE Essential Conditions

ISTE’s ESSENTIAL CONDITIONS: NECESSARY CONDITIONS TO EFFECTIVELY LEVERAGE TECHNOLOGY FOR LEARNING provides an excellent outline for districts to truly understand, and to challenge, their commitment in the use of technology education. The first component is that of developing a shared vision, which is extremely important and a huge challenge. Knowledge and comfort levels of the participants in this process will be quite varied. I think a “chicken and egg” scenario exists in determining whether the existence of a vision assists with setting direction, albeit naïve, or whether prior exploration and experience with technology is necessary to better inform the vision. Envisioning without experience is difficult, yet obtaining commitment and articulating direction, without everyone’s understanding, can be equally limiting. Developing a vision when participants have had too little experience limits the scope of understanding. Yet waiting to become more familiar with possibilities inhibits progress in a unifying direction. Leadership and planning are also critical factors in setting a course to follow. Interest seems to be there with the teachers, students and community. However, having time to “develop” this vision, especially among the many groups that need to participate in the dialog is an onerous task. The stake-holders need to be ready to put time and resources in and struggle with difficult decisions about how far out of the box, conceptually and financially, they want to extent. Having a plan is critical. It has been difficult in our district to focus on a consistent plan. The original plan included too many isolated skills that were separated from the classroom curriculum. We were about to head in the direction of adopting ISTE standards, when they announced a revision. Wisconsin DPI is also coming out with a draft of their standards, which goes beyond the ISTE standards. Without a clear plan students are left with a hodgepodge of experiences driven by how interested the teacher happens to be in technology. Our district invested in “Wireless” for all students K-12, which I believe was a very wise decision. This is the best tool to provide teachers with real integration and use of technology. It is necessary for “Any-time, Any-where” learning. The initial launch was chaotic, as expected. The network bogged down and problem areas needed to be identified to determine how this venture could stay up and running. It is clear that we continue to need to increase bandwidth, which has been a source of much frustration. There is an application process in our state which can only occur at given times in the year. The district is committed to the funds necessary but must “qualify” for the increased bandwidth. There will be a continual need for increased bandwidth, and I worry that the “approval process” won’t keep up with the need, causing teachers to abandon particularly innovative instructional opportunities. Staff development will be extremely important for administrators, teachers, and technicians. Groups such as #Amped Admin provide a sources of support for administrators in understanding the complexities and with envisioning the possibilities of integrating technology into their schools. Teachers will need ample opportunities to reconfigure their approach to teaching. A huge paradigm shift takes place when one begins to truly understand accessing information and communicating in a “technology rich” environment. Social media, Web 2.0 options, and even storing and accessing information using “tags” instead of nesting a series of folders is a gigantic shift in thinking. Time and resources need to be committed to supporting and nurturing these new patterns of thinking. Similarly, IT department staffing and ongoing staff development will continue to be an important aspect of a school’s success. This is the group that must understand the “back end” of all the technology necessary for teachers to transform their teaching to allow students to become 21st century learners. Plus, they need to be able to support teachers and administrators who will continue to “push the envelope”. Theirs is also a daunting task. Just as we have come to expect technology to be used in medical fields and production industries to keep patients alive and to produce “smart” cars, we must challenge educators to embrace technology and leverage its use in developing well-rounded, “intelligent” students. The ISTE Necessary Conditions document provides a realistic look at what this will take.