How To... License Travel on the I-Way
By Linda Lindroth

For Reproducible "license" click here. PDF 479KB

One of the best ways I've found to motivate students to master necessary technology skills and to recognize the hard work it takes to accomplish this mastery, is by awarding them their own personal "driver's license" for tech travel. I prepare my students to drive the Information Highway with a "driver's ed" program for technology. The identified skills and training modules you choose to implement in such a program will be based on your localized technology standards, but here's how I do it.

Getting started
Before deciding on the technology training modules you want your students to complete, identify the technology skills they need. The National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) from the International Society for Technology in Education are a great place to start. Just visit cnets.iste.org/students/s_stands.html for the NETS standards. You can do an online profile of your school or district to develop a technology action plan at tsi.iste.org/profile

Training modules
I use eight training modules correlated to the NETS. The reproducible "License for Driving the I-Way" record sheet on the next page shows which modules I use and also makes a great cover for color-coded Tech Portfolios that help my students keep track of assigned modules. I also use the portfolio to save completed products that show introduction, development and mastery of technology performance skills at each grade and license level.

When school starts in the fall, every student, right down to the preK kids, reviews the Acceptable Use Policy module and signs the school's Acceptable Use Policy.

I've found that it's helpful to set up a Tech Vocabulary Word Wall in the class computer center and school lab to reinforce the terminology used in all eight modules. I use word searches, jigsaw puzzles, flash cards and other online games like Hot Potato or Jeopardy! to teach the vocabulary.

I also set up a login profile for each student's "driver's license" that provides access to the applications that fit the student's level of technology use.

Preparing a license
I divide my licenses into levels that are color-coded based on abilities: a red "Learner's Permit," which means direct assistance is needed for technology use (grades preK-1); a yellow "Driver's License," which indicates the student has limited technology use (grades 2-3) and a green "Chauffeur's License," which signifies students can work independently (grades 4-5). A "Renewal License" with peer tutor rights can be added for middle school students.

Once students complete the Acceptable Use Policy module, I print the appropriate license on perforated business card sheets. The students are then licensed to drive the I-Way, checking off completed modules as they go.

For Reproducible "license" click here. PDF 479KB

Linda K. Lindroth is Technology Editor and Web Coordinator for Teaching Pre K-8. She is also a Technology Teacher in a K-5 computer lab in Lexington, KY.

August/September 2003, Vol.34, No.1