Learning & Leading Through Technology

ACTIVITY 2: Some evidence of the standard ACTIVITY 3: Obvious evidence of the standard

Individual students present digital reports to the class on Civil War topics of their own choosing. They need to follow a template for presentation and citation, and the class is encouraged to ask questions.

Student teams assume historical roles arguing for and against secession.

The teacher requires teams to consult their textbook and at least two other citable sources of their choice. The teacher asks students to summarize modern opinions on the issue but does not allow undocumented claims.

In an actual observation, any of these scenarios might turn out to be excellent assignments if students have already internalized expectations for responsible information use. Teachers often address this when establishing the classroom culture. However, digital citizenship is a complex construct that involves attitudes and actions (such as a lifelong-learning mindset) that are influenced and evidenced outside of school. Individual lessons can address digital citizenship, but this standard will be hard to meet without support from the school system and community.

Talbot Bielefeldt is a consultant in educational evaluation. He worked on the team that created the ISTE Classroom Observation Tool (ICOT) and has conducted hundreds of classroom observations using the ISTE Standards for Students.

The ISTE Standards for Students are more than an abstract framework. Teachers can use them to evaluate lesson plans and learning experiences. Classroom scenarios for student standards are available for free to members in the ISTE Store ( iste.org/store) and through the ISTE Classroom Observation Tool (ICOT) webpage ( iste.org/icot). Additional guidance on evaluating learning materials is available in the NETS Curriculum Planning Tool ( www.iste.org/store/product?ID=2299).

In the ICOT, marking an indicator as addressed means that students have opportunities to learn about or practice the indicator. That is usually how an indicator appears in a lesson. Marking an indicator as met means that students actually demonstrate the knowledge or skills. Consistently coding an indicator in lessons requires careful attention to both the wording of the standards and the details of the learning experience.