Presentation 2 - 2009-07-08
Don Knezek ISTE CEO
International Society for Technology in Education

Mr. Don Knezek is the CEO of ISTE; the International Society for Technology in Education, which – though based in the U. S. – is one of the foremost and well-respected technology agencies in the world. ISTE provides standards of technology integration in education which are used as a benchmark globally. Throughout his talk, it became clear that Mr. Knezek’s guiding philosophy as CEI of ISTE is preparing a digital generation. Start to finish, his interest in student learning and concern for innovation for digital-age learning was evident. This philosophy is also reflected in the ISTE vision to “advance excellence in learning and teaching through innovative and effective uses of technology” (ISTE).

Throughout his talk, Mr. Knezek emphasized the importance of helping teachers become comfortable with technology. His observation that in the last 10 years the world has become increasingly globalized, multicultural and competitive is particularly relevant to today’s educators, who are working with students in new and innovative ways, dealing with issues that did not exist only years ago. Mr. Knezek also spoke of ISTE’s “world is flat” enterprise, meaning that we need to "make sure that teachers are up to date and ready to teach to international standards". This “globalization of education” is bringing an end to teaching as an isolated endeavour, and as teachers, we need to be prepared to deal with the repercussions.

One way that ISTE aims to achieve this goal of preparing global teachers of technology, is through the creation of technology standards. These ISTE standards stem from the three unifying strands of:

· Establishing focus
· Clearly communicating expectations of excellence
· Providing a roadmap to the future

As Mr. Knezek noted: “using technology well across a school system is significant school reform, and it’s all about leadership”. Speaking to us as the technology leaders of tomorrow, Mr. Knezek challenged us to think about shaping a creative and innovative world. He emphasized that the expectations for technology are global and with this occurring, we need to have a shared vision of how to get there. Not only do we need to have technologically skilled teachers, but more importantly, we need to become comfortable with emerging digital tools like learning management systems, online assessment, blogs, forums etc. The processes to achieve these outcomes are summarized in ISTE’s “Essential Conditions” which include:

· Shared Vision
· Empowered leaders
· Implementation planning
· Constant and adequate funding
· Equitable access
· Skilled personnel
· Ongoing professional learning
· Technical support
· Curriculum framework
· Student-centered learning
· Assessment and evaluation
· Engaged communities
· Support policies
· Supportive external context

Meeting Mr. Knezek – even through the confines of the video conferencing suite – was a truly enlightening experience. His real world experiences with three decades of technology and more recently in his role of CEO for ISTE give him a truly global sense of the direction educational technology is heading. His approach to this field of technology is similar to that of Marc Prensky whose term “digital natives” can readily be applied to the students we are now teaching and to Resnick’s (2001) research which assesses that “learning is an active process in which people construct new understandings of the world around them through active exploration, experimentation, discussion and reflection. In short: people don’t get ideas; they make them” (p. 33). ISTE is prepared to help us as we endeavour, as teachers, to make new ideas for today's educational technology.