The Impact of Curriculum Standards on Students
and Educators
According to Hughes & Roblyer, teachers seldom
create technology materials or curriculum (Hughes & Roblyer, 2019).
Therefore, adopting common core and technology standards is vital to the growth
and progress of students. That said, teachers should be held accountable
to the standards when they are provided the necessary resources and times
allotted to become familiar with the technological resources and curriculum
standards that they will implement to meet the needs of the students.
For instance, as a new teacher, I would have benefited from a mentor that
could explain how to interpret the standards and specific strategies that would
yield growth and understanding for my students based on their level of
development. Hughes & Roblyer explains that Common Core State
Standards [CCSS] for each grade level states the knowledge and skills that
students are supposed to learn in mathematics and literacy, while the
International Society for Technology in Education [ISTE] focusses on the
framework of how to utilize technology with all standards (Hughes &
Roblyer, 2019).
Effective Teacher Balance
& Complying with Demands
Furthermore, combining CCSS and ISTE creates
a balance in the form of the 21st century
platform of framework that advocates the importance of all students developing
college and career skills and how to be innovative by thinking critically,
communicating, collaborating and being creative (Hughes & Roblyer,
2019). In other words, the ISTE ensures that teachers have an
adequate foundation concerning technology in order to utilize technology and
digital resources as well as, demonstrate its usage to the student population
while, granting access through specific CCSS learning and objectives (Hughes
& Roblyer, 2019). At the same time, when teachers are competent, they are
equipped to differentiate learning to meet the needs of all learners. A
competent teacher can differentiate by grouping students according to their
need when unpacking standards and use those standards to help make the
decisions concerning the best tools that support meeting specific goals for
that standard.
For instance, I am a Pre-K teacher and although
Pre-K may not be a grade level that shares CCSS objectives, there is
accountability found evident in the NAEYC performance standards 4 and it
states, “Knowledge, Application, and Integration of Academic Content in the
Early Childhood Curriculum Early childhood educators have knowledge of the
content of the academic disciplines (e.g., language and literacy, the arts,
mathematics, social studies, science, technology and engineering, physical
education) and of the pedagogical methods for teaching each discipline (A
position statement held on behalf of the early childhood education profesion|1,
n.d., p. 3).
Therefore, the tools that we as educators have to comply with when implementing standard based lessons and utilizing technology, are the pedagogical methods for best practices. An example of best practices would consist of providing my students with opportunities that foster growth and development in all domains of learning to include technology as a resource and approach to learning. Due to the age of my students, this would look like me teaching my students how to use digital tools and the objective after having taught the concept and skill that the tool will enhance. Marcinek explained it best that technology is not a substitution for teaching (Marcinek, 2014). Consequently, I believe in a balance of touching tangible objects and student, teacher and peer interactions and explorations followed by imploring digital games and tools that build upon the standard based skills and objectives that I’ve introduced.
A
position statement held on behalf of the early childhood education profession |
1.
Hughes, J. E., & Roblyer, M.
D. (2019). Integrating educational technology into teaching :
transforming learning
across disciplines (8th ed.). Pearson
Marcinek,
A. (2014, March 11). Technology and Teaching: Finding a Balance.
Edutopia;
George Lucas Educational
Foundation https://www.edutopia.org/blog/technology-and- teaching-finding-balance- andrew-
marcinek
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