Solved by verified expert:1.You should to responds for two colleagues.Iwill post their response. 2.You should to give them helpful suggestsions/feedback and/or asks/answers questions, based on their responses. 3.You must use correct conventions for grammar, spelling, and punctuation; avoids most slang AND cites all sources used to develop posts . 1. In the ISTE standards it is stated that “students [should] plan and employ effective research strategies to locate information and other resources for their intellectual or creative pursuits” (ISTE Standards for Students, 2016). To me, this means that we are asking students to look at multiple resources and understand how they cultivate their thoughts. Essentially our world is full of resources that are bending and pulling our minds in various directions and one of our jobs as educators is to help student navigate those resources so that they can be stronger thinkers and thus stronger citizens. The ISTE standards communicates this as a goal which is not too dissimilar to the Common Core State Standards. As an English teacher, and proponent of debating and original thinkers, this is also one of my main goals. Luckily this is outlined in the state standards as well. One of the Reading State standards similarly says that students should, “Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.” (Common Core Standards State Standards, 2010, p. 39).Though this is reference to text specifically, I see this is as all types of sources that should be looked at. In all reality, students spend more time reading and weeding through digital sources than they do texts that we show them within the classroom. Teachers should teach students to navigate the digital world around them so that they can be the thinkers and problem solvers of our future. Without a critical mind and perspective, students thoughts become only a recitation of what they have read and seen rather than what they genuinely think. This topic and these standards, is so very timely for me as I have been working through a non-fiction unit where my ultimate goal is to have students dissect multiple resources. I felt like I was trying to get them to think about this concept that digital media is undoubtedly in their faces all of the time. I walked through personal essays, newspaper articles, and other types of non-fiction with my students, but I didn’t feel like I was getting them to think about how to be an active participant in our digital world enough. To be honest, I felt like I was falling flat on my face. They were doing the work but they didn’t really seem like they were understanding the overall message I was trying to express to them- as the standards say, we need to be critical about the resources we come across and understand their purposes; this is what they were missing. So ultimately I created an assignment where I asked them to choose a cause that they believed in. I thought this would help them to engage with the media sources more closely. Student chose topics like Black Lives Matter, “Me too”, treatment of animals, and more. Their next step was to find 5 digital media outlets that speak to this cause (instagram posts, speeches, podcast, etc). Their last step was to create a digital outlet of their own. With that, I had them discuss the meaning of these digital pieces and then creatively present their findings (digitally, of course). Essentially, I had them look at the concept of being a media “catcher” as we are exposed every day to resources that make us think one way or another. I asked them to look at the biases and the authors and they why in each of the media posts. It turned into a beautiful learning experience where students really learned and on their own. Although that is just one example, I think that this can be extended to all ways of thoughts and into all curriculum. In the end, most of our world is digital so teachers need to unpack the standards and include the digital world with those standards. In the end of the day, the digital world can be used to aide in our students understanding and it can be used to show us their understanding as well. It will be a part of their world and therefore, they should be exposed to it. With a quick look at the ISTE standards it is clear that the two go hand in hand. Teachers should think about the standards with a real world application and much of this learning can be digital 2. As I read the following statement, “Today’s students need to be able to use technology to analyze, learn and explore.” (ISTE Standards for Students, 2016). My mind jumped to Webb’s Depth of Knowledge. Essentially, depth of knowledge designates how deeply students must know, understand, and be aware of what they are learning in order to attain and explain answers. Webb’s establishes the context – the scenario, the setting, or the situation – which students will express and share the depth and extent of their learning. I see the link to technology standard 6 which asks students to “communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate to their goals.” (ISTE Standards for Students, 2016). This standard links to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.2.5. “Create audio recordings of stories or poems; add drawings or other visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.” (Common Core state Standards, 2010). I see technology as a tool offering an opportunity to differentiate project based learning in the classroom. Offering an alternative to paper and pencil, opens the door of opportunity to struggling writers. Some students’ strength lies in the written word and they are able to express themselves clearly. But others see the world in pictures and can explain themselves rather eloquently using symbols, colors and typography to communicate informations quickly and concisely. Digital tools offer another avenue to express ones thoughts and understanding of a topic or concept. Teachers can help students to achieve the ISTE Standards while also achieving the student learning standards by opening the door to the 21st century. Digital tools are more than a substitute for books. Digital tools offer aspects of creativity in product production. These tools also enable collaboration among students in distant locals to enrich educational experiences through shared research and shared interests on a multitude of topics with a variety of perspectives. Teachers must be willing to expand their understanding of technology to enable their students to prepare for the digital future.
