How relevant are the NETs for Teachers and Administrators to being a "Good Educator" today?

For teachers:

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

Yes, of course this is important, and one that should be there with or without the technology component.

2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

I'll go off on just a little tangent here. There is more than a little potential to be explored with technology in the classroom. In order to take the meaninful next step, ISB must adopt a 1-2-1 program. I feel, as a colleague recently articulated, that many teachers at the middle school have done what can reasonably be done technology wise using the current and somewhat antiquated computer-cart check-out system. To further my tangent a bit, I think a 1-2-1 environment offers a wonderful place for students to engage in everything listed here under number 2, and includes the important facet of meta-cognition.

3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning

This is probably the crux of the issue, especially as it pertains to going 1-2-1, and maybe part of the hesitation. While I am wholly onboard with a 1-2-1 program and am convinced of its place and vitality in improving student learning, it is still hard to say flat out and beyond a doubt that arming kids with a laptop will provide each and every one of them with an more meaningful educational experience. And I can think of several teachers I've encountered over the years who are brilliant, inspiring educators who almost never used technology and would be lost/frustrated/angry if they were somehow "forced" to use it. Of course, on the flip side are plenty of perfectly bad teachers who don't use technology and come up with every excuse in the book not to bother; and finally there is the "park them in front of the screen" approach, which is just as disastrous. Anyhow, the school needs to model meaningful use of technology top-down, not to mention provide meaningful teacher-education regarding that meaningful use.

4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility

Yes, and again it must be a school-wide initiative, and modeled by all, and consistently so.

5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership

As I mentioned above, teachers who adopt the notion of a changed educational world and technology need to also adopt a mind-set that the change is on-going and probably will be forever. Just as the curriculum I have taught over the last 15 years has evolved, so to will the tools with which I teach it, and of course the line between the two will continually be blurred, or even erased.

For administrators:

There is a common thread here in the standards for administrators: technology infusion is an on-going process that requires constant monitoring, change, and awareness. There are the "stake holders" the admin must appeal to as well, as in the parent community as a whole, and of course the school board. Each stakeholder, including the teachers and students, must consistently and constantly see the learning benefits from technology infusion, particularly if a school is striving for 1-2-1.