1998, That's A Long Time Ago.

“The National Educational Technology Standards for Students were released in June 1998, with accompanying Performance Profiles of technology literate students and Essential Conditions for implementation. Over time, the standards have received acceptance and widespread use across the United States and in many other countries” (Mattson). One idea that can be drawn from this quote is that technology standards have not been changed in a long time, and revision could be necessary. Since 1998, for example, the controversial law No Child Left Behind has been issued; a law that has dramatically changed the requirements of both teachers and students. Due to the law, it seems as though there is a standardized test for everything; hence, teachers have to teach towards meeting certain standards and students have to pass written tests. In other words, students and teachers are held responsible for what is learned and taught. That said, I pose the following question: who, or what is responsible for making sure the National Educational Technology Standards are met? To my knowledge, there are technological standards for teachers and students listed and described at http://www.iste.org/, but how do I know teachers are really capable of meeting these standards; and additionally, how do I know students are learning the technology they are supposed to be learning? For the core subjects such as Math, English, and Science students are issued tests such as the MAP and the ACT. Do mandatory tests such as these exist in order to analyze students’ abilities towards meeting the National Educational Technology Standards? If such a test wasn’t created at the inception of their standards in 1998, it should be now; or, some other method of ensuring that the standards are met should be inaugurated. The standards are present so they should be carried out indefinitely through some type of annual testing.