I wrote this posting comparing the AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner to the ISTE Standards for Students. I then realized after posting it that I had compared the wrong set of standards. I was supposed to have compared AASL to the ISTE Standards for Teachers. So I deleted the posting and decided to write a new one. However, I came to an interesting conclusion after examining the ISTE Standards for Teachers. The AASL Standards are designed with the student in mind, not the teacher. How can you really compare teacher standards to student standards? That did not really make sense to me so I decided to repost my original comparison. However to make sure that I get full points for the post, I focus on the ISTE Standards for Teachers at the end of this posting. Original Post: Here we have two different sets of standards. One is for teaching library skills the other is for teaching technology skills. If you were not familiar with the standards, one could assume that one set would be used solely in the library and the other would be used in the computer lab. Upon closer inspection, one will find that the standards are not very different from each other. Both sets of standards have four key areas. They are listed below in a table. 1) Creativity and Innovation (ISTE) 1) Inquire, Think Critically, and Gain Knowledge (AASL) 2) Communication and Collaboration (ISTE) 2) Draw Conclusions, Make Informed Decisions, Apply Knowledge to New Situations, and Create New Knowledge (AASL) 3) Research and Information Fluency (ISTE) 3) Share Knowledge and Participate Ethically and Productively as Members of our Democratic Society (AASL) 4) Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making (ISTE) 4) Pursue Personal and Aesthetic Growth (AASL) When you analyze the standards you can match up ISTE 1 to AASL 4, ISTE 2 to AASL 3, ISTE 3 to AASL 1, and ISTE 4 to AASL 2. So the question on the table is this, if the standards are so closely aligned why should librarians use both sets of standards when creating lessons? To prove the importance of such use, perhaps we should break down the standards and focus on just one comparison. For this blog posting, we will compare ISTE 2 - Communication and Collaboration to AASL 3 - Share Knowledge and Participate Ethically and Productively as Members of our Democratic Society. The two standards, ISTE 2 and AASL 3, are very similar in that both focus on working together with others to collaborate on group projects. Here are some examples: ISTE 2d - Contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems. AASL 3.2.3 - Demonstrate teamwork by working productively with others. ISTE 2a - Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media. AASL 3.1.2 - Participate and collaborate as members of a social and intellectual network of learners. The two standards differ though in that AASL 3 focuses heavily on the use of technology and information from an ethical standpoint. ISTE 2 standard does not mention this aspect in any format. ISTE 2 differs in that it has a focus on a global education. Ethics: AASL 3.1.6 - Use information and technology ethically and responsibly. AASL 3.3.7 - Respect the principles of intellectual freedom. Global: ISTE 2c - Develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures. This was just a quick analysis of a small portion of the ISTE standards and the AASL standards. As you can see the standards are very similar. Where they differ though allows for the two sets of standards to work together and enhance each other. Hopefully this brief analysis is enough to convince you to incorporate both sets of standards into your lessons! New Post: So as you can probably see, those two sets of standards (AASL and ISTE Standards for Students) really do compliment each other. Now I have to compare the AASL standards to the ISTE Standards for Teachers. 1) Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity (ISTE) 1) Inquire, Think Critically, and Gain Knowledge (AASL) 2) Design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments (ISTE) 2) Draw Conclusions, Make Informed Decisions, Apply Knowledge to New Situations, and Create New Knowledge (AASL) 3) Model digital age work and learning (ISTE) 3) Share Knowledge and Participate Ethically and Productively as Members of our Democratic Society (AASL) 4) Pursue Personal and Aesthetic Growth (AASL) Do you see anyway to compare these two sets of standards? I don’t. Now I am not saying these are not of extreme value to us as educators in a technology-driven field. In fact, it really goes to point out that AASL should create a similar set of standards for the librarian. Here are just a few of the ISTE Standards for Teachers that would be very useful to us and have nothing to compare to in the AASL standards. ISTE 1b - Engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources. ISTE 1c - Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes. ISTE 2c- Customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources. ISTE 3b - Collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation. These four examples offer proof to why we should incorporate ISTE standards into our libraries. We need these to support and guide us as we become technology-driven libraries. It will be interesting to see how the new AASL standards compare to the ISTE standards both the ones for students and the ones for teachers.
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