TECHNOLOGY STANDARD III

Karen Rowe

Salisbury University

EDUC 318

Spring 2010

With the increase in technology has come an increased awareness of ethical issues for safety and security with respect to how technology is used in education. Those issues include social networking, violation of acceptable use policies, netiquette, cyber bullying, protecting student data, and internet privacy. The Louisville public school system has taken steps to be proactive in an effort to address ethical issues that impact the Internet Safety & Security of their students.

Ethical Issues for Safety and Security

Social Networking

Concerns: The public posting of

identifying information

Predators posing as teenagers

Acceptable Use Policies

Violations Using technology for personal

use such as shopping

Using technology to access

inappropriate content such as

pornography

Netiquette

Etiquette The rules of etiquette that apply to traditional written communication also apply when communicating via the internet such as punctuation, salutations, formality and tone.

Teachers should incorporate the writing of electronic responses in lieu of paper and pencil responses to allow students to practice netiquette.

Cyber Bullying

Concerns Can have greater consequences

than physical bullying due to

the scope of a potential audience

the anonymity of bullies

the increased challenge of

retracting harmful information

Student Data

Reasons Identity theft for financial gain

Students do not monitor financial

data

Unintentional unauthorized

access

Failure to protect passwords

Failure to close programs

Internet Privacy

Concerns Information intended to be

private being made public.

Weak passwords

Site flaws

A gap exists between those with reasonable access to digital technology including the physical access and knowledge to access, and those without reasonable access. Gender, socio economics, race, resource inequity, and teacher bias impacts the digital divide. EdChange has challenged educators to make a conscious effort to address the digital divide.

Digital Divide

Gender

Causes Males are generally more interested in manipulating technology.

Females generally view technology as a means to an end.

The violent and sexual nature of many video games inhibits an early interest among females, while males find it more enticing and as a result are more familiar with technology as a whole.

Socio economic

Causes A lower socio economic status

generally means a lower access to digital media.

The development of digital media is financially driven, therefore targeted towards the higher socio economic class they believe will purchase it.

Students from lower socio economic classes are not shown the relevance of technology to their futures.

Race

Causes Digital media targets the white

majority.

Digital media tends to project

use based on stereotypes

Resource Equity

Causes Under resourced schools often

times do not have current

technology as a result of

finances.

Under resourced schools do not

effectively pursue grant

opportunities.

Teacher Bias

Causes Teachers predetermine the population of students that will be exposed to technology.

Teachers tend to use only the technology they themselves are comfortable with.

Teachers may (wrongfully) presume all students prefer learning with technology over traditional methods.

The legal use of digital media involves concerns about copyright and fair use, both of which can be reduced by the use of Creative Commons.

Legal Use of Digital Media

Copyright

Definition Copyright is a form of protection

provided to creators of works.

Copyright laws are based on the belief

that the original creator of a work

deserves to be compensated for the

work and has the right to regulate the

use of the work.

Fair Use

Purpose

Considerations

Fair use allows material currently copyrighted to be accessed and used for educational and research purposes as long as the use is not solely an avoidance to purchase the work.

Four factors should be considered prior to use.

Creative Commons

Applications for Education

About Creative Commons

Licenses Available

Creative Commons is a nonprofit corporation whose goal is to simplify information sharing, acting as a clearinghouse of sorts, while working within copyright laws.

Creative Commons gives teachers and student access to high quality material.

Teachers have the opportunity to combat many of the issues rooted in technology and/or be good role models for students. For example, with regard to ethical issues for safety and security, teachers can make students aware of acceptable use policies and personally adhere to those policies. Additionally, teachers can incorporate appropriate technology, prefacing it with the guidelines students are expected to follow, into lessons. To help combat the digital divide, teachers should become aware of the causes of the divides that impact their teaching environments and take the necessary steps to eliminate those divides. With regard to the legal use of digital media, teachers should take advantage of professional development opportunities to ensure they remain current in their knowledge and develop a list of resources that eliminate legal concerns such as Creative Commons.

Conclusion

References

About licenses. (n.d.). Creative Commons. Retrieved May 15, 2010, from      http://creativecommons.org/about/licenses

Gorski, P. C. (n.d.). 6 Ways I will challenge the digital divide in my classroom and school. In Free Hand-outs. Retrieved May 14,

2010, from EdChange Multicultural Pavilion website http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/resources/teachwithtech.html

Internet Safety. (n.d.). Louisville City Schools. Retrieved May 14, 2010, from      http://www.louisville.sparcc.org/tech/internet_safety/index.html

Thompson, K. (2005, Summer). Copyright 101. Learning and Leading With  Technology, 32(7), 10-12. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org

What is CC? (n.d.). Creative Commons. Retrieved May 15, 2010, from      http://creativecommons.org/about/what-is-cc