Module 2 Post

In your first post, use the perspective and context of one of the KQ articles you explored to compare/contrast the AASL and ISTE standards. What differences do you see? What similarities? How do you envision these standards working together?

 After reviewing the materials and resources this week, here is a quick breakdown of my understanding of the AASL and ISTE standards:

AASL:
  • Created by the American Association of School Librarians
  • Created with input from school librarians
  • Structured with six foundations: inquire, include, collaborate, curate, explore, and engage
  • Include standards for learners, librarians, and libraries
ISTE:
  • Created by the International Society for Technology in Education
  • Structured with different roles that the various stakeholders (see below) should fulfill, such as "digital citizen" or "innovative designer"
  • Include standards for students, educators, education leaders, coaches, and computer science educators
Similarities and Differences:

 Let's start with what these standards have in common:
  • Both are focused on skills, rather than specific information that students, educators, etc. must know and remember. This is similar to the move that the Common Core standards have made, as well as many state-specific standards, including the South Carolina standards (here are the English 1 SC standards for reference).
  • Both are focused on learners becoming more independent, critical thinkers and explorers of knowledge. This crosswalk document that aligns the AASL standards to the ISTE standards does a good job of visualizing the connections.
  • Both are focused on the individual growth and development of students in an ever-changing world. In Engaging Adolescent Literacies with the Standards, Spiering notes that the meaning of adolescent literacy "refers to a shift from recognizing literacy as reading and writing school-sanctioned texts toward an acknowledgment of the myriad ways that young people make sense of text, images, and other media in many different contexts in their everyday and (often) online lives" (Spiering, 2019, p.46). She notices that there is a shift happening from school-specific skills to real-world skills.
  • Both have specific sets of standards for similar groups, including students and the adults who teach them (even though AASL says "librarians" and ISTE says "educators").
Here are the differences I see:
  • ISTE's standards include more versions for more stakeholders. There are standards that AASL does not include for education leaders, coaches and then specifically for computer science educators.
  • AASL's standards include a section specifically for libraries, while ISTE's standards are all focused on groups of people.
  • ISTE's standards are focused more specifically on the use of technology tools and digital fluency, whereas the AASL standards cover digital citizenship, but also other skills such as cultural competency and empathy. The AASL standards also focus more on human interaction and creation of information; Spiering points out that the new standards "ask students to ethically consider how information is presented, shared, and even withheld from some audiences."
How Can They Work Together?

I think the standards, while perhaps overwhelming at first glance, fit pretty well together. I think the most effective way to utilize both sets of standards would be to begin with the AASL standards and supplement with the more technology-specific skills that the ISTE standards focuses on. In general, I think the AASL standards are more comprehensive in terms of the development of an individual learner, but the ISTE standards get more specific about the use of technology and digital tools.

Sources:

American Association of School Librarians. (2017, November 13). AASL standards - standards structure [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/LwuJgX9wxgA

International Society for Technology in Education. (2020). ISTE Standards. ISTE. Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/standards

Spiering, J. (2019). Engaging adolescent literacies with the standards. Knowledge Quest, 47(5), 44-49.

Comments

  1. Rachel WilsonJanuary 25, 2020 at 2:53 PM

    Hi Ashley,
    I was reminded of the Common Core and South Carolina standards, as well, when I was examining the AASL and ISTE standards. I really like the quote you used from Spiering about how student learning has shifted within school libraries from academic-based skills to real-world skills. For me, working in a Title I school, I see that many of our students lack social skills and this is encouraging and a great reminder to me as a future school librarian to really integrate this aspect into my teaching of the standards.
    I also really like your idea to utilize the AASL standards first then integrate the ISTE standards that focuses more on the digital citizenship aspect of the learner as a whole.
    Thanks for sharing!
    Rachel

    ReplyDelete
  2. Manny FlorescaJanuary 26, 2020 at 10:23 AM

    Hi Ashley,

    I like the way you've organized your blog. It actually helped me organize my own thoughts and feelings about the standards because as you've mentioned, they can be overwhelming at first glance. I found myself wondering which KQ article you had read and if it helped clarify these standards for you. I read Mary Lou O'Connor's article on "Value of an a la Carte Digital Menu." O'Connor does such a good job at integrating AASL and ISTE standards together that it felt very organic for me to think of them as going hand and hand and now that I'm thinking about it, I didn't once mention their significant differences in my own blog post because I had been caught up in how well they worked together. The differences between the standards that you've mentioned in your blog has given me a lot to think about. Thanks for sharing.
    -Manny Floresca

    ReplyDelete

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