The International Society for Technology in Education or ISTE, should not to be confused with the international release of ‘Iste’ by Turkish pop singer Mustafa Sandal. Whilst ‘ISTE’ and ‘Iste’ are worlds apart, they are both attempting to appeal to an international audience- and there is the segway. We know what we get from Mustafa bey* (25 000 YouTube hits and counting) but what does ISTE mean to an international audience?
The ‘I’ stands for so much more for those of us under the international umbrella. It means ‘Interesting’ because of the conversation you have. Technology related and non tech-related. Conference calls where, potentially, everyone else is making dinner plans and you are eating breakfast. Interesting because everyone is talking snow days and you are hunkering down for a typhoon or sitting, sweating it out in 30ºC (86°F-I could include measurement ‘Increments’ at this stage as well!). Interesting because the same issues exist in education whether we are talking from a position in Connecticut or Hong Kong. Interesting because at the end of the day it all comes back to student learning no matter where we wake up each morning.
It means ‘Interconnectedness’ and how ISTE helps us to flatten the world. We start having online conversations, for this committee or that collaboration, and that eventuates, one day, into a ‘real’ meet-up. After all you have shared breakfast/dinner/your home or office (all virtually) with other ITSE members but have never been in the same country. I work next door to Dr. Matt Harris (ISTE Board), in Singapore, who we may or may not meet in normal circumstance but because of ISTE we connect and start thinking ‘What can we collaborate on?’, ‘How can we help each other?’
It can mean ‘Isolated’. Much of what happens in ISTE, remains North America centric. So when the promotion of advocacy, district funding, a drive to challenge education bills in the Congress, the rollout of Common Core standards occurs, I am genuinely interested. It is not high on my priority list to act any further. We know how important authenticity is in student learning. The same applies with adults. Where is the ISTE presence for educators in Asia/Pacific, Europe, the Africas…
It means Interrupted- not so much about the conversation but more so the sleep. I was recently having a chat with aforementioned Dr. Matt Harris and we spoke of the time shifts in our ISTE connections. He related to me that if his alarm goes off at 3AM he turns to his wife (she works for a company based in the US) and asks “Is that your meeting or mine?”
It means Invigorating – you become part of the ISTE conference and from afar you make a difference. Hopefully guiding what people will choose to see and be interested. You review papers, you see these wonderful ideas, you take a little back to your own organization. My occasional perfectly timed world means I can sit in on an ISTE Webinar (presented from east coast USA) before my Singapore school day even starts. This then has me motivated for the remainder of the day and thinking ‘How?’, ‘When?’ and ‘What if?’
*‘bey’ is the loose Turkish translation of ‘mister’
Let's Talk About The 'I' In ISTE
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