ISTE Standards Analysis

Lia Melcher
When reading the ISTE Standards for students and teachers, parallels can be seen
between a majority of the standards and sub points. The student set are objectives and
ways to assess ability to apply their knowledge, and learning about technology and how
proficient they are at it. The teacher standards are methods and strategies to apply to
instruction to help students see models and methods of technology being used correctly,
and how to adopt those practices themselves. The students focus less on leadership,
which is the position the teacher takes with the standards, and more on participation and
taking on an active role with technology. Together, they provide instructors with
standards of how to incorporate technology into lesson plans ,and how to model and
discuss appropriate behaviors and conduct with technology, while the student standards
offer a way to gauge how efficiently they are learning to use technology and encourage
students to assess they own skills and participate.
The ISTE standards for teachers lists five topics, while the students have six. Not
every standard has a direct equivalent in the other set. Standards digital citizenship and
promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility are an example of a standard
that is represented in both. However, in the teacher standards there is an emphasis on
ensuring that all digital learning and technology is diverse and helps develop cultural
understanding. Teacher standards of modeling digital age work and engaging in
professional growth and leadership do not have a precise or direct correlation to any
ISTE standards for students. The latter standard focuses on what teachers should do to
promote their own learning and development in technology, so that it may later be
applied to the classroom. Teachers should remain aware of technological advances

because it is likely the case that these advances will require skills that future students will
need to know to be successful. Modeling digital age work focuses on how teachers
demonstrate proficient use of technology in class, and how they can model and discuss
technology with students, peers and parents.
Looking at the ISTE standards for teachers, I feel confident in my abilities to
demonstrate and model each standard. Considering that a majority of my own education
has revolved around technology, I understand the need for students to learn how to use
these devices on their own. For the most part, I consider myself technologically literate. I
usually understand devices such as cell phones, tablets, programs and electronics within a
short period of using them. My biggest concern is being able to fulfill the student
standards, such as assessing their technological understanding. Due to the fact that the
age group I would like to work with is 1st to 2nd graders, I wonder how I will be able to
determine how much the understand and know about technology already. In the standard
creativity and innovation, there is a sub point that asks for students to demonstrate and
use already existing knowledge on technology. Another concern along the same lines is
that with children at this age, technology might be introduced at different times in their
homes. I wonder how much students vary from each other before they even enter school
or start using computers in school as far as their knowledge of technology is concerned.

References:
ISTE Standards for Teachers. (2008). Retrieved October 28, 2015, from
http://www.iste.org/standards/iste-standards/standards-for-teachers
ISTE Standards for Students. (2008). Retrieved October 28, 2015, from
http://www.iste.org/standards/iste-standards/standards-for-students