Interactivity #5: A Standards-based Approach to Technology Integration

     The teacher I was able to interview is a young female from the Parsippany-Troy Hills school district. She is a High School art teacher, teaching various grades 9 - 12. I chose her because this is the grade level I hope to one day teach. Also I chose her because I have gone to her in the past with questions about becoming an art teacher. She shows passion and wisdom when it comes to her students and practice. The survey showed me that my teacher was not knowledgeable about NETS for students nor for teachers. She said she was unfamiliar with them, and did not even know if the state has implemented them. As for her school and school district, she said she believes they have not been implemented. She did not seem to know much about them, and gave little information indicating that she has.
     I was surprised that she wasn't familiar with these standards because I believe this school uses technology integrated into the curriculum. I know she is a passionate teacher and technology literate herself, so this came as a surprise to me. I don't believe the school is implementing these standards, but I do believe the teacher is aware of the importance of technology in the classroom, whether it be listening to music in class or using a digital camera. An art teacher, like herself, has many opertunities to use technology in the classroom such as to aid her in teaching as well as aiding the students to complete projects. This is what these standards are about and without even knowing them formally, I believe this teacher still practices them. This is why I was surprised at her response when it came to knowing about the standards, but I was not surprised when she told me about the importance of technology in the classroom.
     The school has many classes offered, which is different from NETS but they still promote technology in class, such as graphic design, computers, and digital photography. Some of which students need to graduate, which indicates that the school is fully aware of how important it is for students to be media literate and comfortable using technology. The school has a mac lab where students can use computers for homework, projects, and certain software such as iMovie.
     As a future educator it is my duty to speak to my colleagues about these standards. It is important that we are aware of both Nets-S and Nets-T. I think teachers would benefit from collaboration and discuss the best ways to incorporate these standards into our lessons, as well as creating new ones with the standards in mind. I would like to bring up their importance in a classroom and the impact they will have on both student and teacher. I hope that my future school district will implement these standards so that my colleagues are aware of them, but if not I will now be sure to discuss them with my fellow teachers.

Link to my Google Spreadsheet