ISTE Blog Post - Week 1

As I began my work this week in EDU643, I found myself excited! One thing that I am extremely passionate about as an educator is design. Lesson design, website design, worksheet design, Google slide design, and the list goes on. I know that design is a big idea for this course, and the work this week already gave me a taste of that.

We learned a lot about the ISTE standards in EDU590. This week the collaborator standard jumped out at me when we were split into breakout rooms while using Zoom for our Tuesday night class meeting. During our time together, we collaborated by adding our problems and solutions with social presence during online school to a Google slide.

On the other hand, I discovered one program that really does not meet the ISTE standards well. While completing a Social Presence Analysis table, I discovered that although I used Loom (a video recording program) a lot for online teaching, it doesn’t necessarily contribute to social presence or meet the ISTE standards. If I really stretch, I could say that Loom meets the facilitator standard. However, I don’t feel that the program itself meets strands 6a-6d. It is instead, HOW the teacher uses Loom, and what they say during their videos that helps to meet these standards.

I do believe that the ISTE Standards are flexible enough to support learning that happens in a face-to-face setting as well as online. However, it is going to require the teacher to stretch their thinking on what programs they are using and how they are using them.

#EDU643 #week1