Assessing Technology Knowledge and Skills

The purpose of assessing educators’ technology leadership knowledge and skill is to determine what we do with technology, instruction, and learning environments.  Assessments also determine if we are meeting standards set by the National Technology Educational Standards (NTES) and International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).  Last week, I completed the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) Teacher Survey as a partial required assignment for EDLD 5306.  The purpose of the survey was to determine how I used technology, the availability of technology at my school, and showcase school/district policies or resources related to technology. The findings of my survey pointed our teachers do assign projects that incorporate technology while adhering to the core curriculum goals.  They make an effort to ensure that learning styles and needs of all students are well served by the use technology appropriately and creatively.  The assessment further determined technology is being used in an ethical manner, and projects reflect student understanding of technology.  Data gathered from the assessment showed I am proficient in use of technology products (word processing, spreadsheets, databases, presentation software) but need to improve my use of web based tools (blogs, chats and wikis).  A disadvantage of using technology assessments is it is often equated with evaluations. As I stated earlier, assessment data was used to determine the use and availability of technology. Evaluations utilize the assessment data to determine if we have deficiencies or we exceed our expectations of utilizing technology standards. Educational technology standards are appropriate guidelines to teaching effectively and growing professionally in an increasingly technology-dependent society.

Standards.  (2010). Retrieved January 22, 2011, from http://www.iste.org/standards.aspx