AASL vs. ISTE

 “School librarians must think of their role beyond offering a service to teachers or suggesting a flashy tech tool. Rather their goals and expertise make them an integral part of the literacy learning and instruction (broadly defined) that happens across the curricular areas” (Spiering, p. 46).

“School librarians are an integral part of the literacy culture of a school and, therefore, must address the multiple literacies that are a part of our students’ lived realities today” (Spiering, p. 49).

After familiarizing myself with the standards set forth by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and the National School Library Standards set forth by American Association of School Libraries (AASL), the two quotes above from Jenna Spiering seemed to relate so well to the objectives outlined in each set of standards. The ISTE standards focus more on learners and their digital literacy proficiency, while the AASL standards focus on how school librarians can support learners in applying literacy skills across multiple disciplines and modalities. Through instruction that is based on the ISTE and AASL standards, school librarians are in unique positions to support literacy within classrooms and help students be successful inside and outside of the classroom.

The ISTE Standards for Students include seven standards that enable students to effectively interact with and utilize technology. These standards are written as characteristics of digitally literate students, such as: Empowered Learner, Digital Citizen, Knowledge Constructor, Innovative Designer, Computational Thinker, Creative Communicator, and Global Collaborator. Each standard has four competencies that further establishes skills necessary for each of these characteristics. For example, the Digital Citizen standard challenges students to be aware of their “digital identity” and to maintain a responsible level of public information.

The AASL standards are a bit more broad than the ISTE standards. This means that students may accomplish each competency through multiple modalities and literacies. The National School Library Standards are categorized into six Shared Foundations: Inquire, Include, Collaborate, Curate, Explore, and Engage. To me, while the ISTE standards aim to establish characteristics within students, the AASL standards aim to establish skills necessary for being a life-long learner. Each foundation of the AASL standards includes the following domains: Think, Create, Share, Grow. These domains then contain competencies to establish literacy skills that may be applied across multiple modalities and curriculum areas. For example, within the Include Shared Foundation, students are to “Create” by interacting with others who have differing perspectives, evaluate different perspectives, and represent those different perspectives in their learning.

One notable commonality among the AASL and ISTE standards are the competencies and expectations that they outline for educators and schools. The AASL standards include competencies for school librarians and school libraries within each Shared Foundation and domain, while the ISTE standards include expectations for educators, administrators, and technology coaches that support the use of technology within schools and districts. These competencies and standards for professionals in the education space help teachers, librarians, and other stakeholders to support the establishment of multiple literacies among students.

Click the image above to view the AASL and ISTE Standards Crosswalks.

References

American Association of School Libraries. (2018). National School Library Standards crosswalk with ISTE Standards for Students and Educators. https://standards.aasl.org/project/crosswalks/

International Society for Technology in Education. (2016). ISTE Standards. https://iste.org/standards

Spiering, J. (2019). Engaging adolescent literacies with the standards. Knowledge Quest, 47(5), 44-49.