Helping Students Meet the NETS-S

The NETS, National Educational Technology Standards, are a set of standards developed by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) for learning, teaching, and leading in the digital age. The NETS were developed for teachers, students, administrators, coaches, and computer science teachers and are used worldwide. The NETS promote critical thinking skills, prepare students for the global job market, and work to transform technology education. There are many Web 2.0 tools that students can use to meet the NETS-S across the curriculum.

The NETS-S student profiles provide a developmental guide for technology usage and application. The student profiles tell you the age and grade levels at which students should be applying the different standards in the NETS-S, and explains how students should be applying them at the different levels. This leaves all of the guess work out of trying to figure out how your students should be using and applying technology in their grade level. The student profiles cover all school-age children from PreK to 12th grade. You can easily see the connection and progression of technology usage through the grades.

The NETS-S focus on 5 standards, Creativity and Innovation, Communication and Collaboration, Research and Information Fluency, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making, and Digital Citizenship. Students can use a variety of Web 2.0 tools and applications to meet these standards. Here are some ways you can help your students meet the NETS-S in any content area:

Creativity and Innovation: Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology

• Students can demonstrate knowledge using presentation tools such as Prezi, Voice Thread, and AudioBoo. These tools give students creative ways to present their knowledge and understanding of content. Students can use visual and audio means, separate or together.
• Students can also use publishing tools like Wikispaces and Wix to display their work by creating ePortfolios.

Communication and Collaboration: Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.

• Voice Thread is a great communication tool that students can use to share ideas and information with others. Student can use this digital media environment to share and teach what they know using visual and audio features.
• AudioBoo is a tool creates podcasts that students can use to communicate. Students publish their podcasts online and can easily share them with others, anywhere.

Research and Information Fluency: Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information

• Communication tools such as Diigo and Edmodo can be used to gather and organize internet resources and share to them with others. 
• Students can also use tools like Google Docs and Dropbox to store information gathered through research as they decide how it is applicable to their work.

Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making: Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources

• Students can use publishing tools such as Wikispaces and Edmodo to create and work on PBL, problem-based learning, projects.
• Collaboration tools such as Skype, Google+ Hangout, and Google Docs can help students manage projects by providing a collaborative space to work.

Digital Citizenship: Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior

• Communication tools, such as Skype, Edmodo, and Diigo give students the opportunity to meet the standard of Digital Citizenship. These tools allow students to communicate with others on the internet in a public or semi-public forum. Students need to practice ethical online behavior and adherence to laws when using these tools to share ideas and information.
• Publishing tools such as Wix and Wikispaces also require students to practice digital citizenship, especially if they are publishing websites of their own. Students need to ensure that they are publishing legal content that is appropriate for their audience.

Finding the most valuable and appropriate ways to use technology in the classroom are important for getting the most out of Web 2.0 tools. The NETS-S  and the NETS-S Student Profiles provide a great resource for planning and application of WEB 2.0 tools in the classroom. 


Resources:

AudioBoo. (2012) http://audioboo.fm
Diigo. (2012) http://www.diigo.com
Dropbox http://www.dropbox.com
Edmodo. (2012) http://www.edmodo.com
Google Docs. (2012) http://docs.google.com
Google+ Hangout. (2012) http://plus.google.com

ISTE. (2012)  International Society for Technology in Education: Standards. Retrieved from: http://www.iste.org/standards
ISTE. (2012). NETS for Students. Retrieved from: http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-students/nets-student-standards-2007
ISTE. (2012). NETS Student Profiles Retrieved from: http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-students/nets-for-students-2007-profiles

Skype. (2012) http://www.skype.com
Voice Thread. (2012) http://voicethread.com
Wikispaces. (2012) http://www.wikispaces.com
Wix. (2012) http://wix.com