Educational Technology Associations

After researching associations related to the field of educational technology, I found two that closely align with my philosophy of education. The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE) offer teachers support in their design and application of technology in the classroom.

• ISTE states that its purpose is "Providing leadership and service to improve teaching and learning by advancing the effective use of technology in education." What I appreciate most about this statement is ISTE's service to the teaching profession. At the beginning of each school year, teachers are bombarded with new ideas and resources to enhance technology in the classroom, but then struggle with the application part of the process. How will this technology work in my class? Do my students have access to the right hardware and software? Where do I begin? These are all questions I have asked and ISTE can help. The website says, "We support our members with information, networking opportunities, and guidance as they face the challenge of transforming education. ISTE meets its mission through knowledge generation, professional development, and advocacy. An organization of great diversity, ISTE leads through presenting innovative educational technology books and programs; conducting professional development workshops, forums, and symposia; and researching, evaluating, and disseminating findings regarding educational technology on an international level." There is also a tab on the ISTE home page titled "Support Ed Tech." This is where a teacher's voice can be heard. "ISTE’s advocacy initiatives bring the voice of local educators to the nation’s policy-makers." Teachers continually listen to the needs of their students and it's refreshing to know that someone is listening to us. http://www.iste.org/



• SITE's mission is "to promote research, scholarship, collaboration, exchange and support. It is an association of individual teacher educators, and affiliated organizations of teacher educators in all disciplines, who are interested in the creation and dissemination of knowledge about the use of information technology in teacher education and faculty/staff development." As with ISTE, the SITE association places its emphasis on better serving the teacher, not the technology. Some features of the website that I found beneficial were the SITEblog and the SIGs tab. On the SITEblog, http://www.siteblog.org/, you can access information posted by teachers specifically targeting the content you teach. I am interested in improving my social studies curriculum through the use of technology and the blogs I've read have already given me ideas. SITE members can also participate in Special Interest Groups, or SIGs at http://site.aace.org/sigs/. "These SIGs are organized under three councils: Information Technology, Teacher Education, and Consultative. The Information Technology SIGs focus on the application of technology across multiple curriculum areas, such as E-Folios, distance education, and Faculty Development. Teacher Education SIGs are broken into subject area and Consultative SIGs manage communication, governance, convergence, and journals." I would like to join SITE in order to access the Teacher Education Social Studies SIG. It's chairperson is Dr. John Lee from North Carolina State University. He led part of the TaRGET American History Institute sessions that I attended during the 2007-2008 school year. He is an advocate of technology in the social studies curriculum and is an asset to the SITE association. http://site.aace.org/