Comments on: ISTE Teacher Standard 1: Connecting Students to Outside Professionals

By: Marsha Scott

Marsha Scott — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 03:25:32 +0000

Great job on your post, Becky. I especially like the “Things to Think About” section. You made an excellent point about educators using Skype in the classroom and the importance of modeling the expectations. You also mentioned how students could use Twitter as a tool to connect with professionals. The twitter template is a great learning activity. Great inspirational thought, “to open the world and help to develop passionate, lifelong learners. What a great way to bring that responsibility to fruition.” Thanks for sharing!

By: Ryan Ingersoll

Ryan Ingersoll — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 01:00:15 +0000

Great post, Becky. Not only does real-time video conversations and Twitter interactions provide opportunities for students beyond the physical classroom walls, but it also gives them experience using ICT in settings they will use throughout their life as they build professional contacts and, as you mentioned, finesse their video etiquette.

By: Annie Tremonte

Annie Tremonte — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 00:21:13 +0000

Great job Becky. I feel inspired to finally try this! I am curious if you recommend using a teacher/classroom Twitter account that is shared by students and monitored? I also really like the lifelong learning lesson that this teaches to students. Adults continue to connect with experts in order to seek out answers in the real world. As such, I really like your call for more professionals beyond authors to enter this conversation! I keep thinking about the emphasis on STEM in education and how many students could benefit from connections with engineers, scientists and video game designers! My school hosts a career day every spring, and sometimes we struggle to bring enough diversity to our presenters. We should think about Tweeting professionals on a more global scale in order to bring them to our classrooms via Skype! Thanks for the ideas Becky.

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 04:12:58 +0000

A few years ago, I was helping to facilitate a challenge-based learning project with another classroom. One group wanted to create an app that would help address texting-and-driving. Not knowing how this might happen, I helped them connect with a friend of mine who is a developer at Apple to discuss the logistics behind this. For me, it was much easier to do this in a smaller group so that each student could have their individual questions answered. Seeing the call also prompted other groups to brainstorm who they might want to reach out to, as well. It was a very positive experience for both my students and the expert.

I think you bring up a great point that student behaviors need to be explicitly taught. Communication skills are important both on- and off- the call and promoting digital citizenship in all aspects will be especially important if you have students reaching out to experts themselves. Circling back to my previous comment, I’ve noticed that the larger the group the more appropriate behaviors need to be modeled and reminded. Further, Twitter might be a great way to keep the conversations rolling with the experts after the initial Skype call. I look forward to hearing how this goes for you!