There's lots of talk today about the need to help students learn how to think creatively and innovatively. In fact, when in June 2007, the International Society for Technology in Education released its "refreshed" standards for students, creativity and innovation were at the top of the list.

Packetville is all about creativity and innovation. From its educational games to its lessons and activities that encourage students to think differently, it helps students learn in unique ways and gives them the inspiration to take off on their own creative paths. The cross-curricular program gets students thinking of the Internet and digital technologies as they've never done before. Once they've learned that packets, routers, servers and such are easy to understand, they investigate careers that use the Internet and digital technologies. Throughout Packetville, students are challenged to create career paths; develop products; write stories, poems, comics, drama, and music; take on challenges...

The second and third standards of NETS-S call for communication, collaboration, research, and information fluency. In Packetville students may work individually or with partners as they learn to avoid viruses, hackers, interference, and other calamities that befall them in Packetville's video-type games. Collaboration is through group work, and in some lessons, through online messaging. One game features difficulties being faced by children around the world and how technologies can be used to help. Activities include encouraging students to take part in safe international online projects such as those provided by KidLink, ePals, and SchoolNetGlobal.

Critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making are the ingredients of ISTE's fourth standard. These important skills are covered in Packetville's lessons, games, and activities. Students identify problems and use their knowledge to solve them. In the MP3 lesson, for example, students collaborate to create their own children's product that features an MP3 file. In the melodrama activity, they act out and then complete a zany play based upon the characters in two of Packetville's games. Girls taking part in Packetville meet women who have successful careers in IT and use the knowledge they gain from these women as a take off to considering if IT has a place in their future.

In the Packetville community, digital citizenship, the fifth of NETS-S standards, is emphasized. The Peter Packet game takes students to three countries where students aren't able to get the education they want. Students are asked to discover how technology can help the young people in those countries. All of the Packetville games are designed to lead students to consider how technologies work now and can be used to benefit others now and in the future. The concept of using technologies safely and efficiently and for lifelong learning is central to Packetville. Students participating in the Packetville community learn to think of the Internet in new ways. They understand how it works, they know its problems, and they consider how it will be part of their life in the future.

The last of the NETS-S standards, technology operations and concepts, is stressed in Packetville, especially in the Peter and Penny Packet games. One of the goals of Packetville is understanding of the Internet and how it works, and another is to introduce students to IT careers. While students aren't given hands-on practice with troubleshooting technologies in Packetville, they are getting the foundation they need to move on to these skills later.

The sections of NETS-S standards not directly covered in the Packetville community are items that feature actual troubleshooting of technologies and working with the finding and evaluation of sources on the Internet. Most of the source material in Packetville is provided in the program, and although interaction with others online is encouraged, communication is basically among students in classrooms or clubs. The rest of NETS-S and their components are part of the Packetville program.

For additional information, you'll want to go to the International Society for Technology in Education site, where you'll find the list of ISTE NETS-S 2007. Also available on the site is a flyer that introduces the standards.

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