So why “Ed Tech & Ice Cream”? Well, there are a lot of reasons, but the bottom line is that we love these two things and they’ve become inextricable for us.

We have a tradition that after we spend two days delivering the face-to-face training for ISTE Certification (or lead any professional development together), we find a local ice cream stand and celebrate. We rely on local insider knowledge to find the best ice cream in a new area and you all have suggested some amazing places! It’s a great way for us to connect and close out the experience (ISTE Standards: Collaborator 4a – dedicate planning time). We love working with you all in those two days and this tradition helps us mark the transition to the self-paced online portion of the course. Here is evidence of our escapades:

And ice cream (or frozen yogurt or sorbet or creamee/kreamee/kreemy) is a great analogy for the ISTE Certification process.

Stay with me here (you know Suzanne loves a good analogy)! There are lots of different types of ice cream – some people like a delicious plain vanilla, others prefer something more adventurous like cherry-Heath bar-brownie chocolate frozen yogurt, while some folks prefer the fruity non-dairy sorbet experience. Just like you can choose a lot of different frozen desserts, the ISTE standards highlight the range of ways to support you to empower your learners. Are you a librarian who has a Makerspace in your library? Or a classroom teacher who has four desktops and 3 iPads? Maybe you are a principal who wants to better support your teachers to use technology in new and innovative ways? Or a Technology Integration Coach working with teachers from kindergarten to 12th grade.  

The ISTE Standards can support you, no matter what flavor of tech integration you prefer.