Meeting NETS-S Standards

In my opinion, the National Educational Technology Standards are the standards that are the most enjoyable to help students meet. These standards not only are engaging and enjoyable, they are integral for growing learners to thrive in today and tomorrows world. The various array of Web 2.0 tools available to students and teachers are great resources to use to help students meet and master the NETS. The following is a list of the NETS for students, and how technological resources can be used to meet them.

Creativity and Innovation
There are numerous web “platforms” for students to be creative in a multitude of ways. Whether students express through art, written expression, or through music, there are places from students to create. www.storybird.com is a great resource for students to share stories. Many sites allow users to create artistically, and www.youtube.com is a platform for users to share their work. Creativity flourishes online!

Communication and Collaboration
Skype is a wonderful tool that young students can use to communicate with others in the next room, or around the world. In addition, ePals is a great place to introduce electronic communications to students. Emails can be shared via a whole group, or individuals. These communication tools are great motivators for students to compose meaningful written expression.

Research and Information Fluency
While meeting this standard would take teacher led discussions, it could very well be done with various web resources. Sweet Search is an excellent search engine for students and teachers to utilize. Lessons can also be taught in evaluating the usefulness of a site.

Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making
Collecting and analyzing data is great way to get students thinking. Publishing their findings and evaluations via Twitter or a classroom blog is a way to share, and initiate online discussions to help broaden their ideas and thoughts.

Digital Citizenship
This standard is going to be essential in our students’ lives from beginning to end. More than likely moments of their lives have already been posted via social networking sites, blogs, or photo galleries. They have a digital footprint from their very beginning. Teaching students to be proper digital citizens is of the utmost importance. Social networking can be a great way to connect, but it can also be a dangerous way to connect. Using Facebook, Twitter, or blogging we can instruct our students how best to handle personal and social interactions online.

Technology Operations and Concepts
Our young students are wired to use technology. We can use their knowledge to help others, while helping our students learn to express themselves. Using a webcam or Flip video camera is an easy way to capture students teaching others how to use a website or other technological tool. These tutorials can be shared via TeacherTube, SchoolTube, or YouTube.

The Stuff of PBL

Well the circumstances of the three examples are clear from the beginning. The teachers want the students engaged and taking ownership of their learning. These projects whether they were chosen by the students or the teachers are used so that students can learn through experience and show competence in standards across various curriculum. These students not only are engaged in the content they are learning about, but also their peers. This aspect of PBL is so crucial in student learning. These students are learning from each other, how to work with each other, and how to share their views.

The design of these projects is essentially the same and employs a simple approach. First discuss the topic, then do the work, and finally share the project. The students spend the majority of the time in the second phase, and most all projects used any and all resources available. Every project included various online and print resources, experts in the field, field trips, and experiments. Essentially students are provided with any means necessary to gain the knowledge they want and need.

The teachers in these stories are involved in the entire process, doing what they can to facilitate the students' learning. They are all open in saying that this style of "teaching" looks easy, but in fact takes much more preparation.

The students get to be learners. They aren't forced to sit and listen, they are encouraged to ask questions and find the answers. They not only get a sort of freedom with their work, but also great ownership. The students are truly engaged and enjoy the work. It's this genuine engagement that keeps the students learning and applying the knowledge to other areas. They are learning how to learn which is a lifelong skill. These projects teach students to solve problems, seek and find answers, and to become active participants in education.