Chapter 2:Unpacking the ISTE Standards for Students - Part 2

 Chapter 2:Unpacking the ISTE Standards for Students - Part 2

Date: 16th Feb 2024/ 2:43 pm Friday

This is another interesting post that will give you all a much needed clarity about the ISTE Standards for the students. This post is based on my understanding and knowledge gained from the ISTE online course titled “ISTE Standards for Students''. I had been thinking of joining the online course to further deepen my understanding about the application of the ISTE standards in the curriculum. I am glad that I joined the course online a day back. I have skimmed through module 1 and I would take this opportunity to share my understanding through this blog post. Also I remember while working as the Manager for Edtech at a school some months back I had the opportunity to revise the computing curriculum in the light of the ISTE Standards.  I did some work and I would like to review in light of the course.

Let's begin by exploring some key concepts or ideas that I really liked in the module skimmed so far. An interesting activity was unpacking the standard into different components, these include the standard number, indicator, standard statement, standard, indicator number/letter. I also liked the video which explains the misconceptions about the ISTE Standards. The video explains using simple and common terms and examples linked to real life. It begins with a customer sitting in a restaurant. He is offered a 5 course ISTE Standards meal. The first misconception about the standards is that they can be only used by tech people and not everyone else, whereas ISTE standards can be used by students, teachers and admin people. There is no restriction that ISTE Standards should be used all together or individually, meaning at times only a few or one may be applicable to a lesson, and that is fine. It should be used where it empowers student learning and enhances teaching. 

The ISTE standards are not the main ingredients or the first or the last ingredient, they can be used at any point in a lesson where it helps deepen learning and take teaching to a higher level. The ISTE Standards are not for evaluation or assessment of teaching nor learning but enhancing and deepening learning. The iSTE Standards can be integrated in any subject, there are no restrictions. Also it is not a one time thing or requirement, like having a desert full of sugar all at once. It can be applied in lessons where it transforms teaching and learning, this can be more then one or two areas.

The early year students in schools in Pakistan are working on technology in their classrooms, they are introduced to basic technology concepts and operations in early years. Some schools have introduced programmable toys or robots like bee bots. The Empowered learner 1.1d standard could be applied in this case, where the early year students explore the edtech tools, recognize the tools they see in the environment, talk about them, create a digital portfolio and share in a collaborative forum. In this case only one indicator of a standard is applicable here and it seems fine. Even Empowered Learner 1.1b could be applied here, students are learning about various technologies to connect with others, to enhance learning etc. The addition here is that all this work has to be done in the presence of a teacher, with her guidance and support, not alone (this I came to know while skimming the scenarios and age wise description of the ISTE standards for students during the online course).

Similarly in the early years, students are taught about directions, moving forward, moving backward, moving left, moving right etc. They construct shapes and follow lines while following the directions. This can be and is done using bee bots, where the students program the bee bots to move in different directions on the floor or on the mat. Schools have these programmable bots in early years. ISTE Standard Computational Thinker 1.5 d could be linked here. Students program the bee bots to move in different directions towards a goal, the bot moves in steps, and students test their programs and see the actual bot move towards a goal or destination. 

Another ISTE Standard that can be  linked here is the Innovative Designer 1.4d since while programming students also develop perseverance and tolerance. I was not sure of this until I skimmed through the explanation of the ISTE stands age wise in the online course. Since the standards talk of integrating a design thinking process, which seems very challenging for younger learners in schools in Pakistan. 

In this case also only one indicator of the standard is applicable, it seems fine. I did not see a need to integrate all indicators in a standard, that would have confused overburdened the teacher and students.

An interesting thing that I really liked is the slight difference in the phrasing of the statements of the standards for different age bands. This will ease and help teachers in mapping the standards to the relevant activities. Let’s look at an example:

Age band 4 - 7 

Global Collaborator 7d With guidance from an educator, students use technology tools to work with friends and with people outside the neighbourhood , city & beyond.

Age band 8 -11

Global Collaborator 7d Students use digital tools to work with friends and people from different backgrounds and cultures.  

Since the early years learners are young and need assistance to work with technology, so they won't be working alone but will have continuous support and assistance from a teacher in class, from handling devices, to programming in steps, to recognizing devices in the surroundings, performing simple technology operations etc. An example could be working on a collaborative forum like Seesaw and Purplemesh, where students' work could be shared online in the form of videos, audios and images. Teachers can assist while recording feedback for activities, for commenting on a peers work etc. Teachers can also provide assistance while sharing work to an audience outside the classroom, collaborating on a community project online with a school in another city or neighbourhood etc.

Similarly primary year learners are a little more confident with use of technology and have had some experience of working with technology already, so they can work without teacher assistance. Students can work on Purplemesh or Seesaw activities individually, or in groups, this could be a collaborative activity where they explore different cultures online. Using mystery hangouts in Google they could connect online through Meet or Hangouts to discuss cultural differences with students from an international school in another country. Students could also present their work to a wide audience using YouTube Live events. They can comment on their peers' work. 

Another idea that I really liked is the way the standards have been mapped or aligned to the various activities or projects. For example, in scenario 2 about biomes and habitats teachers follow a different approach to teach learners aged 4 to 7 about habitats and biomes. They start with the introduction of biomes to the class and then divide the class into trios. Students get to choose from the project ideas of how they want to work on the project. They have a choice in choosing the project process. The learners were supposed to conduct research on a biome and then teach it to their class.  They were given a set of 4 questions to respond at the end of the  project. The students had access to 4 tablets and 4 laptops. The projects in the end were uploaded online for others to use as a learning resource. Teachers in the beginning had already curated online resources for students to research. This has been mapped to 5 different ISTE Standards namely empowered learner, digital citizen, knowledge constructor, creative communicator and global communicator. 

What I can see from this project is that the students have choice and voice in their work, they have the freedom to work , they have access to digital resources online, they have access to devices, they get an opportunity to research online, cite resources, work in groups, present to their class, and create an original product. The focus is not on rote learning or memorizing the content in the book but extending knowledge & understanding through authentic research, analyzing information and presenting to a different audience. While doing so the learners enhance their critical thinking skills, creative skills etc. So I see them becoming empowered learners, global collaborators, digital citizens, knowledge constructors and creative communicators. The same could be applied to different lessons taught in different grades. 

While I work on the other modules of the course, and I do intend to share more valuable ideas from module 1, I will let you all read and enjoy  the ideas shared in this post.

Enjoy Reading till my next blog post soon InnShaaAllah

Regards and prayers

Sheeba Ajmal