Blog Post 1: AASL vs. ISTE Standards for School Librarians

AASL and ISTE standards both seem to be grounded in a similar philosophy, which is helping students become well-rounded, fully literate citizens. However, there are definitely several differences between the two. ISTE standards are broken down by who their target audience is; they have standards for students, educators, educational leaders, coaches, and ISTE computational thinking competencies. The AASL standards, on the other hand, are solely directed at students and what they should be able to accomplish, but this certainly doesn't mean the standards are too narrow. "The AASL Standards recognize learning as an ongoing endeavor that should not be confined to the four walls of the school building or library" (Freedman & Robinson, 2018, p. 12). 

Literacy as seen in the ISTE standards is centered around technology, and literacy in the AASL standards is a bit more holistic in regards to the broader school library experience. ISTE's website states: "[T]he ISTE Standards ensure that using technology for learning can create high-impact, sustainable, scalable and equitable learning experiences for all learners" (ISTE, 2016). This certainly isn't to imply that the AASL standards lack discussion of technology implementation; the "Engage" domain of the AASL standards includes several references to technology, with one example stating that learners will "follow ethical and legal guidelines for gathering and using information by [r]esponsibly applying information, technology, and media to learning" (AASL, 2017). 

The greatest, and arguably most important, similarity between the two is a focus on acquiring skills and applying knowledge rather than just acquiring knowledge and doing nothing with it. Both sets of standards place importance on higher-order thinking and application of knowledge. Freedman and Robinson discuss a variety of example activities that align with the AASL standards, including empowering learners to advocate for change in their community by campaigning for the Day of the Dead to be a local holiday (Freedman & Robinson, 2018, p. 12). If we wanted this to intersect with the ISTE standards, part of this campaign could have been done online via social media, which would align with Student Standard 1.4: "Students use a variety of technologies within a design process to identify and solve problems by creating new, useful or imaginative solutions" (ISTE, 2016). I believe that combining these sets of standards and consulting both of them can lead to increased media and technological literacy for students, which will in turn help students become ethical and helpful digital citizens.

References:

American Association of School Librarians Standards Framework  (2017). AASL Standards Framework. AASL-Standards-Framework-for-Learners-pamphlet.pdf

Freedman, J. & Robinson, A. (2018). School librarians level up. Knowledge Quest, 47(5), 11-15.

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