International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)

Technology in society is constantly evolving. In order to better prepare our students for their futures, we need to incorporate the use of technology to get them acclimated. In today's society, nearly everything involves technology some way or another. The earlier we incorporate technology, the easier it will be for students to learn to use it. This is due to the brain having a greater elasticity at a younger age, which is the same reason it is easier for students to learn a second language at a younger age. From another aspect, not only does introducing technology better prepare our future generations so they are aware of hoe to use it, but it will also improve methods of learning in the classroom. Using technology such as smart boards helps visual learners have a better grasp of material, or having laptops that would help the kinesthetic learners lock in the content.

The ISTE has standards for both the students and the teachers. As a student that has been influenced by a decent amount of technology during her educational career, I can relate to the standard of being a digital citizen the most. To sum up this standard, there is an ethical way to use technology that should be followed. From an early age, we had class lessons on cyberbullying and other issues that might be prevalent when using technology. However, there is still a lot for me to learn and adapt to. I am incredibly excited and willing to learn how to use the standards for educators so that I can better my future students. On this side of the educational spectrum, I think I would like to focus the most on being a collaborator. I want to be able to take feedback from my superiors, my peers, and my students on how to better expand the knowledge of myself and my students in technology.

My generation is often labeled as digital natives. While this may be some of us, a decent amount of my generation doesn't have access to technology and therefore won't know how to use it. I have been fortunate enough to learn through the use of technology but many people in my generation have never seen a computer or cell phone, so the general label of digital native doesn't apply to them. some of my teachers had the occasional struggle with technology as we all do, however, I felt that they were all very well informed on the technology and its use. There will always be a slight technology gap between the students and the teachers because the teachers may not always be as well adapted to the innovations.
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