Safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology

   
Welcome to my blog about technology in the classroom.  Here I will post assignments from my Northern Arizona University class during the summer of 2013.

The first blog assignment is, as listed above, safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology.

Any use of technology in the classroom must be considered with the safety of the students who will be using it.  If the internet is available to them, they must understand the implications of sharing information and images.

As we move into the age of "temporary" social media such as Snapchat, students must be made aware of the fact that anything they post online or sent via their cell phone is traceable, even if the creators of such software claim it isn't.

As teachers, we must understand there is an ethical boundary that must be maintained.  Pictures of students in classrooms should never be taken, and certainly never shared online, without prior permission from parents.  Likewise, a child's work is not the property of the teacher or even the school.  If the child wishes to post something they created online, they should be the one to post it with the consent and help of their parent.  A teacher, no matter how proud, should never make the unilateral decision of posting intellectual property online.

The laws surrounding internet privacy are also changing and access to previously "private" images and/or conversations could become a thing of the past.

As we move toward a more comprehensive digital age, children need to be educated to protect themselves from online predators as well as safeguarding their own intellectual property.