This handy, accessible guide provides tips and guidance on how to navigate AI in education and teach students what they need to know about this quickly evolving topic.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most pressing topics facing our world – including our classrooms – today. Educators and education leaders urgently need to get up to speed and equip themselves to teach students about AI. With this guide, you’ll explore a variety of AI technologies that have incredible potential to impact teaching and learning, and discover strategies for designing and implementing AI lessons and projects that empower students as creative communicators, innovative designers and digital citizens.

The guide includes:

• Ethical and instructional considerations to help you carefully examine and evaluate a diverse range of AI resources.
• Guidance on how to connect AI concepts to the curriculum and standards you’re already teaching.
• Student-friendly AI tools that can be used to boost creativity and communication.
• Complete AI projects with extension activities ready to roll out in the classroom.
• A look at coming advances in the field of AI, along with guidance for navigating new questions related to AI.

(ISTE Jump Start Guide, 8.5" x 11", three laminated panels, six pages)

About the Authors

Nancye Blair Black is an award-winning educator, speaker, author, consultant and change agent who inspires educators and leaders to transform educational practices and environments. She is a school board member for Lakeland Montessori Schools, and in 2022 she received the ISTE Making It Happen Award.

Based on the bestselling book Storytelling With Purpose, this jump start guide offers an introduction to the storytelling process and shows how it can be applied in all academic areas. The guide includes practical tips and hands-on projects teachers in all subject areas can share with their students immediately. Author Michael Hernandez compares the storytelling projects to more conventional assignments, such as reports and class presentations, demonstrating how storytelling projects can easily fit into and enrich teachers’ existing curricula and plans.

The guide includes:

• An overview of digital storytelling and how it can be used in the classroom.
• An explanation of storytelling forms, such as data visualization, explainer videos, podcasts and more.
• Project suggestions for math, science, social studies and language arts.
• Expert tips for choosing a storytelling medium, determining project timelines and assessing students’ work.
  

(ISTE Jump Start Guide, 8.5" x 11", 3 laminated panels, 6 pages)

About the Author

Michael Hernandez (@cinehead) is an award-winning cinema and journalism teacher in Los Angeles whose work focuses on digital storytelling, media literacy and social justice. As an author, speaker and consultant, he helps educators empower students to find passion and purpose in their learning so they can make a positive impact in their communities. Hernandez believes in the transformative potential of technology in the classroom, and fostering an innovative mindset based on student curiosity, creativity and passion.

His presentations at conferences in the U.S. and abroad for ISTE, SXSW EDU and Apple Education focus on tech integration and innovative teaching and learning strategies. He also leads students and teachers on documentary trips to Asia and Latin America as part of an experiential learning program. Hernandez was selected by National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions as a Grosvenor Teacher Fellow in 2021. He’s an Apple Distinguished Educator, Adobe Education Leader and PBS Digital Innovator.

This accessible guide offers educators strategies and tools for protecting student data, meeting legal obligations and fostering a secure learning environment.

Educational technology offers easy access to resources, empowering students to shape their learning experiences. But it also brings challenges, such as managing student data privacy, that must be addressed. This guide explains the basics of student data privacy, dispels some common myths and offers steps that teachers and administrators can take to prevent and respond to cyberattacks, data breaches and other digital threats.

The guide includes:

• An overview of U.S. laws pertaining to student data privacy.
• Specific considerations for emerging technologies and activities related to artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, and eSports.
• Connections between student data privacy and digital citizenship.
• Examples drawn from real-world incidents.
• A Supplemental Padlet presentation with continually updated resources.

(ISTE Jump Start Guide, 8.5" x 11", three laminated panels, six pages)

About the Authors

Laurel Aguilar-Kirchhoff (@LucyKirchh) is a digital learning specialist, adjunct university professor, curriculum writer and educational consultant. Her areas of expertise include student data privacy, digital citizenship, media literacy, educational technology and innovation. Aguilar-Kirchhoff is passionate about educating, inspiring and empowering educational professionals to create a culture of learning for all students. She is the co-author of Bring History and Civics to Life: Lessons and Strategies to Cultivate Informed, Empathetic Citizens (ISTE, 2022).

Educators have limited bandwidth and need manageable strategies to support them in their everyday work. Based on the book Stretch Yourself: A Personalized Journey to Deepen Your Teaching Practice, this practical guide is filled with immediately applicable insights that lead teachers on a path of self-discovery. Educators will find guidance on how to start a journey toward action and growth, put a vision into action, overcome fear of failure, receive and deliver meaningful feedback, and embrace habits of self-reflection.

Features includes:

• Meditation prompts for self-reflection.
• Tips and insights related to online and pandemic-era learning.
• A “Flexibility Quiz” to help assess your practice and guide you in a path toward self-growth.
• Connections to the educators section of the ISTE Standards.

(ISTE Jump Start Guide, 8.5" x 11", three laminated panels, six pages)

About the Author

Caitlin McLemore is a senior research associate and project manager at ISTE. She holds an Ed.D. in technology integration from Johns Hopkins and an M.Ed. in elementary education from the University of Florida. Prior to working at ISTE, McLemore was an educational technology consultant with experience in curriculum design, educational research, instructional coaching and teacher professional development. She also worked for eight years in PK-12 independent schools as an academic technology specialist. McLemore is a Google Certified Innovator and Trainer, and an ISTE Certified Educator. With Sam Passeport, she is co-author of Stretch Yourself: A Personalized Journey to Deepen Your Teaching Practice.

Sam Passeport, M.Ed., is the founder of No Borders Learning, which guides PK-12 schools, educators and families in developing healthy learning ecosystems that attend to the heart, exercise the mind and engage willpower. She is also an online education doctoral student at the University of Dundee, and has over 11 years of experience in PK-12 international schools. Passeport also works as an education development officer with the radical innovation unit ErasmusX at Erasmus University Rotterdam. She is a published author and an award-winning educator. With Caitlin McLemore, she is co-author of Stretch Yourself: A Personalized Journey to Deepen Your Teaching Practice.

Based on the popular book Pathways to Well-Being, this guide offers practical ideas to help educators reduce stress and enhance their well-being.

All of us, especially educators, influence those around us — in our schools, our communities and, ultimately, throughout the world. When we work toward supporting well-being for ourselves and others, our lives are enriched immensely. With this mindset as a jumping-off point, this guide discusses how applying six key elements — gratitude, positivity, focus, empathy, kindness and movement — can help you find the balance you need in your life and work.

The guide includes:

• Suggested positive practices and habits to incorporate into your daily life.
• Ideas for how to share what you learn to improve the lives of those around you.
• Tips and insights on how to use technology in positive, healthy ways to enhance, rather than hinder, your daily life.
• “Questions for Reflection” that challenge you to take what you’ve read and make it your own.
• QR codes linking to additional resources, including articles, books and websites.
• Connections to the Educators and Education Leaders sections of the ISTE Standards.

Through the resources and activities in this guide, you’ll discover practical steps to enrich your life, while supporting the well-being of others.

(ISTE Jump Start Guide, 8.5" x 11", three laminated panels, six pages)

About the Authors

Susan Brooks-Young has worked in PK-12 education as a teacher, school administrator and professional development provider. She is the author of several books, including Creating Content With Your Tablet and Making Technology Standards Work for You: A Guide for School Administrators, Third Edition. Most recently, she co-wrote Pathways to Well-Being: Helping Educators (and Others) Find Balance in a Connected World with Sara Armstrong.

Sara Armstrong, Ph.D., has worked in PK-12 education as a teacher, principal, curriculum developer and professional development provider. She has written a number of articles and several books on education topics, including Information Literacy: Separating Fact from Fiction and The Invent to Learn Guide to 3D Printing in the Classroom. Most recently, she co-wrote Pathways to Well-Being: Helping Educators (and Others) Find Balance in a Connected World with Susan Brooks-Young.

This guide offers an on-ramp to the ISTE Standards, providing examples of what specific standards look like in practice and advice for getting started.

It’s one thing to read a set of standards and another to put them into practice as a professional in the classroom. This guide is your road map to understanding what the ISTE Standards look like in practice. It provides an overview of each of the standards sections—students, educators, education leaders, coaches and computational thinking competencies – along with examples of specific standards put into practice, resources to try and tips for getting started.

The guide features:

• An introduction to each section of the ISTE Standards, with links to resources that illustrate them.
• A section titled “Reading the ISTE Standards,” with an explanation of standards numbering.
• Examples of specific standards and indicators put into practice in different contexts, with tools to try.
• Advice for getting started by incorporating the standards in easy and practical ways.

Infusing the ISTE Standards helps create learning environments where technology used for learning is impactful, sustainable, scalable and equitable for all learners. This guide gives you everything you need to get started.

(ISTE Jump Start Guide, 8.5" x 11", three laminated panels, six pages)

This guide offers fun, practical resources and strategies to help teachers use edtech to enrich history and civics curricula, and build community inside and outside the classroom.

History and social studies educators are uniquely positioned to empower, inspire and motivate students to become engaged citizens who contribute to their communities. When students see themselves in history, they can recognize their importance in the world today. In this guide, two award-winning teachers show how to use edtech to help students engage more fully with history, then apply their learning in ways that promote civics and citizenship on a local, national and global level.

The guide features:

• Four easy tips for getting started with edtech.
• A short list of widely used edtech apps and tools that are easy to learn and implement.
• An introduction to historical empathy, and edtech tools that can help cultivate it in students.
• Resources and techniques for building civic awareness in students.
• Activities to build community in and out of classrooms.
• #TryOneNewThingChallenge ideas that can easily be implemented for lasting impact on classrooms.

Edtech can offer an amazing range of possibilities – such as immersive experiences, interactive online activities and virtual field trips – and this guide explains how well-chosen edtech can expand lessons in a meaningful way so that they come alive for students.

(ISTE Jump Start Guide, 8.5" x 11", three laminated panels, six pages)

About the Authors

Karalee Wong Nakatsuka (@HistoryFrog), M.A. E.D., is a veteran middle school U.S. history teacher. Also a Gilder Lehrman Master Teacher, she was recognized in 2019 as the Gilder Lehrman History Teacher of the Year for California and was a top 10 finalist for the national award. She serves on the American250 History Education Advisory Council, the Gilder Lehrman Teacher Advisory Council and the Monticello Teacher Advisory Group. She’s a member of the California Council for the Social Studies (CCSS), the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), the iCivics Education Network and the National Council for History Education (NCHE). Nakatsuka appeared in the New York Times multimedia story “What’s Actually Being Taught in History Class?” and was featured in an article in Time Magazine’s September 2021 issue titled “From Teachers to Custodians, Meet the Educators Who Saved a Pandemic School Year.” She’s passionate about using technology to engage and excite students; sharing the stories and the places where history took place; building community in her classroom; and preparing students to develop as empathetic, informed, engaged and active critical thinkers and citizens who care and make a difference in the world.

Laurel Aguilar-Kirchhoff (@LucyKirchh), M.S.Ed., is a former history and science educator who now serves as a professional development coordinator and digital learning specialist. Aguilar-Kirchhoff works with educators, administrators and students to successfully integrate educational technology into curriculum for lasting student learning outcomes. Her areas of expertise include digital citizenship, media literacy, blended learning, curriculum instruction and design, and edtech and innovation. She was recognized as the 2018 National History Day California Teacher of the Year, was a top six finalist for the National History Day Teacher of the Year, and was the Inland Area CUE (IACUE) Administrator of the Year in 2022. She’s a Google Certified Trainer, Leading Edge Certified Online Blended Teacher and a member of the iCivics Education Network. Aguilar-Kirchhoff served on the ISTE Digital Citizenship PLN Leadership team and is currently an ISTE Community Leader.

This guide gives educators a five-step framework to implement social-emotional learning (SEL) with their students to help them achieve success in school and life.

Not all educators teach in districts where training in SEL and related topics such as restorative justice, trauma-informed teaching and culturally responsive teaching is readily available. In this six-page guide, author and educator Jorge Valenzuela introduces educators to the Equity and SEL Integration Framework that will help them understand core SEL competencies and design lessons that activate SEL in their curriculum.

The guide features:

• Online videos that explain each element of the Equity and SEL Integration Framework.
• Clear explanation of SEL and the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning’s (CASEL) five core competencies.
• Resources for understanding and addressing implicit bias.
  Links to templates for empathy maps and emotions planners.
• Information on edtech tools that can be used to integrate SEL.
• Additional resources for understanding SEL and developing an SEL integration plan.

(ISTE Jump Start Guide, 8.5" x 11", three laminated panels, six pages)

About the Author

Jorge Valenzuela (@JorgeDoesPBL) is an education coach, author, and advocate. He has years of experience as a classroom and online teacher, a curriculum specialist, and a consultant. His work focuses on improving teacher preparation in project-based learning, computational thinking and computer science integration, STEM education, and equity and SEL integration. Jorge is an adjunct professor at Old Dominion University and the lead coach at Lifelong Learning Defined. His book Rev Up Robotics and its companion jump start guide Ready, Set, Robotics! are available from ISTE, and his next book, which dives deeper into the Equity and SEL Integration Framework, is forthcoming from Solution Tree.

Discover how online learning can expand opportunities for students in myriad ways and help you individualize and personalize instruction for students of all ages.

By moving some or all of our instruction online, we can keep the learning going during a crisis or when inclement weather keeps students and staff at home. Online learning can also provide an alternate pathway to success for students who are not thriving in a traditional setting. We can also use online learning to help students stay on track to graduate, or apply it to better meet the needs of students through personalization.

Inspired by the author’s book The Perfect Blend and her ISTE U Microcourse “Designing Online Learning Experiences,” this guide helps you get up and running with online lesson design, covering topics such as:

• Synchronous and asynchronous online instruction.
• Selecting the best tools for online learning.
• Formative assessment and online lesson design.
• Supporting student agency in the digital classroom.
• Self-regulation and your personalized classroom.
• Design considerations such as navigation, color and fonts.

Get tips for designing and facilitating effective, impactful lessons for a digital classroom and incorporating student agency into online lessons.

(ISTE Jump Start Guide, 8.5" x 11", three laminated panels, six pages).

About the Author

Michele Eaton (@micheeaton) is the director of virtual and blended learning for the Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township in Indianapolis. She focuses on staff and course development for Achieve Virtual Education Academy and the district’s various blended initiatives and programs, from elementary to adult education. Eaton is a Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) Certified Education Technology Leader (CETL) and Next Generation Leader, 2018 Education Week Leader to Learn From, president of the ISTE Online and Blended Learning Network and conference chair for Indiana Connected Educators (an ISTE affiliate).

Based on the best-selling book Fact vs. Fiction by Jennifer LaGarde and Darren Hudgins, this six-page laminated reference guide offers educators resources and strategies to define, detect and combat “fake news,” including links to fact-checking sites and lesson plans.

The guide includes:

• Instructional strategies for defining, detecting and combatting fake news.
• Curated resources, including models for evaluating news stories with links to resources on how to include lessons on fake news in your curricula.
• Links to fake news self-assessments, including a digital component to help readers evaluate their skills in detecting and managing fake news.
• An infographic with mobile media literacy tips.
  

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(ISTE Jump Start Guide, 8.5" x 11", 3 laminated panels, 6 pages)

About the Authors

Jennifer LaGarde has served as a classroom teacher, teacher-librarian and digital teaching and learning specialist. She currently works with educators and school- and district-level leaders worldwide to develop innovative instructional practices. LaGarde’s work has been recognized by School Library Journal, The New York Times and The Carnegie Corporation.

Darren Hudgins is a former secondary social studies and career tech education (CTE) teacher, staff developer and coach. He’s now the director of instructional technology at the Organization for Educational Technology and Curriculum (OETC). Hudgins holds an M.Ed. along with dual bachelor’s degrees in human development and social sciences.

Based on the best-selling book, Learning First, Technology Second , by Liz Kolb, this laminated reference guide will help teachers move from arbitrary uses of technology in their classrooms to thoughtful ways of adding value to student learning.

The guide includes:

• An overview of the Triple E Framework, which helps teachers engage students in time-on-task learning, enhance learning experiences beyond traditional means and extend learning opportunities to bridge classroom learning with students’ everyday lives.
• Take-away strategies for each component of the Framework
  Examples of technology tools with built-in characteristics of each component
• The Triple E Measurement Tool to help evaluate integration of the Framework
• A guide to alignment of the Framework to the ISTE Standards for Students

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(ISTE Jump Start Guide, 8.5" x 11", 3 laminated panels, 6 pages)

About the Author

Liz Kolb is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Michigan. She has written several books, including Cell Phones in the Classroom and Unleash the Learning Power of Your Child's Cell Phone. Kolb has been a featured and keynote speaker at conferences throughout the U.S. and Canada. She is the creator of the Triple E Framework for effective teaching with digital technologies, and she blogs at cellphonesinlearning.com.

This six-page laminated reference guide shares practical strategies, tools and lesson ideas for incorporating robotics and computational thinking into your teaching.

Robotics is an excellent tool for teaching vital computational thinking (CT) and programming skills by allowing students to see and interpret results in real time. Not only are robots highly motivating for students, they can be easily incorporated into the subjects you teach or as part of an after-school club.

The guide includes:

• An overview of computational thinking and resources for teaching CT concepts.
• Ideas for weaving robotics into math, science, social studies and English language arts.
• Advice for creating an after-school robotics club or getting started with competitive robotics. 

(ISTE Jump Start Guide, 8.5" x 11", three laminated panels, six pages)

About the Author

Jorge Valenzuela is both a graduate teaching assistant and doctoral student at Old Dominion University, and the lead coach at Lifelong Learning Defined. He’s also a national faculty member for the Buck Institute for Education and a national teacher effectiveness coach for the Engineering by Design curriculum. His work helps educators and learners understand and implement computational thinking, computer science, STEM/STEAM and project-based learning. Valenzuela is a recipient of ISTE’s Computer Science Excellence Award and ISTE's STEM Excellence Award. He also earned the Lynn Barrier Engineering Leadership Award for his contributions to STEM education in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

This guide will help you get started in the world of school esports, offering the strategies and tools you need to build a successful program for your school and students.

What defines esports? Why build an esports program for your school? What technology do you need to get started? This guide addresses these questions and more, offering tips for setting up an effective program while helping students succeed academically and socially.

The guide includes:

• Definitions and examples of augmented, virtual and mixed reality.
• Examples aligned to the ISTE Standards for Educators.
• An overview of the technology needs for a successful program.
• Ideas for creating effective virtual and physical spaces.
• Tips for fostering inclusivity and building community.

Students who feel safe and connected to their school communities often perform better academically, are absent less and are more likely to find mentors and follow career paths. Games and esports can be a lifeline for students who need one most, and this guide shows how building community through an esports program can help students thrive.

(ISTE Jump Start Guide, 8.5" x 11", three laminated panels, six pages)

About the Author

Grace Collins is the founder of Snowbright Studio, an LGBTQ+ certified game and media development studio. They previously led game-based education policy at the U.S. Department of Education and managed educational technology projects at the Smithsonian Institution. Grace is a former computer science teacher at an all-girls’ school, a published author and game developer. They have been recognized with several awards, including being named a Finalist for the 2020 Digital Education Breakthrough of the Year Award, receiving a 2020 Educator Award by the National Center for Women & Information Technology and being named a 2021 Innovator for the Headstream Accelerator.

In this engaging and accessible guide, author Michele Haiken shares tips, tools and examples to get your students up and running with podcasting. Podcasts come in a variety of formats covering a wide range of content areas. With this in mind and informed by her book New Realms for Writing, Michele Haiken introduces teachers to the topic of podcasting, showing how to help students create informative and engaging works through this popular medium.

The guide includes:

• Five reasons to use podcasts in the classroom.
• Tips for planning a podcast.
• Ideas for using a “podcaster checklist” to help organize a project.
• Suggestions for selecting podcasting tools and equipment.
• Sample podcast assignments from teachers around the world.
• QR codes for easy access to resources and examples.
  

(ISTE Jump Start Guide, 8.5" x 11", PDF, 6 pages)

Learn how to leverage immersive technology — AR, VR and MR — with this practical and accessible guide.

The guide includes:

• Definitions and examples of augmented, virtual and mixed reality.
• Comparison of devices and platforms, and tips for selecting the best one.
• Lesson ideas for using immersive technology tools in the classroom.
• An overview of how immersive technology can help build skills associated with the ISTE Standards for Students.

Based on the bestselling book Learning Transported by Jaime Donally, this laminated reference guide provides practical insights and examples to help any classroom teacher incorporate immersive tech into curriculum.

About the Author

A former PK-8 math teacher turned technology integration specialist, Jaime Donally has spent more than a decade at the classroom and district levels thinking about how educators can practically use augmented, virtual and mixed realities. In her current role as an independent education consultant, she provides professional development on immersive technology to districts and at conferences. She also runs a weekly Twitter chat about AR and VR education. Donally is the author of Learning Transported, which aims to tackle the fears and hurdles of immersive reality integration, and get teachers on board with successful implementation.

(ISTE Jump Start Guide, 8.5" x 11", three laminated panels, six pages)

Based on the best-selling book Reinventing Project-Based Learning by Suzie Boss and Jane Krauss, this six-page laminated reference guide shows teachers how to design authentic projects that make the most of available and emerging technologies.

The guide includes:

• An overview of project-based learning that emphasizes high-quality, real-world projects and robust use of digital tools.
• A concise breakdown of the key steps in the project-based learning process, including planning, design, assessment and reflection.
• Example prompts for defining the framework of a project, and strategies and ideas for getting a project off the ground.
• Recommendations for tools that align with each step of the process.
  

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(ISTE Jump Start Guide, 8.5" x 11", 3 laminated panels, 6 pages)

About the Authors

Suzie Boss is a writer and educational consultant who focuses on the power of teaching and learning to improve lives and transform communities. She is the author of 10 books for educators, most recently All Together Now: How to Engage Your Stakeholders in Reimagining School and The Power of a Plant (co-authored with award-winning teacher Stephen Ritz). She contributes regularly to Edutopia and is a member of the National Faculty of the Buck Institute for Education. She has consulted with educators across the U.S. as well as in India, South Korea, South America and Europe to bring project-based learning and innovation strategies to both traditional classrooms and informal learning settings.

A former teacher in Oregon schools, Jane Krauss divides her time between curriculum and program development for the National Center for Women & Information Technology and professional development for project-based learning in the U.S. and internationally. In her previous role as director of professional development services at ISTE, Krauss managed programs and provided professional development on technology integration to educators around the world.