Who am I? What is ISTE and an Empowered Learner?

 Who am I?

Hello all,

My name is Alixandria and I am brand new to this education scene. I hold a bachelor's degree in psychology and thought that was the road I would be traveling, but life had other plans. I am now pursuing my Master's in education and curriculum. Deep down in my past, I thought about being a teacher but the opportunity to utilize my current degree fell into my lap a few short months ago. I now teach third grade and I have absolutely fallen in love with how beautiful it is to watch students grasp a concept or have the drive to learn. I don't forget about those who struggle or just don't want to learn, as a mother myself I watch and care for those just the same as others. My ultimate goal is to teach Kindergarten or 1st grade as those are where the foundation of education takes place. I cannot wait to share this special journey with all of you!

What is ISTE?

ISTE Standards are used to provide the skills for living, learning, and teaching in the digital age we now live in. It provides direction for technology use in an educational setting. It is currently utilized in all 50 states, and many countries worldwide (ISTE, n.d.). 

The Empowered Learner

The ISTE Empowered Learner indicator 1.1.c asks students to use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practices and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways. Students in a Kindergarten setting can utilize different learning applications such as Lexia Core5 which gives high-quality learning of literacy skills, phonics, and understanding of language. By using the program Lexia, which is computer-based, students have the ability to use technology that provides feedback, and constant reviews of the levels they have completed prior. Within Lexia, students are tested and taught vital skills in phonics which is an important part of building the foundation of language at the beginning of their schooling career. I would have the ability to create skill builders based off of the level the student is testing which creates documentation of the success and where they may need more work. Using programs like Lexia daily does allow the students to improve their practices and shows how they are learning in multiple ways.

Insights

One of the challenges we face today is the popularity and dependency we have on technology, and how it easy it is to rely on it for everything. Educators must understand that despite the positives and the ease of using programs such as Lexia, students cannot solely do the same program all day. They need the 1:1, and as Kolb (2020) shared "students of all ages need breaks from technology to recharge their brains and stay engaged in a learning task". While there are so many positives to the use of technology, and applications like Lexia, we need brain breaks, and that does not only apply to kindergarteners. 

References

ISTE. (n.d.). The ISTE standards. ISTE. Retrieved January 12, 2023, from https://www.iste.org/iste-standards 

Kolb, L. (2020). Learning First, Technology Second in Practice.