Moral and Legal Issues

 image sourced from Ollie Bray free internet safety and responsible use cartoons

Each day, students are faced with a number of moral and ethical dilemmas. Should I let her sit at lunch with me? Should I stop the kids from teasing him? I forgot to do my homework, should I just copy my friend's? These situations are compounded with student exposure and use of technology. Teachers who once understood clear boundaries for student intervention with ethical and moral dilemmas in school are now finding the lines for intervention blurred because of technology. (Johnson, 2007).

What this means for educators is that we need to add a new dimension to our teaching and include issues that students might encounter with technology when guiding students to be ethical and moral. Students need to know right from wrong, period. The choices they make online have consequences everywhere. We need to emphasize to our students that there is no distinction between the "digital world" and the "real world."

While that seems simple enough, technology actually makes our jobs more difficult because it is easier for students to make the wrong choices. There is a certain level of anonymity that students experience on the Internet. They believe they can hide behind fake screen names or fabricated social media accounts when they choose to bully someone on the Internet. Students may also feel removed from situations because they are not interacting face-to-face with someone. Furthermore, downloading music and videos illegally doesn't feel like stealing and copying and pasting information from a digital source doesn't seem like plagiarism. With all of these scenarios, students believe there is much less of a risk of being caught.

Therefore, teaching digital citizenship has become a major responsibility for educators. We need to guide children to value technology and the Internet to communicate, collaborate, create and think critically (Blair, 2012). Students need to learn to navigate online safely, ethically, legally, and ultimately, independently. Though we can monitor them while they are at school, students spend many hours on technology outside of school. They need to internalize and transfer those codes of conduct from one environment to another, realizing that everything is connected.

References

Blair, N. (2012) Technology Integration for the New 21st Century Learner. Retrieved from http://www.naesp.org/

Gabriel, T. (2010). Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/education/02cheat.html?_r=0

Johnson, D. (2007). Does Technology Change How Schools Teach Ethical Behaviors? Retrieved from http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/does-technology-change-how-schools-teach-ethical-behaviors.html

SNHU (2015). Module Four: Ethical Legal and Moral Practices in Technology. Retrieved from https://bb.snhu.edu/bbcswebdav/

Using Blended Learning to Promote Global Education

The purpose of education is to give students the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in life. Well, these days we live in a blended society. We experience a combination of face-to-face (F2F) and digital interactions daily. For example, at school I make many face-to-face interactions by connecting with my students in the classroom, attending meetings, and planning lessons with my colleagues. Digitally, I attend webinars and collaborate with my PLN on Twitter. And that is just a small percentage of my daily interactions! I go to the gym and work out with my trainer or take a class (F2F interaction), I have dinner with my family (more F2F interactions), and then I might check Facebook or email (digital interactions). People today live a blended life, and therefore, it is our responsibility to prepare students to participate in this blended world.

Many people confuse technology integration and blended learning, but there is a difference. We are not just replacing a lecture with a Prezi, or using Plickers or Socrative to respond to teacher-directed questions. Blended learning is a major shift in pedagogy; it moves from the traditional lecture model, to a student-centered model, with students actively involved in seeking out information. Students are empowered to take ownership of their learning.

Blended learning helps educators and students break down the walls of the classroom and interact on a global scale. Students can learn at any time and from anywhere because information is always at their fingertips. They also learn that there is no single source of information (the teacher) and can therefore dig deeper into the content, beyond what is covered in class. Students can watch videos featuring, read articles by, or even Skype directly with experts on the content area they are studying! Resources like Ted Ed and EduCanon allow teachers to take content-rich video clips and add questions to deepen their thinking and content articles for further exploration in order to encourage students to truly master their learning.

Blended learning also involves communication and collaboration. As the video points out, this is key! There are many project-based platforms like ePals, iEarn, and TakingITGlobal that help students communicate and collaborate globally. Google Apps for Education has also become increasingly prevalent in classrooms because of its power to connect students and classrooms. For example, classrooms can connect and have meaningful discussions in Google Hangouts. These are authentic opportunities for communication and collaboration and have helped to transform the classroom in this digital world.

References

Eden, W. (2013). Blended Learning and the Common Core State Standards. Retrieved from http://www.edelements.com/blended-learning-and-the-common-core-state-standards

Jonson, J. (2014). Blended Learning and Technology Integration [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD8AUfGsCKg&index=7&list=PLvzOwE5lWqhTv1uCzuAZZZbBJseZP_HwY

University of Florida. (n.d.) What is Blended Learning? Retrieved from https://blended.online.ucf.edu/about/what-is-blended-learning/

Tools for Global Communication

Technology is at our fingertips; we have access to the entire world. Technology should be viewed as a tool that should be utilized to increase globalization. It is our job as educators to break down the walls of our classroom and to prepare our students to positively impact the global community. To be a global digital citizen, an individual needs to contribute positively and collaborate in order to build a global community (Israel, 2012). Therefore, students need to have opportunities for positive online interactions. We need to guide children to value technology and the Internet to communicate, collaborate, create and think critically (Blair, 2012). 

With this in mind, teachers need to help students interact and develop connections with others around the globe. Technology has provided limitless opportunities to connect students, educators, and leaders without leaving their home. Tools like Skype, ePals, and even Twitter, offer ways to communicate on a global scale. For example, posting a simple tweet can spark a conversation with a real audience with different perspectives (Davison, 2015). On a global scale, students are able to "share information...and contribute their own thoughts" in an authentic way (Pandolfo, 2012).  

Other Tech Tools for Global Communication:

• Mystery Skype - Mystery Skype suggests you play a game of 20 questions to guess where the other classroom is located.

• Google Hangouts - Students can chat with foreign pen pals or it can also host multiple classrooms for bigger meetings. Sessions can be archived on YouTube through Hangouts On Air, so absent students and parents can catch up on the day’s action.

• Appear.in - This is an application that allows eight users to video chat at once.

• Tumblr - Students can use this blogging site to complete research projects with people from various parts of the world. This site allows users to easily compile and post photos, videos, gifs, text, and other multimedia that would be relevant to the research project.

• Skitch - This is an application from Evernote that allows users to edit photos and snapshots with shapes, arrows, and text. Students can caption pictures, circle important items, or annotate PDF documents posted by others within their group.

• Padlet - This is literally a virtual piece of paper on which users post and organize images, videos, documents, and text. This is useful for collaboration projects.

References

Blair, N. (2012) Technology Integration for the New 21st Century Learner. Retrieved from http://www.naesp.org/

Isreal, R. (2012). What Does it Mean to be a Global Citizen. Retrieved from Kosmos Journal: http://www.kosmosjournal.org/article/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-global-citizen/

Davison, S. (2015, March 4). Social media inside, outside of the classroom. Retrieved from http://smartblogs.com/education/2015/03/04/social-media-inside-outside-of-the-classroom/?utm_source=brief

Pandolfo, N. (2012). Social Media and Video Games in Classrooms Can Yield Valuable Data for Teachers. The Hechinger Report. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/30/social-media-and-video-ga_n_1465082.html

Ronan, A. (2015). 5 Tech Tool Combos for Taking Your Class Global. Retrieved from http://www.edudemic.com/5-tool-combinations-for-globalizing-class/

Educational Uses of Web 2.0

Technology is a tool that, if used correctly, can enhance and enrich student learning. We live in a society where technology is at our fingertips. Children are growing up immersed in technology; computers, smart phones, tablets, and gaming devices are basically extensions of their hands!  We owe it to these children to continue to develop their technological skills alongside their content knowledge. Students should be using technology to think critically, communicate, collaborate, and create (Blair, 2012). In my mind, this means purposefully, authentically and effectively integrating digital tools and resources into the classroom.

Web 2.0 tools and social media can have a positive impact on student learning.  Projects incorporating technology should have strong ties to the curriculum, and more and more available Web 2.0 tools allow more authentic and appropriate integration.  Wordle, for example, can be used to highlight key words and phrases or summarize the main ideas of a topic or concept.  Animoto is an easy to use, video-editing web tool. It provides many educational opportunities for students. Teachers can create short, free videos to introduce a new topic and hook students into it or students could produce video presentations to demonstrate learning towards the end of a unit. Teachers can even create lessons and quizzes around a pre-existing youtube video - no need to reinvent the wheel! Tools like TED Ed, Blendspaces, eduCanon, Movenote, and Tackk are some examples of ways to blend content with technology, putting the learning into the hands of the students.

Blogs and other social media outlets, such as Wikispaces, expand the classroom walls and give students the opportunity to communicate and collaborate digitally, in a safe, monitored digital environment.  In my class, the students do a unit on the oceans and continents.  Rather than spending time in class studying all of them, students could work in groups to become experts on one continent and develop a wiki for each.  The students would then present their new knowledge to the class.

Lastly, I think that blogs are valuable learning Web 2.0 tools.  Blogs can include text, images, and links (Shrum & Levin, 2009, p. 50).  Blogs give parents and community members a window into the classroom.  Teachers can share lessons, materials, and ideas for activities with each other and support the development of a Professional Learning Network.  Blogs also have a strong educational value and can be used in a number of creative ways (Shrum, 2009, p. 53). I currently have a classroom blog that I maintain to communicate with both students and parents.  What I decided to try with my students is to have a student maintained blog.  Each week or so, one student creates a blog post in response to a question I pose.  The rest of the class then responds to the one student’s initial post.  I think that this can be a valuable communication and collaboration tool, as well as allow me to assess student understanding of my classroom lessons and activities.

References

Blair, N. (2012) Technology Integration for the New 21st Century Learner. Retrieved 

September 8, 2014, from http://www.naesp.org/

Shrum, L. and Levin, B.B. (2009). Leading 21st Century Schools. California: Corwin.