NETS

So there is this article about emerging National Education Technology Standards (NETS) for students. At the bottom is a nice chart summing up the NETS. I think the list is quite comprehensive- it includes using technology for expression, being able to sift through and analyze data, using technology as smart tool for communication, and using the internet wisely. I think the list is put together quite well. It includes a lot of the top levels of Bloom's Taxonomy including creating and analyzing. Also, the normal issues of internet safety are there. I also liked how there was a bottom piece on "Digitial Natives" which is a term discussed before in class.

I also think it's good that standards are moving away from having to learn certain technologies or programs (which will inevitably change) and instead focusing on ways of thinking. Improving the brain is so much more lasting than teaching one specific skill. That I think is the aim of college and Trinity- they are not trying to prepare us for anything but to be able to analyze situations. Thus, we need to teach kids how to be able to adapt to different technologies and processing large quantities of information. Detail in these areas is essential.

I am not so sure if giving students un-limited access to programs and/or the internet is such a good idea, but that could be just me.

And I know that we are becoming more technologically advanced, the pace of communication is increasing, and our devices seem to be getting aburdly small, but really: are things that different? We are still people, talking to people right? I know that the older generation does kind of freak out at the sight of changing technology, but it really is not that scary. The world is still basically the same- just a little more tech-savy. We are still all human beings- at least until the robots come.