RESEARCH CONNECTIONS Brandon Olszewski, Ph.D., shares the outcomes of research into bringing the ISTE Standards to more classrooms.
Research provides a road map to making the ISTE Standards a reality in schools By Brandon Olszewski, Ph.D.
Since their initial release in the 1990s, the ISTE Standards have set a high bar for educators and education leaders around the world who are seeking to evolve traditional models of teaching and learning. Generally, the goal for educators has been to offer students experiences that give them agency in the content and format of their learning, and provide learning opportunities grounded in authentic, real-world examples.
In this vein, the ISTE Standards provide a road map for redefining teaching and learning. For example, the Empowered Learner standard in the ISTE Standards for Students reminds us that it’s helpful for students to participate in defining their own learning goals and processes. This is a powerful reminder on many fronts: that learning goals and objectives should be central to any learning process; that the approach to
reaching such goals is malleable and can vary based on learners and their contexts; and that practices informed by the learning sciences (such as providing feedback that’s specific, actionable and understood) can be instrumental in reaching learning goals. One perplexing problem has been how to make the standards a reality in schools. ISTE Standards guide books and ISTE Certification for Educators offer onramps that
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