Technology Standard Comparison

I have to admit, reading over the Tennessee Professional Education standards and NET standards for teachers was a little overwhelming for me. Not only am I, as a future educator, expected to know my subject matter, my students, and my role as teacher, but now I am also expected to know and master the use of technology in my classroom. In all honesty, I'm a bit oldschool and when thinking of my classrooms setup I've put very little thought into incorporating technology as a means of teaching. My high school rarely used technology to further education, so therefore I have very little firsthand knowledge of how to use it. But times have changed and so must I! It will be a challenge but overall an exciting venture in discovering how to best reach my students.

I feel as if the TN Professional Education standards are much easier to accept and put into action. These standards cover the basics, such as using technology in the classroom to increase learning, using technology to inhance my professional growth and knowledge, and using technology properly and in the best way possible. As a teacher, and after some brainstorming, it will be fairly easy for me to come up with some ways to use technology in my classroom. I also plan to use technology for basics such as creating handouts, posting grades, and role-taking. Furthermore, as I use technology more and more, I could maintain an ethical use of the resources.

The NET standards are much more specific and may be harder to apply in my classroom. I plan to teach high school history. With that being said, I will either teach world history or American history, with a possibilty of teaching both. The NET standards require that you not only uncerstand and actively use technology, but that you do so in a creative way. I feel as if I'm somewhat limited with my focus being in history. Computer games and software for learning m be out of the question because of the age of my students. I could, however, use blogging in my classroom as a means for allowing my students to reflect on what they have learned. I could also use powerpoints as a tool for when I'm lecturing. These standards also require that you use technology to connect with parents and the community. I plan to use email as a communication tool to get into touch with working parents. So overall, I feel that history is somewhat limited when it comes to technology use in the classroom, but I do hope to find innovative ways to incorporate it.