The roles we play

One thing that I found really interesting about the ISTE standards in regards to connectivism was just how much the roles that students and teachers are asked to play in the standards reinforce the idea that learning takes place through connections that are formed. Some of the nouns used in the student standards are "citizen," "collaborator," and "communicator," all of which are focused on relationships with others in this digital world. While these are all roles that students would play without technology, I think it is important to note that in today's world, they take on a whole new meaning. For example, being a digital citizen comes with a whole new set of expectations. Teaching students how to interact with technology and one another in safe and ethical ways is of the utmost importance. Similarly, given how technology has allowed us to talk to and work with one another in a seemingly limitless amount of ways across time and space, collaboration and communication look very different than they did even 5 years ago.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2017-07-13-here-s-what-the-iste-standards-for-students-look-like-in-five-projects

Similarly, the teacher standards echo the importance of relationships, with standards such as citizens, collaborators, and facilitators. What stuck out to me the most here was the idea of teachers as collaborators, something that hasn't really be addressed in any of the other learning theories we have learned about. I loved that it mentions collaborating with colleagues because sharing information and resources to create the best experience for our students and to solve problems is critical. It also fits in with the global community of teachers that we learned are out there, willing and able to help one another out. The standard also talks about collaborating with our students, which I really liked. Viewing the teacher-student relationship as a team working to help the students meet their goals is a really positive way of looking at it, and allowing the students some say in the class and some autonomy is definitely a really positive thing given the huge array of tools and resources available to our students today.