ISTE Standards

I had no idea that there was such a formal organization whose sole purpose is to push technology in education. I just thought that it was emphasized, I had no idea there were standards set up and everything. After looking at these standards on what a teacher should be able to do and what their students should be able to do, I realized that I already incorporate a lot of technology into my classes anyway.
The podcasting project didn't go very well last year, but I have been re-tooling it (with the help of our school's tech guy, Andy) and look forward to perfecting it early next winter. To my knowledge, my attempt at podcasting last semester may have been the first attempt to do something of this sort in the district, county or this region of the state. When I would talk to most teachers about it, it was their first time ever hearing of such a thing.
Just using this one project as a guage of what most teachers know and use of technology in the classroom, it probably isn't much. I feel like teachers almost have an obligation to learn about what their students know and sort of be ahead of the curve even when it comes to brand new technologies. Otherwise, the students will be bored with the class because they learn in a fascinating, engaging way outside of school, and are expected to sit and listen and take notes inside of school.
I know I could do more with technology, but overall I feel like I do a way better job of using it effectively in the classroom than most teachers (especially older ones). That's just the nature of getting older. You become set in your ways, but the world moves on. Teachers really don't have that luxury. We have to be able to connect meaningfully with the youthful generation every year. For now, I think I'm doing a good job of that. I hope I can still say that in 20 years...