in Action
Combine the Common Core
with the NETS
Carolyn Sykora, the program director for ISTE’s new NETS
Department, talks about how the NETS mesh with the
Common Core State Standards.
For schools in the 46 U.S. states and territories that have adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), time is of the essence.
The assessments are to be administered at the end of the 2014–15 school
year. District leaders and staff developers are focusing on curriculum
changes and helping classroom teachers prepare to implement the new
standards. Principals and technology
directors are evaluating infrastructure
needs to carry out the digital assessments. All school leaders are managing expectations of testing results, as
the standards are more rigorous than
most state content standards.
Although these changes are formidable, some school leaders are doing even more to prepare students
for college and career. Forward-thinking leaders are going beyond
a mere crosswalk to identify where
and how the NETS for Students
exemplify higher-order thinking
skills embodied in the Common
Core. As they plan infrastructure
upgrades needed for the assessments,
they are preparing to capitalize on
that investment for classroom instruction. Game-changing 1: 1 initiatives mean students will use technology across the curriculum, and teachers will have to rethink and redesign
learning activities.
The Common Core set ambitious
learning goals for students, and helping
all learners achieve those is a herculean task. The NETS for Teachers can
make this work easier. Building digital
learning environments allow for 24/7
personalized learning. Varied digital
assessments provide immediate results
that can be used to differentiate learning. Multimodal activity design can
allow students to learn in a way that
best serves their needs. Mobile moves
learning outside of the confines of the
classroom to real-world projects.
Strategies to meet the new standards will evolve as the assessments
roll out and the results come in. This
evolution will happen faster because
educators can collaborate in virtual
professional learning networks with
others in their schools, districts, or
states. Data will help target where
educators need to make changes. The
commonality of the Common Core
makes educators from participating
states into colleagues with a shared
goal. When combined with digital age
teaching skills, the implementation of
the new standards will be accelerated
by collaborating, sharing resources,
and beta testing strategies on the path
to best practice.
Most students are unaware of the
changes underway but yearn for rel-
evance that unites their lives in and
out of school. According to Speak Up
surveys from Project Tomorrow, stu-
dents experience a disconnect between
home and school in terms of technol-
ogy use. Studies from Project RED and
the Friday Institute show that schools
with effective technology implemen-
tation increase student engagement
and achievement. Readiness for col-
lege means using technology to learn,
leapfrogging some lower-level skills to
achieve higher levels of critical think-
ing, research and information fluency,
problem solving, knowledge construc-
tion, and more. Readiness for career
means having the soft skills needed
for a globalized workforce, including
strong communication, collaboration,
creativity, and decision-making skills.
