Oregon Technology Standards and Requirements

The new Oregon standards are attempting to create technology literate students. This means that our students should have access to and be given the chance to utilize improving and evolving technology. This technology should be used in a manner that will facilitate academic achievement and learning. However, these uses of technology should go beyond the classroom. Students should be given the skills to use different forms of technology in their everyday lives. This means using technology for work, for school, and for personal reasons. This should not be something that students learn about and then never use. These lessons should be practical and meaningful to students.

So, what does it mean to be technologically literate? We want our students to be creative and innovative. This means using problem solving skills and technology to form new ways of understanding, learning, and representing information. We also want students to communicate and collaborate. This means using technology to enhance how and when we talk to each other. We want our students to be able to use technology to research and gain access to information. Technology has given us easy access to a multitude of different types of information. We want our students to be able to utilize this to make information access more efficient. We want our students to be critical thinkers and problem solvers. So, we want them to use their resources, including technology, to solve problems they face in their lives. We want our students to be digital citizens: they should be aware of the ethics and moral issues related to technology. Finally, we want our students to be able to operate technology. This means using tools like word processors in their everyday lives.

In middle school, there are so many ways to incorporate technology into the classroom. I plan to create a class website, where assignments and schedules can be accessed. This relates to the first standard, creativity and innovation, because classroom tasks will be represented in a different medium. I also want to encourage my students to use things like email lists and Skype to talk to each other. If they need help on homework, they can email the class, or particular classmates, to get extra help. Skype also allows for audio and visual communication that can be very helpful in terms of studying and assignments. This aligns with the second standard: collaboration and communication. Finally, I plan to have assignments that must be typed. This prepares students for high school and college where this is consistently an expectation and aligns with the technology operations standard.