National Educational Technology Standards: Webcast

Learning Point Associates and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) partnered on July 30, 2004, to offer an interactive webcast on the future of the ISTE National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for students, teachers, and administrators. The webcast, moderated by Cathy Gunn, Ph.D., executive director of the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL), included expert panelists Gary Bitter, Ph.D., Arizona State University and executive director of Technology Based Learning & Research; Jim Bosco, Ed.D., Western Michigan University; Leslie Conery, Ph.D., deputy chief executive officer for ISTE; and Lajeane Thomas, Ed.D., project director for the ISTE (NETS) projects.

The hourlong webcast featured questions posed by the moderator to the panelists, as well as those of the international online viewing audience. In particular, the discussion focused on the impact of the NETS in the educational technology field, assessment of technology literacy, professional development through successful technology integration, and the relevance of the ISTE NETS.

Impact of the NETS
Panelists agreed that the impact of the NETS has exceeded what the original designers expected. The depth and breadth of use and application of the NETS now reaches an international audience. Globally, educators and administrators are asking about the process involved in creating the NETS.

Technology Literacy Assessment
Panelists outlined assessment as the next development in the field of educational technology. Currently, technology literacy assessment in the classroom depends on student standards with assessments created by the teacher. With few formal assessments available, ISTE is partnering with four companies in addition to the assessment Learning Point Associates is developing.

Professional Development in Educational Technology
Panelists pointed out that on-site professional development with a school's own hardware, perhaps even just-in-time professional development, is the direction we want to go to make real progress with supporting a teacher's use and integration of educational technology. Ultimately, through community and policy support, the goals of professional development ought to work toward providing opportunities for technology use that is meaningful to educators, and through them, the students as well.

Relevance of ISTE's NETS
Panelists asserted that although the NETS for students were developed six years ago, the standards themselves have not become outdated. What must be continually updated, however, are the materials that support them because the technology itself is always changing.

While each panelist offered his or her insights on the future of the ISTE NETS and the changing face of educational technology as outlined through the four main discussion points above, the panelists also pointed out that continuous feedback is needed from educators and administrators in order to accurately identify where the future of the NETS and the future of educational technology lies.