National Educational Technology Standards Project

The challenge facing America's schools is the empowerment of all children to function effectively in their future, a future marked increasingly with change, information growth, and evolving technologies. Technology is a powerful tool with enormous potential for paving high-speed highways from outdated educational systems to systems capable of providing learning opportunities for all, to better serve the needs of 21st century work, communications, learning, and life.

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and the public at-large recognize the potential of technology to change education and improve student learning. Technology has become a powerful catalyst in promoting learning, communications, and life skills for economic survival in today's world. Through its National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) Project, ISTE is encouraging educational leaders to provide learning opportunities that produce technology-capable students.

WHAT IS THE NETS PROJECT?

The primary goal of the ISTE NETS Project is to enable stakeholders in Pre K-12 education to develop national standards for educational uses of technology that facilitate school improvement in the United States. The NETS Project is developing standards to guide educational leaders in recognizing and addressing the essential conditions for effective use of technology to support Pre K-12 education. The following sets of standards will be developed or refined:

Technology Foundation Standards for Students, describing what students should know about technology and be able to do with technology. (June 1998)
Connecting Curriculum and Technology, providing curriculum examples of effective use of technology in teaching and learning. (Fall 1999)
Educational Technology Support Standards, describing standards for professional development, systems, access, and support services essential to support effective use of technology. (In progress)
Standards for Student Assessment and Evaluation of Technology Use, describing various means of assessing student progress and evaluating the use of technology in learning and teaching. (In progress)

The technology foundation standards for students were originally published as a separate document (1998) and represent the first publication of the NETS Project. The first document synthesized responses to proposed educational technology standards from many groups and individuals across the nation who participated in conference sessions, technology forum meetings, Internet dialogue, and surveys. Consensus was reached using a variety of media for discussions with a wide range of stakeholders.

OTHER STANDARDS EFFORTS

The roots of the NETS Project are found in the work done by ISTE's Accreditation and Professional Standards Committee. For almost a decade, the committee has worked diligently to influence the accreditation and standards-setting agencies at the national and state levels. The committee has developed standards-related documents, adopted by NCATE and used widely in the United States in the development of teacher-education programs. These include:

standards for accreditation of teacher preparation programs for specialization in educational computing and technology,
unit guidelines describing essential conditions needed to support technology use in teacher preparation programs, and
general standards for providing a foundation in technology for all teachers.

THE NETS PARTNERSHIP

The ISTE NETS Project appreciates the strong collaborative participation of both curriculum associations and partnering education organizations. This participation helped ensure that the standards were developed in consultation with a wide range of audiences. The NETS Project is especially appreciative of funding received through multiple sources. Contributors to the project include: Apple Computer, Inc., Milken Exchange on Education Technology, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the U.S. Department of Education.

Here is the complete list of individuals who participated in the development of the NETS for Students documents.

Lajeane G. Thomas
Project Director
ISTE NETS Project

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