LEADING TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT IN CLASSROOMS WITH THE HELP OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION (ISTE) STANDARDS AND INDICATORS

A school is supposed to be physically and emotionally safe. Nevertheless, almost monthly we wake up to horrific news reports about school shootings, bullying, poor sportsmanship, academic scandals, poor character exhibited by ‘student leaders’, and a host of other negative reports about social issues that are occurring within our global schools. Understandably, leaders feel discouraged and powerless about changing these state of affairs or the barriers to learning that they create. As leaders search for causalities and solutions to combating these social issues, they partially vilify technology usage coupling it with the uncontrolled exposure to harmful information via this technology (e.g., games, television shows, etc.). Further, the responses developed to address the issues are often truncated actions limited to actions taken by staff and do not develop student leaders as agents for change.

What if technology and students could become an educational leader’s ally in addressing social issues that are occurring in schools? What if leaders capitalized off Millennial’ and Generation Z’s comfort and skills with using/interfacing with technology for educational and entertainment purposes? What if the technology was used as a tool for social good? Does technology have the potential to bridge the gap between learning and social skills?

Since Educational Leaders spend most waking hours with students, they have a unique opportunity to lead positive change by using technology as a platform/tool to:
- Host meaningful conversations.
- Play games that help develop students’ character and coping skills.
- Teach: Teamwork.,Loyalty to a group., Inclusiveness, Responsibility/accountability, and Respect.

The purpose of this presentation is to generate ideas about how to use the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) standards and indicators for Digital Citizenship, Creative Communication; and Global Collaboration as guideposts in helping students to develop critical social skills.