(7) Interactivity #5

 Spreadsheet: Here.

The teacher I interviewed is an eleventh grade English teacher in the Wayne school district. Unfortunately, this teacher was completely unfamiliar with the National Education Technology Standards for both Students and Teachers. I made sure to link to these standards, in the above case, so she could read them. This teacher is older and has been teaching for a while. She hadn't even heard of the NETS. In her classes, she told me technology is used and encouraged, but is not made mandatory by higher authorities of the school. Rather, for her lesson plans, she does not even have a separate section for technology; it is instead interspersed throughout her lesson objectives. She said, for example, that they are currently reading Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in her class. She scaffolds her students' understanding of the text by having them watch snippets of the film sometime during the unit. Although there are always discrepancies between the text and the film, seeing characters come to life and hearing the way particular lines of the skit are related, can aid visual and auditory learners gain a stronger grasp of the lesson.

My teacher's school district has not yet begun to implement the NETS-S and NETS-T standards. Older teachers like her have likely never heard of these standards. I discussed, however, Interactivity 5 with someone in my class, who also interviewed a teacher from the Wayne school district. This teacher's a recent graduate of Rutgers University's teaching program and, while her school also hasn't implemented the NETS, she learned about them in her teaching courses. I think this is generally the case. From what I recall of high school, many of my older educators were daunted by technology because they didn't grow up with it the way new teachers are. The most done in English classes I experienced was screening of films for our reading texts. Newer teachers use technologies like smartboards or even iPads to further their students' understanding. Doing this helps them to relate to students. In a blog post I read, someone wrote about how cellphones are used in places without more advanced technology to help students. Even if teachers cannot give students access to computers, they can encourage them to use their phones, something most students have, to take pictures or make films for school. This is wiser than fighting against new technology – for example, taking phones away when students text in class. Technology that is 'questionable' can be used to ameliorate students' educations.

Although the NETS were originally created in 1998, it's apparent and not very surprising that many teachers don't yet know about them. Their importance is nonetheless observable and, as a future teacher, I'd encourage my peers to incorporate them. Standard #2 for the NETS-S highlights communication and collaboration. Students use digital technologies to make contact with one another. With how difficult it is for students' schedules to correlate, anyone can see the benefit of an online discussion group where students can sign in and share input.