One of my challenges this week is to find out what my compass point is.

“Take a moment to think about your current coordinates. The resources below cannot define your coordinates in their full dimensions, but they can guide your thinking about where you are and where you might want to head.”

I was asked to look at The LoTi Framework and the NETS standards from ISTE. I have looked through these in the past and even had my students complete a NETS quiz for students. Last year our staff completed an exercise to rate our school use of technology using the LoTi Framework then rate ourselves.With my class this year I believe I’m at a level three:

“Level 3 – Infusion
At a Level 3 (Infusion), the instructional focus emphasizes student higher order thinking (i.e., application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation) and engaged learning. Though specific learning activities may or may not be perceived as authentic by the student, instructional emphasis is, nonetheless, placed on higher levels of cognitive processing and in-depth treatment of the content using a variety of thinking skill strategies (e.g., problem-solving, decision-making, reflective thinking, experimentation, scientific inquiry). Teacher-centered strategies including the concept attainment, inductive thinking, and scientific inquiry models of teaching are the norm and guide the types of products generated by students using the available digital assets.
Digital tools and resources are used by students to carry out teacher-directed tasks that emphasize higher levels of student cognitive processing relating to the content under investigation.” http://loticonnection.com/lotilevels.html

My students are a group of grade 5&6 students who were new to blogging and using internet tools at the beginning of the school year. The students still carry out tasks that I assign for them and are slowly beginning their own exploration. In the past I’ve had classes where the students were operating on a level 4-5 and use of technology a routine part of their day. My students have also just begun working on their first collaborative project that will allow them to communicate with other students around the world.

When I looked at the ISTE standards for teachers I looked at the individual categories and thought about how I am incorporating them. Do I give my students opportunities for creativity in the use of technology and project completion? Do I develop and design digital learning environments? Do I model the use of technology and learning through the use of technology to my students? Do I promote digital citizenship and show my students the responsible use of technology and computers? Do I continue to learn, upgrade and participate in professional learning opportunities for the integration of technology in the classroom? I know that I’m better at some parts than others especially the creation and participation in projects and project based learning. I know that I promote the use of technology throughout our subject areas and try not to be too prescriptive with the students on what tools they use.  I don’t do as much assessment on the use of computers tools or use technology for assessment as I could. The list of standards is a good reminder of how I want to teach in my classroom and want goals I should strive for in my teaching.