Are your lessons addressing the ISTE Standards for Students? Often that's up for interpretation. In this second installment of Know the ISTE Standards for Students, we focus on Standard 2, with examples of how an observer or lesson designer might assess the indicators of communication and collaboration.

In each of the classroom activities described in the table below, the teacher assigns students the task of presenting a book report using technology. However, whether or not the lesson addresses Standard 2, including all of its indicators, depends on the choices the teacher makes when giving the assignment.

When you break each standard down into its indicators, you can begin to analyze an assignment or lesson piece by piece. As you can see in the table, indicators under each of the ISTE Standards for Students often have multiple attributes of their own to consider. Standard 2 has two attributes under each indicator:

• Indicator 2a involves both collaboration and media.
• Indicator 2b involves not only communication with technology, but also consideration of audience.
• Indicator 2c involves not just encountering information about other cultures, but some kind of communication with those cultures as well.
• Indicator 2d is more than just classroom grouping. The teams are convened around creative or problem-based activities.

Identifying an indicator in a lesson or observation often hinges on whether both attributes appear and whether they appear in a way that relates to the particular standard. For instance, presentation software skills are useful, but technology skills as such are already covered under Standard 6: Technology Operations and Concepts. Standard 2 has to do with communication skills.

The indicators are not supposed to be redundant, even though some of their attributes overlap. Some observers mark every indicator that mentions digital tools as addressed if students use any digital tools. But this obscures opportunities for improvement because they are inaccurately recognizing some attributes that are absent. Careful use of the indicators both documents student achievement and identifies ways to improve the learning experience.

Note that none of these indicators is marked as met. That is typical. Independently demonstrating the knowledge and skill described in an indicator is difficult to do outside of a capstone project or work sample.

Talbot Bielefeldt has evaluated educational technology programs since 1995. His company, Clearwater Program Evaluation, provides evaluation services to school districts and universities nationwide. He participated in the development of the ISTE Classroom Observation Tool and offers training in evaluation techniques.