It can not always be fun and games when it comes to implementing technology in our classrooms. That is just one piece of the puzzle. Another important piece is knowing that professional should always also entail ethics and standards. They are necessary to ensure that everyone from all ends of the learning continuum are gaining the the most they can by making great use of technology and the learning experience.
TOPIC ONE: ISTE
Knowing this, it is then important to discuss ISTE (The International Society for Technology in Education). It is a membership association that was brought together with the purpose of enhancing student education with the use of technology alongside teacher/administrator effectiveness. Within this membership, a set of standards was made for each grouping, which has come to be known as the NETS. They have been used since 1998 and helps demonstrate how technology should be used in the classroom. Below are images of what these standards are for administrators, students, and teachers, respectively.
TOPIC ONE: ISTE
Knowing this, it is then important to discuss ISTE (The International Society for Technology in Education). It is a membership association that was brought together with the purpose of enhancing student education with the use of technology alongside teacher/administrator effectiveness. Within this membership, a set of standards was made for each grouping, which has come to be known as the NETS. They have been used since 1998 and helps demonstrate how technology should be used in the classroom. Below are images of what these standards are for administrators, students, and teachers, respectively.
This website truly offers a great deal of information that can be very beneficial. It gives plenty of resources for how the standards may be implemented (books, webinars, online courses, discussions, surveys, etc...). I also thought it was very useful that they provided profiles for students of different age ranges and where they should fall on the list of standards at their given age, and what should be accomplished according to the standards (given that they have the necessary technological tools). Conditions needed for standards to be met along the lines of the continuum are provided, as well as a list of technology foundation standards for students. What I think is perhaps the greatest portion of the site is that it acknowledges different languages spoken and translates the standards into Spanish (it'd be great if they did other languages too! But it's a start).
Overall, it is essentially acknowledging the modern style we are currently living in, and applying it to our classrooms to ensure our students are gaining the most from their educational experience.
Overall, it is essentially acknowledging the modern style we are currently living in, and applying it to our classrooms to ensure our students are gaining the most from their educational experience.
Something else that is very beneficial that comes from the ISTE website is Ning. Although I found it to be initially "retired," I found another outlet that seems like it is pretty much the same thing. It is called Conference Ning, which appears to be like a social networking page for ISTE. It serves as what many have become accustomed to with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social networking sites. It has several different groups that can be joined, blogs, and many other helpful resources. Direct interactions can be made among the members which can be very useful for advice and ideas, and sharing. It is very much like a Facebook or Twitter, but made specifically for technology and education purposes.
TOPIC TWO: OHIO TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS
Although the ISTE is served more for a national purpose, Ohio also created seven of their own technology standards that are very similar of those of the ISTE. These include:
1. Nature of Technology
2. Technology and Society Interaction
3. Technology for Productivity Applications
4. Technology and Communication Applications
5. Technology and Information Literacy
6. Design
7. Designed World
For now, I could make great use of all of these standards by understanding that technology is now a large force in the world, and can serve as many purposes. Several things can be executed with it's use, and these standards help to outline all of the different aspects and uses of technology in education.
1. Nature of Technology
2. Technology and Society Interaction
3. Technology for Productivity Applications
4. Technology and Communication Applications
5. Technology and Information Literacy
6. Design
7. Designed World
For now, I could make great use of all of these standards by understanding that technology is now a large force in the world, and can serve as many purposes. Several things can be executed with it's use, and these standards help to outline all of the different aspects and uses of technology in education.
TOPIC THREE: OHIO ETECH
Ohio eTech was created in 2005 and is ultimately used with hopes of enhancing learning experiences by making use of technology, and is used for students of all ages. As mentioned on the website, Ohio eTech helps aid education in several different ways, such as it:
They hold a conference that is held every year in Columbus. For each day at the conference, there is a different theme that is followed. The first day is "Blended Learning: An Immersion Experience", the second is "Tech Tuesday", and lastly is "Higher Education Wednesday." At the end of the conference, Ohio eTech ensures that educators are certain to be well equipped with their knowledge they have gained and ready to make use of it in their classrooms, gain new and wonderful ways to keep the students engaged, as well as leave with a sense of empowerment.
To help administrators and educators receive proper technology in classrooms, Ohio eTech provides them with different sources to obtain funding and grants. Sources of money/grants from ETech for Ohio Teachers includes (but not limited to) the Quality Matters Competitive Grant, Supporting Transformation Efforts Competitive Grant, Blended Learning Grant, Mobile Assistive Technologies Grant, Multimedia Production Grant, and Telecommunications Services Operating Grant.
To help administrators and educators receive proper technology in classrooms, Ohio eTech provides them with different sources to obtain funding and grants. Sources of money/grants from ETech for Ohio Teachers includes (but not limited to) the Quality Matters Competitive Grant, Supporting Transformation Efforts Competitive Grant, Blended Learning Grant, Mobile Assistive Technologies Grant, Multimedia Production Grant, and Telecommunications Services Operating Grant.
TOPIC FOUR: ETHICS OR NETIQUETTE
Getting the students onto the internet is a wonderful tool for them and without a doubt helps expand their learning in several different ways. Before completing exposing them to all that it entails, it is important to brief them on safety issues and concerns. To help keep the students' engaged at an appropriate level, many schools implement an Acceptable Use Policy, or AUP for short. For it to be effective, an AUP should contain these six elements:
- a preamble
- a definition section
- a policy statement
- an acceptable uses section
- an unacceptable uses section, and
- a violations/sanctions section
It is crucial that students understand the hazards and potential dangers of what the internet may come to. Below is a short video that could be shown to the students before attacking any kind of online project so students know what to look out for. It is about a seminar that was held at a school, which I believe would be great for all schools to implement maybe even when beginning a new school year.
A great site that I found to explore Netiquette is http://www.uni.illinois.edu/library/computerlit/netiquette.php. It breaks down the etiquette of cyber space even as far down to physical safety and making sure to maintain a life outside of technology. Some examples of the points made include:
There are several others listed on the website, this is just a good handful. Another good website for this topic is http://www.sc.edu/bck2skol/fall/lesson11.html
- Don't share your password with anyone
- Don't respond to threatening messages
- Don't give out so much of your daily happenings and whereabouts
- Never put in an email message, Facebook post, chat message, etc... anything that you would not want on a postcard. You never know who can have access to your information and exchanges.
- Take a break from being online every hour
- Concentrate on tool use rather than the tools themselves (for example, Twitter).
- Online technologies are often not the best way to communicate sensitive or personal information. Face-to-face communications, handwritten notes or letters, and the phone are as good and often better in many situations
- Take great care in what you reveal about yourself on social network sites like Facebook and in online communication. Use privacy settings wherever possible, but be aware that rules for privacy settings often change. Double-check your privacy settings by looking yourself up without being logged in. Google yourself from time to time, or use a service like pipl.com
- Don’t unwittingly (or wittingly!) give out so much information about yourself that a stranger (or a “friend”) can put your day together through your words and links. It’s generally not a good idea to accept friend invitations from people you don’t know in real life.
There are several others listed on the website, this is just a good handful. Another good website for this topic is http://www.sc.edu/bck2skol/fall/lesson11.html
TOPIC FIVE: COPYRIGHT LAW
Copyright laws are used with the purpose of pretty much giving credit where credit is due. It is a legal right that is granted to an individual who created a certain work for exclusive publication, production, sale or
distribution. For something to be eligible for a copyright, it must be inherently creative.
Fair Use, as defined by www.isafe.org is a doctrine that allows the use of copyrighted works for criticism and commentary, parody, news reporting, research and scholarship, and classroom instruction. Fair use requirements include: purpose of the
intended use, the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole, and the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
The following diagram is good to break down the ideas of Copyright law and Fair Use.
distribution. For something to be eligible for a copyright, it must be inherently creative.
Fair Use, as defined by www.isafe.org is a doctrine that allows the use of copyrighted works for criticism and commentary, parody, news reporting, research and scholarship, and classroom instruction. Fair use requirements include: purpose of the
intended use, the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole, and the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
The following diagram is good to break down the ideas of Copyright law and Fair Use.
Knowing about ethics, standards, and copyright law will greatly affect my teaching efforts. It is good to know all of these topics and to know how to properly implement them, which all of the previous websites helped to do. It will help me to remain sensitive to what lies behind what is made use of in the classroom, and to make sure to let the students be aware of the resources and where any given information comes from. With this, the proper credit is given and also the students could feel free to explore the same site or resource at their own expense and gain even more from the source. I think these are all the things I could work on and to learn more about, to ensure no plagiarism, and to make correct use of any items I may use in my teaching or learning. This is all valuable information to know and to certainly not ignore.