Reflections+on+Standard+III

**Reflection on Standard III: Teaching, Learning, and the Curriculum**

As I read chapter 3, I realized that here is an area of need that technology facilitators must address and help teachers integrate technology into the classroom. Chapter 3, Teaching, Learning, and the Curriculum, focuses on TF/TL Standard III, and how technology facilitators and leaders affect teaching and learning through the curriculum. Williams and Redish state, “By infusing student technology standards into state and local curricula and developing accompanying curriculum resources, technology facilitators and leaders create both a mandate for technology integration and the structural support teachers need to implement that mandate.” Technology facilitators and leaders must help teachers integrate technology directly into the curriculum to engage students and provide them with the proper training in technology skills. In the future as a technology facilitator, I must provide ways for students to learn the core subjects by integrating technology and collaborative learning as part of the curriculum. Technology Facilitator (TF) Standard three states, “Educational technology facilitators apply and implement curriculum plans that include methods and strategies for utilizing technology to maximize student learning.”(Williams & Redish, 2009). It is imperative that we teach students how to use technology as a means of learning and prepare them for life beyond high school.

The TF Standard III has many performance indicators and tasks that help explain how to implement and meet the standard. The first performance indicator TF Standard III-A. states, “Facilitate technology-enhanced experiences that address content standards and student technology to maximize student learning.” This performance indicator is supported by seven tasks that provide a plan to implement the standard into the curriculum. These tasks include ways to use methods and strategies that will support integration of technology productivity tools, communication tools, integration of research tools, integration of problem solving and decision-making tools, media-based tools, distant learning systems and Web based authorized tools. A field-based activity I worked on was to plan and implement a class wiki where three third grade classes learned to use technology to communicate with each other by writing questions on specific topics and responding to other students’ questions. This activity has the potential to be integrated into the curriculum for example students may discuss a topic on Social Studies or Science. I plan to integrate this wiki into the curriculum to provide students with the opportunity to learn through technology. At this point, I believe that my campus still has much learn about integrating technology into the classroom. We currently use technology as a tool to teach students, such as PowerPoint presentations, virtual manipulatives, and united streaming but we need to provide students with the opportunity to learn with technology.

The second performance indicator is TF Standard III-B., which states, “Use technology to support learner-centered strategies that address the diverse needs of the students.” Personally, I am not used to working with learner-centered strategies so I consider this task a challenge and goal that I must achieve as a technology facilitator as I help teachers integrate technology into their classroom. The next performance indicator TF Standard III-C. states, “Apply technology to demonstrate students’ higher-order thinking skills and creativity.” This may be performed in every subject but I tend to see how it may be applied to mathematics for example students may apply their problem solving skills and creativity to solve a problem with geometric figures. TF Standard III-D states, “Manage student learning activities in a technology-enhanced environment.” As a technology facilitator, I must create classroom management strategies that will allow for the integration of technology into the daily curriculum. The last performance indicator TF Standard III-E states “Use current research and district/region/state/national content standards to build lessons and units of instruction.” As a technology facilitator, one must adhere to the technology standards that your district is aligned with and use research to support the use of technology integration into the curriculum. Concerns I have include the lack of technology integration in the elementary level, I know our district has implemented the Technology TEKS at the high school level, but our campus in the elementary level still needs to integrate technology into the curriculum. How will we address these standards in the elementary level? Will the district see the need to hire technology facilitators to assist teachers integrate technology into the curriculum? It puzzles me that to this considering the importance of technology and its benefit, why teachers have not been more proactive in utilizing it to help students learn the concepts taught. These questions and concerns are issues I must research if I hope to be a technology facilitator in the current district.

**Reference:**

Williamson, J. & Redish, T. (2009). //ISTE’s technology facilitation and leadership// //standards: What every K-12 leader should know and be able to do //. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education, pp. 57-76.