“Rule 1: Remember the human” is one segment of a larger “instructional manual” on digital etiquette, also called netiquette. This portion stresses the golden rule of “Do unto others…” with an electronic twist. Students must remember that although they may be behind a monitor and keyboard, they are communicating with real people at they use the Web. It may seem like common sense, but many students and adults can forget to be polite or put inappropriate comments into cyberspace because they do not see the people with whom they communicate. Additionally, it highlights another critical point for students: things they publish online are public.
Check out this guide if you have any questions about appropriate Digital Etiquette.
“Internet Safety Gone Wild?” looks at the risks of being overprotective of students online. Although there are risks and it is important to teach safe Internet usage, this article suggests that prohibiting adolescents from using social networking sites or other online communication tools may do more harm than good for students. It focuses specifically on the educational and psychological benefits that can result from social networking.
Click here to read the full article.
As new technologies develop, the question arises of how laws must adapt to incorporate these developments. Primary schools and colleges are embracing new technologies (like websites and the e-reader) into curriculums, and the Justice Department must decide how these new opportunities apply to “antiquated” laws. These developments were not envisioned two decades ago when the Americans with Disabilities Act was enacted. This article reports on and raises important questions about how schools can provide access to be in compliance with laws that were created without considering these tools but must still be applied to them.
Check out “Justice Department Weighs Putting Web Sites Under Disability Rules” for yourself and be sure to stay up to date as this issue continues to develop.
“Teaching Students about Privacy (or the Lack of) on the Internet” addresses an important lesson in digital citizenship for students. Many believe that material they place on a facebook account is private as long as they check certain boxes in their settings. However, many fail to realize how often sites can be hacked and that any material they post can be easily reproduced by people they have accepted as friends. It is important for students to understand how privacy rights are not always applicable online and how their posts can impact their future and/or reputation.
Click here to read the article.
Fair use is a means to use copyrighted material without permission or paying a licensing fee when the costs to the copyright owner is less than the benefit to society. However, it has been debated what constitutes fair use.
- Although Renee Hobbs, Peter Jaszi and Patricia Aufderheide were the coordinators, The Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education was developed/created by more than 150 members of leading educational and media literacy organizations and reviewed by legal scholars and lawyers.
- The 5 categories of the code are:
- Classroom Teaching with Copyrighted Materials—teachers can make and store copies of copyrighted materials for educational use.
- Copyrighted Material within Curriculum—educators can embed copyrighted materials into curriculum resources.
- Sharing Teaching Materials—educators can share, distribute, and even sell curriculum resources that contain copyrighted material.
- Student Work—students can use copyrighted materials in their work.
- Sharing Student Work—students can distribute said work digitally as long as they have added value to the copyrighted material or used it in a different way than originally intended (transformativeness).
- Although I had some knowledge of fair use before these readings, I feel I fell into the category of teachers that felt fair use is extremely limited. Now I feel I have a much better understanding of how fair use applied to me and my classroom materials. Four things I learned about fair use are:
- It is not cut and dry. Fair use is open to interpretation by the courts and could therefore change to a degree depending on where the court stands on the liberal v. conservative spectrum.
- As a teacher, I should ask myself two questions before using copyrighted material: did I use the material for a different purpose than it was intended and did I take an appropriate amount considering the materials used and those created.
- Many of the generally accepted educational guidelines are actually more prohibitive on teachers than they need to be. Most educators don’t know the extent to what fair use covers.
- Fair use can be applied to commercial curriculum material as well as what is being used within the classroom. I did not realize that “fair use” materials could be sold (as long as they are not infringing on the market of the original product used).
This article focuses on the challenge of defining and assessing digital or technology literacy. Although there is a consensus that technology literacy is crucial for students to compete in toady’s economy, individuals question how much is needed to be “digitally literate.” State and federal governments are in the process of designing appropriate assessments for students. The article does warn that “defining technology literacy as a grab bag for any and every skill” could be dangerous in expecting students to know too much to achieve a minimum proficiency.
Click here to read this article.
Both of these videos examine the importance on digital access in the 21st century.
Digital access is critical in all areas, but particularly in Haiti because of the relatively recent earthquake that devastated their country. Schools had been transformed overnight into refugee camps, many resources such as libraries and technology centers were destroyed, and many of their teachers perished in the disaster. For these reasons, long distance and independent learning are going to be critical for the educational system to recover.
Hector Ruiz talks about many pieces that need to work together to achieve digital access in our global community. Three factors that he stresses are that the solutions need to be useful, accessible and affordable. To be useful, the solutions, particularly in various developing countries need to come from the inside. Locals are more knowledgeable about government regulations and community needs than an outside company. Secondly, it needs to be available which is why Ruiz’s organization is partnering with carious groups and companies to make this a business venture rather than charity work. Lastly, digital access needs to be affordable. In some countries, such as South Africa, internet access is so expensive that the average person cannot afford it.
The NGO 50×15 is important to creating digital access in our global community it has a clear goal (for 50% of the global population to have digital access by 2015) and is passionate about achieving it. Additionally, it has a plan to accomplish these goals—integrating many different partners including businesses such as Google and other organizations to work together to provide access. Its outlook at this endeavor as a business not a charity is another piece that will most likely lead to a greater success rate in the long term.
In my own classroom, digital access can be difficult because of a lack of hardware resources. We have wireless Internet, but getting the laptop carts is difficult. I try to work with what I have and allow students to use their own hardware (iPod touches) when we’re working on projects in case they need/want additional information from the web.
This article looks at the efforts of the Miami Dade Broadband Coalition to work with various public institutions to create a “Digital Public Square.” Its purpose is to provide broadband Internet access to all community members. Schools are an important partner in this endeavor as they share many goals, such as developing informed citizens who need the technological skills and access to become productive members of society. I think that although a Digital Public Square may not solve all issues related to Digital Access, it would certainly be a step in the right direction.
Click here to read the article.
Recent Comments