6a. Tech content and pedagogical knowledge

Evidence of competence in ISTE-CS

I spent a lot of time engaging in learning about tools that allow us to implement the ISTE Student Standards (SS) and ISTE Teacher Standards (TS). Specifically, I did this for seven of my 28 blog posts. During these modules I investigated creating forums and animations, and using Slack, online math tools, virtual whiteboards, text-to-speech tools, Google Sites, and screen capturing software. I’ll highlight two of these investigations to talk about how these tools addressed the standards.

Slack for communication and project management

Slack is a messaging app with many apps and integrations that you can add, like polling bots, to-do lists, Google Drive, Trello, and Lucidchart. I chose to investigate Slack to address

ISTE-SS 4b: "Students select and use digital tools to plan and manage a design process that considers design constraints and calculated risks," where digital tools are defined as "brainstorming tools, flow charts, drawing or mark-up tools, 2D or 3D design software, note-taking tools, project-management tools.”

I felt that Slack met this indicator because of the way the Slack organizes project communication and its ability to integrate other design and project management tools, keeping a host of tools in one place. In my blog post, Slack.com – Communication management, I write, “Between [the apps and integrations] and Slack itself, I can see ways for students to brainstorm, make flow charts, take notes, and track project tasks, timelines, expenditures, materials, and potential obstacles. I think this makes for a pretty nice set of tools. Or at least it does in theory. I have yet to try it all out with a real project, so I can't speak from experience, but I'd love to give it a go!”

Powtoon for creating animations

Powtoon is a website for creating animations. In my blog post, Imagining math, I used Powtoon to address the idea of creativity, which is mentioned throughout ISTE-TS 1 and its indicators:

ISTE-TS 1: "Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments."

ISTE-TS 1a: “Promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness."

ISTE-TS 1c: “Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students' conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative process."

This emphasis on creativity led me to ask:

What is mathematical creativity? What does the research say about how to conceptualize mathematical creativity, and how to identify and foster it in students?

After finding a whole collection of conference papers about mathematical creativity in education, I came to the conclusion that students can be mathematically creative in how they imagine the math they are learning. Options for making this creativity visible include drawing pictures, making animations or live action videos, or even building props. Anything that brings their imagination to life. For an example of what I mean, I used Powtoon to create an animation for how I imagine the distance formula:

How to continue learning

To continue engaging in the learning outlined by ISTE-CS 6a, you really need to keep up with the ongoing conversations about educational technology (EdTech). To do this you can: utilize RSS feeds to subscribe to your favorite EdTech bloggers (you can actually set up an RSS feed in Slack, which I’ve used to follow my classmates’ blogs); join EdTech Facebook groups, which I’ve done recently; and go to conferences and professional development workshops. Additionally, you must constantly be on the lookout for ways that technology can work for you and your students. Lastly, you must always remember to play. Play with EdTech tools, give them a shot, and see what they’re about. This is will feed your thinking as you look for ways to implement the ISTE-SS and ISTE-TS.