ISTE Standards

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)

ISTE Standards are competencies for learning, teaching, and leadership in effective use of technology in education.

What This Includes

Skills addressed: Communication, Perseverance, Goal Setting, Self-Reflection, Knowledge Transfer, Digital Citizenship, Ethics, Knowledge Building, Innovation, Data Analysis, Creativity, Cross-Cultural Collaboration

ISTE Standards

  • Student Standards describe how learners take an active role in their own learning and use technology to participate in the world, solve problems, communicate, and drive their own learning
  • Educator Standards describe ways educators can support the goals of the student standards through professional learning, collaboration with peers, and leadership in modeling student empowerment practices and advocating for equitable digital access
  • Education Leader Standards outline what leaders need to do to support teachers and lay the groundwork for student learning in the digital world
  • Coach Standards outline how coaches can facilitate and model best practices, and collaborate with educators to offer high-quality, student-driven learning using technology
  • Computational Thinking Competencies outline where educators can build better pedagogy to develop equitable, culturally relevant, and collaborative learning activities to integrate computational thinking across all disciplines

Professional Development resources

  • Free resources, including online courses, guide, articles, blog posts, and videos
  • ISTE store with materials, books, and online courses
  • ISTE certification focuses on pedagogy in a 14-week professional learning and six-month portfolio application and review process, with up to four graduate-level credits available
  • Learning Keeps Going website developed by ISTE and EdSurge with resources for educators
  • ISTE U courses about the standards, project-based learning, digital citizenship, creating community in online classes, open educational resources, etc.
  • ISTE Standards Community open-network discussion board for ongoing educator sharing and support
  • New ISTE platform called SkillRise dedicated to upskilling adult workers

Key Takeaways

  • The ISTE Student Standards were revised in 2016 with a focus on empowering students to drive their own learning process so that they are ready to thrive in education, work, and civic life. Personal and workplace success skills, such as setting personal goals, self-reflection, ethical behavior, innovation, perseverance, inquiry and analysis, communication, and collaboration, are interwoven into the digital literacy skills.
  • The Student Standards can be tailored for use in adult education classrooms and would be especially relevant to classes using a project-based model where learners use technology to accomplish authentic and relevant tasks.
  • The standards are aligned to UNESCO’s Sustainable Development Goals and are available in eight languages.

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has been using, researching, and updating the standards for effectively using technology in education since 1998. Its most recent standards were updated in 2016 to reflect its focus on empowering students to lead their own educational process with the use of technology. It is a nonprofit organization that works with the international education community to accelerate the use of technology and inspire innovation in the use of technology in education. ISTE hosts the annual ISTE Conference & Expo, a global edtech event. The organization offers professional learning, such as online courses, professional networks, year-round academies, peer-reviewed journals and other publications. ISTE also publishes books focused on technology in education.

Adaptability & Flexibility

Communication

Critical & Creative Thinking

Digital Literacy

Leadership & Initiative

Navigating & Using Information

Respecting Differences

Teamwork & Collaboration

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