Becoming Empowered Learners

Recently, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) came out with new standards for students.  According to the ISTE website, "The ISTE Standards for Students are designed to empower student voice and ensure that learning is a student-driven process of exploration, creativity, and discovery no matter where they are or their teachers are in the thoughtful integration of ed tech."

The first student standard is:

But what does this really mean? What might it look like in a classroom? How can teachers make sure their students are truly on their way to becoming empowered learners?

Here are a few ideas:

Allow students to chose and demonstrate their learning goals in different ways. For example, if you're doing a unit on force and motion, you could create three categories (gravity, friction, and force) and allow students to choose which topic they are interested in and want to learn more about. After you've stated your learning objectives for students and students know exactly what they need to learn and why (I am learning how the speed of an object affects it's impact so I can design a safety device for the tricycles on the kindergarten playground), students can choose how they want to present their knowledge- whether it be with an iMovie, a Google Slides presentation, a good old fashioned poster, etc.

Help students find their "go-tos"; People in their "network" they can go to for help. This might include making students "Experts" in certain apps or programs or subjects; "If you need help with Popplet, make sure to talk to Sally." Pairing students up with learning partners or in groups they can rely on when they are having trouble will help students build their learning network. And simply knowing who and how to contact a peer for work and information when a student is absent will help students create and maintain their own personal learning networks.

Students need to be taught how to become organized and independent learners. However this is much more effective when we allow students to organize themselves in a way that makes sense to them- not just to us as teachers. For example, we can teach students how to organize files in Google Drive. Often times when we model this skill, the students will mimic exactly what we do as teachers because it must be the only correct way to do it, right!? If I make a 7th Grade Art folder in my Drive, I've found students will do the same, even though they don't even have an art class. The question for students then becomes- What folders can you make, that will help you become more organized, and will make sense to you.

All of these things will help your students become empowered learners and take charge of their own learning.

Teachers can download these posters as a reminder of the things we strive to do each day in our classrooms to empower our students to become independent learners.

Sandy Patterson
Educational Technology