Standard 1 of ISTE-NETS for teachers is to facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity. Based on the teacher’s experience in teaching and learning, they should be able to make learning, creating, and innovating easier for students. Teachers need to have a command of their subject and the ability to use technology in order to carry out this standard. Teachers must model these behaviors in order to promote the process. The teacher should also model and require students to use technology to explore and  solve issues that are occurring in the world today through use of collaboration and student reflection in personal and virtual environments so that their understanding gains more clarity.

            I currently work with a group of special education, self-contained, cross-categorical, ninth thru twelfth grade high school students. Their abilities range dramatically, and I am tasked with increasing their abilities in the areas of ELA, Math, affective behavior and transitional needs. I am confident in my knowledge of these subject areas and currently use technology in my classroom to address these subjects.

            I have had students use technology in my classroom to engage in curriculum based materials, access information, create reports, and create PowerPoint for presentation in the aforementioned areas. Before submitting a final product, students often collaborate during the creation of reports or PowerPoint presentations. The collaboration process evolved naturally without my intervention. Once I realized how the students were more engaged in their work using this process, I began using it for purposeful reasons such as editing as well as clarifying students writing and thought processes within presentations. This collaborative structure is only within a face-to-face environment. Collaboration within the virtual environment is something that I have not attempted and feel a lack of ability to perform. This may be appropriate for some of my students; however, other students may have major difficulties in participating in the online process of collaboration. Students tend to have difficulties transferring skills. Perhaps as I increase my abilities in this area, I will become more appreciative of the process and more open to teaching my students in this capacity. Using this process, I would like to promote further discussion in the class about issues that are relevant to them in today’s world. This is an area in which, as a class, we touch on and discuss briefly without purpose. This skill is another area where I feel weak in approaching with my class in a virtual environment, but I can appreciate the need and benefit it would bring for my students. Although I have not complied entirely to this standard within my classroom for lack of skills, there are other hindrances of which I have no control over.

            Within my classroom, I have a total of six computers. Three of which are outdated, slow and often freeze. There are three computer labs, but they are often booked by other teachers. When I have used the labs, I have had mixed experiences. Typically the computers have not been updated on a regular basis and do not perform properly. The computers in these labs are also a mixture of old and new computers; the older models seldom work properly. I could consider collaboration activities to occur outside of school hours; however, many of my students simply do not have access to computers while at home.

            In order to comply with the standard, I need to work on my personal deficits in knowledge and experience. I can do this by creating a blog with given instructive materials and having individuals post moderated comments. The more experience I have with this type of collaboration the easier it will be for me to teach this skill to my students. I can then assert purposeful issue driven collaboration within my classes with my students.