For this interactivity, I interviewed my past high school Italian teacher from the Wayne school district in Wayne, NJ. I started the interview by explaining to her a little about this course and the purpose of this assignment. I then asked her if she has ever heard of NETS-S or NETS-T. She responded that she has heard of them in passing but was not sure of everything they entailed. I then gave her my laptop which she then glanced over both the NETS-S and NETS-T. After reading them over, her initial reaction to these standards was one of surprise. She told me that she never realized how many standards teachers as well as students were to meet based on technology alone.
I asked her if she feels that the school and district had begun to implement NETS-T and NETS-S . She said she does not know for all subject areas but as far as foreign language is concerned, in her opinion the nets standards have existed for a while now but in an indirect way for both teachers and students. She explained to me that although the nets standards are not directly talked about , foreign language teachers in the school as well as the overall district are told at staff meetings both in the beginning of the year as well as quarterly that they must present some lessons to students utilizing technology and must give the students various projects, assignments, etc. throughout the year that require the use of technology in some way. By doing this, teachers are being observed by the district based on how they do this and we as teachers in turn observe the students on what they are learning both in the subject matter through the use of technology and how well the technology part of it is done which they will then receive a grade on.
I was very surprised with her responses, specifically the fact that the nets standards are not directly discussed at meetings in the school or district. Having lived in Wayne my whole life and therefore attending Wayne schools, I noticed that technology played a huge role both for classroom instruction and for students to be engaged in while doing assignments, projects, etc. Specifically in my foreign language classes, we as students were required many times to do power point presentations, make videos, voice recordings. My foreign language teachers almost always used power points to present their lessons. Aside from these factors, Wayne schools in general are ranked very high in academic achievements. One would think that with a school system being ranked so high as well as already utilizing technology heavily in their lessons that the NETS-S and NETS-T would be talked about in great detail among board members. However, as we can from the interview responses, these “ standards” are not even presented as NETS-S/NETS-T nor are the lessons utilizing technology measured using any sort of standards specifically for technology use.
As a future teacher, I am going to not only make sure I am up to date with all the NETS-S and NETS-T but also share this information with my fellow colleges and staff members. The information presented in these standards help to shape the learning experience in a positive manner, utilizing many different technological approaches that are not normally thought of . By reaching out to as many people as I can about these standards, the message will eventually spread and will make for an excellent learning environment for both teachers and students.
Danielle,
ReplyDeleteI am happy that your teacher did make clear that though the NETS standards are not directly incorporated into the curriculum and in lesson plans, technology initiatives have been taken. As products of the Wayne Public School System, you and I both know how the schools take technology seriously. Every classroom in our old high school had a power point projector with video/sound systems, as well as at least one computer. As far as the foreign language classes, I am sure you recall all of the videos we were required to produce, pictures we had to take, power points we made, etc. It is clear that technology is not taken likely in this district.
That being said, I feel that the NETS standards, in combination with the Common Core Standards, should be evident in every lesson plan in every school district. While it is essential that students know content, they must also learn skills that will make them technologically literate. As our society is constantly changing, the use of technology cannot be avoided and through the incorporation of these standards, we can better prepare students for the real world where they will be constantly using technology. I fear without us as teachers, they will be unable to obtain these essential skills.