Interactivity #5

For this interactivity I interviewed a friend who teaches middle school Social Studies in Edison Township, and I'll preface this with saying that my friend is considered the "tech guy" at his school.

When we started discussing the NETS-S/T standards, he said he had not heard of them directly (echoed by my co-op and other teachers at Hillside High School, as well). We looked at them together online, and read through the ones relative to the sixth-eight grade levels, which he teaches. As we read through them, he basically commented that while his school and district have not officially implemented them to his knowledge, they were pushing technology integration via the NJ  Core Curriculum Content Standards (NJCCCS):  Educational Technology and Technology Education, Engineering, and Design , which to both of our eyes were more detailed. He stated that with all the recent standards changing, it was hard to keep up with which ones were current and applicable, and which ones the superintendent had decided to make a priority, beyond his content area, but was sure that the mandated standards were getting the most traction and visibility.

We continued to discuss his use of technology in the classes he teaches, and he stated that his lessons and activities are often technology driven. He uses a wide range of devices such as a series of products from Promethean, LTD , a company that makes smart boards, tablets, pointing devices, and a bunch of other really cool products. He especially likes the Learner Response System which allows him to track student responses to questions and myriad of other functions he felt were useful, and his school recently acquired an ActivTable which is like a giant tablet that he uses for mapping and other projects. Beyond the devices, he has his students creating and collaborating on multimedia projects and presentations, using video and digital cameras, and doing written assignments in Word. He uses a class website to transmit information, accepts assignments through e-mail, and even maintains a class "blog" in Google Groups, where his students can upload and collaborate on their work.  He also communicates with parents through the school's Genesis system.

I was not really surprised with any of his answers. Not knowing about the NETS standards didn't really concern him as he was trying to implement the state standards, and I would tend to concur with that strategy. The NETS standards are like the broad foundational document whereas the NJCCCS standards are more detailed, and frankly are the ones that we will be assessed on, so it only makes sense to focus on those.

As for my own promotion of the NETS standards, I think that I'd do as above, and use them as a background and a companion document to help better understand the NJCCCS.  With the constantly changing standards, I think it's enough to understand the key task that we need our students to become proficient at and in my opinion the NJCCCS accomplishes those without any question. My thoughts behind this may have to do with my old military mindset. Our tasks were always clearly spelled out like the state standards, so it's easier for me to grasp them and work through them.Nothig ambiguous or left to interpretation.

Updated Interactivity #4 Spreadsheet