OETS Post

The big picture of the Oregon Education Technology Standards (OETS) is for students to come out of their K-12 education prepared for our technologically advanced society. I believe the standards aim to accomplish knowledgeable citizens whom are capable of problem solving with the use of technology. Today's worker needs to be aware of and educated in technology in order to produce work in the most effective and efficient manner. The following are the six standards of OETS:
1. Creativity & Innovation
2. Communication & Collaboration
3. Research & Information Fluency
4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making
5. Digital Citizenship
6. Technology Operations and Concepts

One strategy I would use in my elementary classroom related to "Digital Citizenship" is to educate my students about what is appropriate use of digital technology and how to protect themselves. One of the workshops I attended at the OTEN conference had to do with teaching children how to be responsible digital citizens while participating in social networking sites. They called it the Forest Grove Grid Project. I would probably use something similar for teaching my students how to use the internet responsibly. I would also like to use such tools as tokbox and skype for "Communication and Collaboration." I would like to buddy with another classroom and learn from them and vice versa. We could even do it internationally to learn about other cultures.

In terms of challenges, well...there are several. I always go back to the privacy issue. Parents and schools may be hesitant to use online tools due to concerns with privacy. Cost can be an issue for many schools and low income families who may not have computers or internet access. Understanding how to use the technology can be time consuming and overwhelming. Also, the learning curve could be a challenge for students and the teacher, especially when there are time constraints and limited resources.

Overall it is good to have standards in place for consistency and a bit of structure for teachers to follow. For some of us, learning technology does not come easy. There are probably many students who know more about technology than most of their teachers, which means we as teachers need to get on the ball with learning this stuff and begin teaching it at a young age to prepare students for the world we live in.