#9 - Digital Citizenship

• Discuss the possible ethical issues involved in two of the scenarios.

I don't think any of the teachers in the scenarios had ethical issues.  It seems to me that their problems came about because they jumped into their technology use with students too quickly.  I think they all had good intentions for potentially good projects or assignments. Incorporating technology into what we are doing is what we need to do to prepare our students to be college and career ready.  Not to mention using technology can be fun and motivating to many students.  With that being said, I think the effect of the teachers not laying the ground work for appropriate tech use led to ethical issues.  Students were given a lot of freedom without the proper training and took advantage of it.  They made poor choices and things quickly got out of hand.  Miss Starbuck, Mr. Kirk and Mr. McFly all had experiences that went in that direction.

• Determine if the safety or well-being of anyone is in jeopardy.

I believe that when bullying is involved then it turns into a safety and well being issue.  I believe the first 3 scenarios lead to bullying.  Students may not come face to face but words can hurt.  If one is being bullied, in or out of class or via cyber-bullying, it will affect how they feel in class.  If one is worrying more about comments that might be posted or others making fun of their work then they are not concentrating on what they need to be, which is their school work.

• What advice, strategy, or policy would you recommend to individuals or schools based on this scenario?

I really liked the Google Digital Citizenship Training.  Students need to understand how the Internet works.  They need to know the importance of safe passwords, communicating with others (especially strangers), how to search safely and to have an overall knowledge base of Digital Literacy.  The training led you into creating many lessons so you are very up-front and straight with students.  They need to know that you are not alone while you are in the 'Google World'.  They need to have an understanding that they are creating their own digital footprint and that is another aspect of themselves personally.  I think many kids feel that they are able to do whatever they want because no one will know it was them.  Kids need to be explicitly taught about passwords, searching safe, how to research using Google, privacy settings and I sure I have not included everything!!  We have great priority standards for our core subjects.....maybe it is time for some priority standards on teaching kids about technology??

• Share any real-life incidents or personal connections related to the scenario.

I was part of 5th grade last year and we didn't get our Chromebooks until mid-October.  I felt like most of the things we did were the 'jump in & hopefully swim' method.  I know we didn't teach anything like I mentioned in the question above.  I feel we were very reactive instead of being proactive!

One particular student I had was very tech savy but that also made him very dangerous!  He was sneaky and it seemed that when he was supposed to be working on his Chromebook he was always off task!  I most definitely thought of him in the Mr. Kirk scenario.

• How can the Mounds View Resources help to implement high quality instructional practices with with technology?

As I mentioned above, I would love to see something similar to priority standards as far as technology.  Maybe a checklist of recommended things to instruct upon before students can use Chromebooks (or other technology).  The site that was shared at the BILT institute that went through many of the popular apps or extensions (can't remember the name of it!!) and their rules/regulations is an excellent resource!  I think this class should be a mandatory class for teachers getting a set of Chromebooks. In my opinion, the district is spending a lot of money on them so they could give a bit more of their time.  I suppose there could be a set of lessons that are premade (maybe screen-casts or presentations) that teachers could use instead of making their own?  I also think it would be helpful to have a student version of the acceptable use policy.  It is very legal-ish and something direct, with less words would be good for students.

• What is 1 procedure that you can implement in your class and what is one that you would like to implement in your whole PLC or whole building?

One thing that I would like to implement is the whole idea of teaching about Digital Literacy and safe Internet use.  It needs to be taught properly and it is extremely important.  Our job is to prepare kids for life after they leave school and technology is everywhere.  This is something I will do and I think all teachers should also do it.  I see no reason that a teacher would not start with these important topics before letting their students loose.  We need technology, it can make our lives a lot easier but we all need to know how to use it so it can continue to be a powerful tool.