The document compares the ISTE Standards for Teachers and the UNESCO ICT Competency Framework for Teachers. Both aim to provide guidance for effectively implementing education technology on a global scale. While they share many similarities, including comprehensive skills teachers need for a digital society, there are also differences in their structures and focuses. The ISTE Standards are more flexible and can be adapted locally, while the UNESCO framework includes a policy component and is intended for broader national reforms. Together, elements of both models can help catalyze effective technology-enabled learning and teaching.

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WHITEPAPER
Learning, teaching and leading
A comparative look at the ISTE Standards for Teachers and UNESCO ICT Competency Framework for Teachers
By David Barr, Ph.D. and Carolyn Sykora
Jan. 2015
Introduction
Technological changes are accelerating at a breathtaking pace
and are challenging the conventional approach to primary and
secondary education. As leaders and educators explore the
opportunities afforded by the rapid changes, they must also
consider how these innovations impact the process of learning
and teaching.
Two organizations, the International Society for Technology in
Education (ISTE) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO), have been leading efforts globally
to guide the effective implementation of education technology.
Both have established a body of work that outlines a broad set of
competencies teachers will need to be successful educators in an
increasingly global, digital society. The ISTE Standards for Teachers
and the UNESCO ICT Competency Framework for Teachers provide
two of the most comprehensive and widely used models for
implementing educational technology in primary and secondary
education throughout the world.
This paper explores the similarities and differences between the
two models and how they can complement each other to catalyze
effective learning and teaching with technology.
Why adopt standards or competencies?
By whatever name, standards or competencies provide a
common language for skills, goals and expected outcomes.
Standards for teachers establish targets, milestones and
benchmarks that set a level of quality expected of every teacher
in the system. In both models, ISTE and UNESCO articulate a set
of skills that teachers need to integrate technology into learning
and teaching. When a school or a nation adopts education
technology standards, it signals the importance of preparing
students for the digital age and a commitment to marshal the
leadership necessary to achieve the vision.
Overview of the ISTE Standards
and the UNESCO framework
The original ISTE Standards, published between 1998 and
2002, were a suite of role-specific standards for students,
teachers, computer science educators, technology coaches and
administrators. They originally focused on “learning to use
technology.” ISTE updated the standards in 2007, when the
evolving influence of technology on learning, teaching and
leading shifted the emphasis to “using technology to learn.”
Early on, ISTE also recognized that the deployment of standards
in a school required a specific set of resources, infrastructure
and policies to be in place to successfully and effectively
use technology for learning. In 1998, ISTE created a set of
systemwide prerequisites known as the Essential Conditions,
which outline the supports necessary to leverage technology for
learning at the school or district level.
The ISTE Standards for Teachers are intended to be adopted
in concert with the Essential Conditions. Together they
orchestrate a robust use of technology that ensures students
can meet the higher-order thinking skills embodied in the ISTE
Standards for Students.
The UNESCO ICT Competency Framework for Teachers (UNESCO
framework) was originally developed in 2008 by UNESCO
in partnership with other organizations, including ISTE. This
first version of the framework resided within a larger body of
work including a policy framework, standard modules and
implementation guidelines. A second version was released in
2011, with slight modifications to the competency descriptors.
In both versions, the framework aligns with UNESCO’s higher
purpose to achieve national economic and human development
goals through education. In 2013, UNESCO published the
Guidelines on Adaptation of the UNESCO ICT Competency
Framework for Teachers. This guide chronicles a process that
policy experts can use to carry out national strategies required to
implement the framework.

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ISTE STANDARDS
FOR TEACHERS
1. Facilitate and inspire
student learning and creativity
2. Design and develop digital age
learning experiences and assessments
3. Model digital age work and learning
4. Promote and model digital citizenship
and responsibility
5. Engage in professional growth
and leadership
THE UNESCO ICT COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK FOR TEACHERS
TECHNOLOGY
LITERACY
KNOWLEDGE
DEEPENING
KNOWLEDGE
CREATION
UNDERSTANDING ICT
IN EDUCATION
Policy awareness Policy understanding Policy innovation
CURRICULUM
AND ASSESSMENT
Basic knowledge Knowledge application Knowledge society skills
PEDAGOGY Integrate technology Complex problem solving Self management
ICT Basic tools Complex tools Pervasive tools
ORGANIZATION
AND ADMINISTRATION
Standard classroom Collaborative groups Learning organizations
TEACHER PROFESSIONAL
LEARNING
Digital literacy Manage and guide Teacher as model learner
Recognizing the wide spectrum of human and economic
resources among member states and the tremendous variation
in teacher skills, the UNESCO framework allows for multiple
entry points along a progression of teacher competencies.
The framework comprises three approaches: Technology
Literacy, Knowledge Deepening, and Knowledge Creation. This
teacher-skills progression is described as a “move from basic
comprehension on issues relating to ICT to finally reinterpreting
educators[‘] responsibilities to leverage ICT in unique ways.”
Similarities between the models
The ISTE Standards and the UNESCO framework share many
of the same goals, so it is no surprise that they are similar in
several ways. The competencies include both the mastery of
technological skills and the knowledge and skills educators
need to prepare students to be actively engaged in a
knowledge economy.
Both models are intended to be useful to an international
audience and have supported and informed educational reforms
at a national level. Perhaps most compelling, both can be
adopted or adapted for use based on the needs of a wide range
of users in a variety of educational situations. When potential
users are looking for models that they can implement quickly
to meet immediate needs, the ISTE Standards or the UNESCO
framework can be adopted wholesale. In other instances, users
may want to customize or localize materials to particular contexts
or longer-term goals, making adaptation a viable and acceptable
approach. ISTE and UNESCO both provide rich content that can
be adapted to localized needs. Therefore, policy and education
leaders have considerable flexibility choosing either model or
components from both to help them realize the systemic change
needed to bring education into the digital age.
Differences between the models
Not surprisingly the UNESCO framework and ISTE Standards also
vary in a number of significant ways. Most notably, the models
differ at a structural level (see Comparing Structures figure
below). The UNESCO framework is matrixed along a progression
and the ISTE Standards are not. In both, the categories cover a
broad range of similar skills. However, the UNESCO framework
includes a policy component absent from the ISTE Standards.
The UNESCO framework was developed primarily for ministries
of education and others responsible for establishing national
education policy. The UNESCO framework describes a broader,
more general set of goals intended to establish national policy
and reflects a more centralized, countrywide approach.
In contrast, the ISTE Standards were developed for use by
education leaders, teacher educators, technology coaches and
teachers to accelerate teaching with technology. Intentionally
flexible, the ISTE Standards can be adapted to support national
or local education policy goals. Because ISTE does not prescribe
a process or a policy pathway, innovative educators, schools,
states or nations can adopt or adapt the ISTE Standards to meet
local, state or national goals. Thus, the ISTE Standards can
be used in a decentralized or “grassroots” approach toward
educational reform.
The UNESCO framework was designed to prepare teachers to
participate in broader national programs, perhaps accounting
for the inclusion of policy components in each of the three
approaches. The framework’s three approaches also allow for
multiple entry points, based on teacher skill and knowledge level.
Comparing Structures: UNESCO framework and ISTE Standards
UNESCO, ICT Competency Framework for Teachers, 2011, http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002134/213475e.pdf

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ISTE STANDARDS FOR TEACHERS
ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION
UNDERSTANDING ICT IN EDUCATION
CURRICULUM
ANDASSESSMENT
PEDAGOGY
ICT
TEACHERPROFESSIONALLEARNING
TECHNOLOGY
LITERACY
UNESCO ICT COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK FOR TEACHERS
KNOWLEDGE
DEEPENING
KNOWLEDGE
CREATION
The ISTE Standards for Teachers were designed to support the
implementation of the ISTE Standards for Students. The skills,
knowledge and dispositions embodied in the standards are
aspirational, and ISTE encourages educators to use them to
inspire and guide growth and development, rather than to assess
teachers’ skills.
The two models also diverge in the descriptors of the competencies.
The UNESCO framework focuses primarily on knowledge-
based descriptors, even in the Knowledge Creation approach.
For example, “Identify and discuss how students learn …” or
“Describe the function and purpose …” reflect knowledge-based
competencies. There are also a few places where the descriptors
use more generalized language such as “Help students to …”
without describing more concrete measurable skills. There are
relatively few places where the UNESCO framework reflects
performance-based indicators. “Design online materials …” or
“Design units of study …” and “Play a leading role in …” are
among the exceptions.
The ISTE Standards descriptors, however, are written to be fairly
specific, including measurable performance-based indicators.
Descriptors such as “Model and facilitate …” or “Customize
and personalize …” demand a higher level of evidence to
demonstrate mastery. The specificity of the ISTE Standards
indicators was purposeful and designed to allow teachers to
translate them easily into lesson plans and assessments.
While the two models differ, each plays a strategic role in
systemic transformation of education.
How the models can work together
As the similarities and differences described so far suggest, the
two models complement each other in a number of ways, each
providing structure or content that can enhance or enrich the
other. For example, together the ISTE Standards and the UNESCO
framework can be seen as a continuum or progression of teacher
goals and skills. The ISTE Standards can be used to extend the
UNESCO framework by providing more specific, in-depth goals
and benchmarks to guide teacher development. The UNESCO
framework can be used to extend the ISTE Standards by showing
how they can be linked to larger educational or policy goals (see
Complementary Models figure below).
Likewise, the UNESCO framework can be used to guide
education transformation in a centralized way with a view toward
promoting cooperation and consistency. The ISTE Standards can
be used to complement that approach by promoting a more
role-specific, bottom-up system of transformation that can build
commitment from teachers and can work in situations where
more independence and flexibility is desirable.
If, for example, a nation chooses to adapt the UNESCO
framework to localize process and content, the ISTE Standards
can be seen as an example of field-tested, research-based
content that can inform its efforts. Or it may even adopt the
ISTE Standards as its own, as some countries have done, and
draw from the wealth of educator-created, ISTE Standards-
aligned resources. In either case, the ISTE Standards can
serve to “unpack” the UNESCO framework, particularly the
Knowledge Creation approach.
Complementary Models
Together, the UNESCO framework and ISTE Standards represent a progression of education technology skills
from a beginning level (technology literacy) to an advanced level (ISTE Standards).

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Examples of how the models can serve
multiple audiences
These are only a few examples of the similarities, differences and
complementarities of these two models for education technology
in primary and secondary grades. To enrich understanding and
implementation of educational reform processes, policymakers
might want to look at aspects of both models that could
be helpful in their particular roles or from their particular
organizations’ perspective. For example:
• National policymakers might use the two models together to see how
larger policy goals, such as economic growth, can be linked to related
plans for educational reform, first through the lens of a higher-level
model and then through concrete examples of such programs.
• Educational policymakers might look at ways in which centralized
and decentralized strategies for promoting and guiding educational
transformation can work together to accelerate this change in a wide
variety of real-world contexts.
• Educators might look at both models to explore how to plan the
progression from basic technology literacy skills to higher-level
learning skills and to simultaneously explore more deeply how specific
skills can be translated into lesson plans and assessments.
Conclusion
Future innovation in education and technology will continue
to disrupt virtually every industry and enterprise, presenting
challenges as well as unprecedented opportunities for economic
growth and human development. Education has not fully
leveraged these innovations to advance technology-powered
pedagogy, and yet, educators in every country are being called
upon to prepare students for a world where they can adapt,
contribute and thrive.
Both the ISTE Standards and the UNESCO framework are
valuable and proven models to support the transition to digital
learning, teaching and leading. Each model provides leaders and
educators with necessary guidance to meet national goals and
local needs. These models provide essential guides for leaders
and educators to effectively plan for and launch sound, bold
initiatives that engage and prepare teachers and their students
for this new frontier.
©2015, ISTE. All rights reserved.
REFERENCES
“ICT Competency Standards for Teachers: Competency Standards Modules.”
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 1 Jan 2008.
“ISTE Standards Essential Conditions.” ISTE Standards Essential Conditions.
ISTE, 1 Jan. 2009. Web. 9 Dec. 2014. <http://www.iste.org/standards/essential-
conditions>.
“ISTE Standards for Teachers.” ISTE Standards for Teachers. ISTE, 1 Jan. 2008.
Web. 25 Nov. 2014. <http://www.iste.org/standards/standards-for-teachers>.
Midoro, Vittorio. “Guidelines on Adaptation of the UNESCO ICT Competency
Framework for Teachers.” UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in
Education, 1 Jan. 2013. Web. 25 Nov. 2014. <http://iite.unesco.org/pics/
publications/en/files/3214726.pdf>.
National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers. 2nd ed. Washington,
DC: International Society for Technology in Education, 2008. Print.
“UNESCO ICT Competency Framework for Teachers.” Ed. Paul Hine. United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 1 Jan. 2011. Web. 25
Nov. 2014. <http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002134/213475e.pdf>.
AUTHOR BIOS
David Barr, Ph.D., is an independent consultant who works with business,
government and nonprofit organizations in the areas of educational and
technology planning and improvement. During more than 25 years in education,
Dr. Barr has been director of online learning and director of information and
communication systems at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy,
coordinator of academic computing at the North Carolina School of Science and
Mathematics, and an instructor of English. Since 1998 Dr. Barr has been a member
of the writing and leadership teams that developed the ISTE Standards. He also
served on the development team for the Illinois Learning Standards and the Illinois
State Technology Plan and on the planning team for the Illinois Century Network.
Carolyn Sykora is senior director of the ISTE Standards Program. She served on
the ISTE Standards Leadership Team during the most recent revision of the ISTE
Standards for students, teachers, administrators, technology coaches, technology
directors and computer science educators. She works internationally to develop
and deliver standards-infused professional learning for face-to-face and online
learning programs to classroom teachers, curriculum coordinators and technology
coaches. In addition, she directs ISTE’s relationship with the Council on the
Accreditation of Educator Preparation, an accreditation body that recognizes
institutions of higher education that use the ISTE Standards for their educator
preparation programs.
ABOUT ISTE
The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE®) is the premier
nonprofit organization serving educators and education leaders committed to
empowering connected learners in a connected world. ISTE serves more than
100,000 education stakeholders throughout the world.
ISTE’s innovative offerings include the ISTE Conference & Expo – one of the biggest,
most comprehensive ed tech events in the world – as well as the widely adopted
ISTE Standards for learning, teaching and leading in the digital age and a robust
suite of professional learning resources, including webinars, online courses,
consulting services for schools and districts, books, and peer-reviewed journals
and publications. Visit the ISTE website and connect with ISTE via Twitter, Facebook
and LinkedIn.