KN
OW
T
HE
IS
TES
TAN
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Each Know the ISTE
Standards describes a
lesson from a classroom
observation and evaluates
its alignment with the
ISTE Standards for
Students ( iste.org.stan-
dards/standards-
for-students).
By Talbot Bielefeldt
Standard 6: Technology Operations and Concepts
ACTIVITY 1: No evidence of the standard
The teacher projects several videos on the American civil rights
movement, until one of the videos fails to load and the class ends
up reading from the textbook.
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T his month we focus on the final ISTE Standard for Students, Standard 6, with examples of how a teacher or observer
might identify technology use that makes a
substantial contribution to learning.
Readers who have been following this column will recognize a familiar theme: The ISTE
Standards are addressed when students get to be
hands on with technology and when they have
to make their own decisions. When they are a
passive audience, they cannot practice any of the
indicators.
During classroom visits, ISTE evaluators have
observed that the amounts of time teachers and
students spend with technology are inversely
related: When the teacher uses technology for
much of the classroom period, the observer
rarely records much student technology use.
The first activity in the table below illustrates
a situation where the teacher’s technology use
displaces the opportunity for the students to use
technology. The second activity, in contrast, does
involve hands-on student use as well as some
opportunity for student selection and extension
of learning.
The fact that there is an inverse relationship
between teacher and student use does not mean
that adult presentations are wrong or unnecessary. Everyone can remember illuminating and
inspiring lectures that made a difference to their
education. Furthermore, presentations are not
necessarily passive. For instance, the third activity was designed not only to illustrate a situation
where students assume a lot of responsibility,
but also to depict a situation where an expert
and the students meet in a technological space
