Helping Students Become Global Citizens with NETS-S

The National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S), developed by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) outline various standards students should know and be able to do in regards to learning about and with technology. Within the NETS-S, there are 6 overarching skills students need to acquire in order to become productive global citizens and advocates of learning with technology:

1. Creativity and Innovation
2. Communication and Collaboration
3. Research and Information Fluency
4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making
5. Digital Citizenship
6. Technology Operations and Concepts

Web 2.0 applications have the ability to provide the tools necessary to help students be able to “communicate, collaborate, compose, create, and contribute” (Schrock, 2006). Students have the ability to continue learning outside the classroom walls like never before, as access to these tools can happen at any time through the use of the newest technologies like the Kindle, iPad, iPhone, and Android applications.


Collaboration tools, such as Google Docs, can provide an experience in sharing the production and editing of content in “real-time” by all members of the group from any locale. Once the document has been created, validation of the creative work can be published online easily on a Wikispaces page. These communication and collaboration tools allow students to easily “interact, collaborate, and publish with peers [as they] contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems” (NETS-S, 2011).

In decades past, learning had been centered around the content. The primary shift for the 21^st Century learner is for students to be “learning the tools and the skills of remaking that content, becoming the creator and producer” (Rhoten, MacArthur Foundation, 2010, 1:42). The challenge, then, is finding the proper vehicle to drive learning within this new construct.

Kathy Schrock, a dedicated educator and advocate of technology in education, has taken on the challenge of providing a list of Web 2.0 applications that address the hierarchy of Bloom’s Taxonomy, known as Bloomin’ Apps. This digitally-mastered reference provides easy access into addressing higher-order thinking and processing skills through the sole use of Web 2.0 applications. With a bit of planning and purposeful design, each level on the taxonomy can be tapped into and related to the NETS-S standards.

The most daunting task in the process of addressing the NETS-S is keeping informed and updated on the latest technologies. As technology rapidly changes, so must how we teach and prepare our students for jobs that have not yet been created. With the NETS-S framework and Web 2.0 applications, this challenge could be an exciting adventure in transforming the face and pace of education.

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ISTE. (2007). NETS for Students 2007. ISTE - International Society for Technology in Education. Retrieved April 15, 2012, from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-students/nets-student-standards-2007.aspx

MacArthur Foundation. (2010, December 01). Rethinking Learning: The 21st Century Learner. YouTube. Retrieved April 15, 2012, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0xa98cy-Rw

Schrock, K. (2011). Bloomin' Apps - Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything. Retrieved April 15, 2012, from http://www.schrockguide.net/bloomin-apps.html 

Schrock, K. (2006, April 9). Overview. Kathy Schrock's Home Page. Retrieved from http://kathyschrock.net/web20/