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Teaching can be very isolating at times, and that can be bad for their professional growth. Everyone needs a stimulating environment and connections with others to develop new ideas, strategies and knowledge. We should practice what we preach and model the lifelong learning we encourage in our students.

The best way to learn is to connect with other educators at face-to-face conferences, such as the ISTE Conference & Expo, or within online communities. These are great places to learn at the school, regional, national or international level about ways to use new technologies to extend and enhance student learning. They are also where educators can share their knowledge with others and contribute to the effectiveness, vitality and self-renewal of their profession.

The activities in the table below are similar in several ways. They're all intended for grade 3-6 social studies. They all share the same objectives: encouraging students to explore Africa and develop a better understanding of its environment and culture, particularly the ancient tradition of oral storytelling. Finally, they all ask the students to consider their own culture and provide an example of one of their own family's stories. Where they differ is in how the teachers keep their knowledge current, and in whether or not they keep the circle of knowledge intact by sharing their ideas with others.

Standard 5: Engage in professional growth and leadership. Teachers continuously improve their professional practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit leadership in their school and professional community by promoting and demonstrating the effective use of digital tools and resources.

Activity 1: The teacher asks the students to explore Africa using maps in textbooks. The teacher then describes the ancient tradition of storytelling rooted in cultures and traditions. Students share a family story with a partner.

Activity 2: After attending the ISTE Conference & Expo, the teacher returns with the idea to ask the students to explore Africa using Google Earth. The teacher then describes the ancient tradition of storytelling rooted in cultures and traditions. Students write their own family stories, then record them as podcasts to share with other students.

Activity 3: After attending the ISTE Conference & Expo, the teacher returns with several ideas. She asks the students to explore Africa using Google Earth. Next, she has the students watch videos of African storytellers telling stories and explaining the ancient tradition of storytelling. They then write their own family stories and record them as podcasts to share with other students. Later, the teacher shares this lesson at a staff training event.

Activity 1 does not connect with any of the indicators from this standard. The activity aligns with the objectives for the lesson, but there is no indication that the teacher is actively seeking to improve her professional practice by participating in learning communities, such as conferences or online networks. The lesson does not use digital tools, which could be evidence of lack of knowledge about these tools. Finally, there is no evidence that this teacher is a leader or shares knowledge with others.

Activity 2 begins with the teacher attending a conference, from which she brings back ideas. It addresses the first indicator because she participated in a global community to explore applications and improve student learning. The teacher uses resources from the conference when she asks her students to use Google Earth and podcasting. The main area where this activity is lacking is in the last indicator, as the teacher does not go on to disseminate this knowledge to others or engage in teacher leadership activities.

The teacher in Activity 3 has also attended the ISTE Conference & Expo, where she gained many ideas for enhancing the lesson with digital technologies. As a result, she thinks of asking the students to use Google Earth to explore Africa from a distance as well as close up. She also shows video of authentic African storytellers to explain and demonstrate the tradition, and she has the students record their own family stories as podcasts. Finally, this teacher goes one step further by becoming a teacher leader and presenting this lesson to other educators in the school. This activity addresses all the indicators in Standard 5, as the teacher has taken steps to improve her professional practice by connecting with other educators and exhibits leadership by then sharing what she has learned with others.
Susan Herrington Kidd assisted in writing this article. She is an education graduate student at Old Dominion University in Virginia. Helen Crompton is an assistant professor of instructional technology at Old Dominion University in Virginia. She is a researcher and educator in the field of instructional technology. She earned her Ph.D. in educational technology and mathematics education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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Know the ISTE Standards for Teachers: Keep learning and leading

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Standard 5 of the ISTE Standards for Teachers is all about teacher knowledge - how to keep it current and how to pay it forward. To meet the standard, educators should participate in professional communities face to face or online to discover new ways to use technology to improve student learning.

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ISTE - Connected learning. Connected world.

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For more than 30 years, ISTE has continued to grow as an organization and evolve alongside the ever-changing landscapes of education and technology. Over the past year, we've undergone a strategic rebranding initiative that required taking an in-depth look at who we serve, what we do and why our work matters.

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cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by Paolo Camera

Sitting in on a session today with administrators across the province discussing system and school changes, I saw this Will Richardson post pop up in my Twitter feed. At the same time that we are talking about how to help educators move forward, I read this:

It's always interesting to me how many people in education, once they start waking up to the big shifts that are afoot, immediately jump to the "ok, so how do we change our schools?" question without addressing the "How do we change ourselves?" question first. It's as if they're looking to buy the off-the-shelf "EduChange" software program and install it on top of their current school operating system. They don't like to be told that there is no program to buy, no system upgrade to run, and that the only way they're going to start doing anything really differently is if they decide to reflect on their own learning first.

Interestingly enough, I jumped into this "connected learning" environment when my brother Alec and I met Will for supper one night. They pushed me to share more, especially as a school administrator, so I decided to jump in. I have never looked back.

Speaking with many educators now, they often discuss how schools are not changing and I have asked them, "How are you sharing your learning with them so that you are embodying what you want to see in the classroom?" The " time " idea comes up a lot in the answers, but if improving learning is the goal, it is not going to come easy; time will have to be invested.

Unintentionally, I started this blog a couple of years back not as a way to share my thoughts, but to actually learn how to create an online portfolio so I could work with our students to learn how to do the same. I thought that if I was going to ask my teachers to build a portfolio with kids, I better know it myself. Through blogging though, I have learned so much about myself and with others, and I see it as time well spent. It is WAY easier to encourage others to do it now when I can tell them where my URL is so that they can look at the work that I have done.

Because of blogging, tweeting, etc., I often get labeled as a "techie", yet I see it a lot differently. Yes I am somewhat comfortable with a lot of technology, but most importantly, I am comfortable learning technology and actually have learned to appreciate the problem solving process. There does not seem to be a day that goes by where I am not trying to solve an issue or fix something (I still have a CD stuck in my iMac but I am going to get it one of these days!), yet I have learned to have patience and work through my problems. Last night, I spent two hours (not kidding), trying to figure out the easiest way to set up a widget for people to subscribe by email to our school division blog site. I would love to say I was smiling the whole time, but the reality of it was that I was continuously frustrated by something that seemed SO simple. When I finally figured it out, the utter joy of that moment was utterly awesome. To actually struggle with something and then finally achieve success is a fantastic feeling, one that I hope our kids go through over and over again.

I have watched many educators work with students and tell them to be patient, work through their problems, try different methods, etc., and then watch them say something like, "I don't get technology" right after. Do we think that kids walk into schools "getting" science or math? We encourage them to struggle, work their way through it, guide them, and push them to be better.

We need to continuously (and openly) learn to struggle, work our way through things, and push ourselves to be better as well.

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cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by Paolo Camera Sitting in on a session today with administrators across the province discussing system and school changes, I saw this Will Richardson post pop up in my Twitter feed.