Topic 1: Standards

NETS
The NETS establish technology standards for teachers rather than students.  The NETS clearly establish the teacher as a facilitator rather than a giver of knowledge.  The focus seems to be on creating deeper learning experiences through the use of technology.  There also seems to be a strong emphasis on the teacher as a model.  The standards encourage teachers to model ethical use of technology as well as model life long learning through continued professional development.  By creating valuable learning experiences that meet the needs of each student and modeling life long learning, students are encouraged to become life long learners.

The goals set forth in the NETS are quite relevant in my classroom.  My ultimate goal each year is to spark a little bit of curiosity in my students about something outside the United States.  However, I don't think I do enough to encourage further research.  I also doubt the students use the historical skills we use in class to evaluate modern sources or opinions.  The repeated focus on creating a richer learning experience really resonates.  I want to encourage my students to dig deeper into topics they are interested in, but the time constraints of the curriculum don't seem to allow it.  There has got to be a way to do both, but I haven't found the answers yet.

The other NETS goals, such as modeling ethical behavior and professional development are also quite relevant.  While teachers can't prevent all cheating, most of the internet cheating can be eliminated by creating assignments such as those called for in the NETS standards.  Teachers must seek out quality professional development in technology.  Districts tend to focus on the basic software training, but teachers really need ideas about effective implementation.

MTT
The MTT standards are standards set forth for teachers and are pretty similar to the NETS.

TEKS
The technology TEKS for high school are the standards for the technology courses offered at the high school level.  The standards are written for the students, not the teachers.  All of the TEKS and courses seem appropriate and relevant for high school students.  All high school teachers probably don't need to be experts in animation or binary code, but it probably wouldn't hurt for all high school teachers to be able to pass the final exam for the basic computing course offered at their school.  Teachers should know what kind of technology is available to students in the building in order to help students with projects.  While it might seem that familiarity with the TEKS would help teachers gauge the technological abilities of their students, this is not the case.  Students take technology courses at different grade levels and some have skills beyond the courses offered at school.  Although my course does not require me to teach technology skills, I can reinforce skills taught at the lower grades and introduce relevant technology to my subject area.