4.2 Safe, Healthy, Legal & Ethical Use
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Candidates model and facilitate the safe, healthy, legal, and ethical uses of digital information and technologies. (PSC 4.2/ISTE 5b)
There are many reasons why students, teachers, and even administrators, need to become more aware of the digital tools and information that comes with all the new technology being implemented into the classroom setting. There are rules, guidelines, and best practices already in place to help create a safe, healthy, legal, and ethical mindset while working with educational technology. Understanding the rules allows the individual to better play the game, and I was once told that knowing is half the battle!
Safe Uses
When working with students, I try to instill in them a mindset of “non-identifiable” in terms of an online presence. User profiles should not have their name, photo, or any other identifiable data that can be linked to them. Showing the students how easy it is to find them online and gather identifiable information on them and their personal lives wakes them up immediately. Some just don’t know how easy it is to be found online. We also talk about what is shared online is always online as it only takes one other person to share it, copy it, print it, or save it, to make it stay online forever. Even if that doesn’t happen, the posts are always backed up online somewhere – ask Snapchat users… Basically, I tell my students that if you don’t want your parents to find out or you can’t say it in front of grandma, don’t do it – online or offline. Protect yourself, and be safe out there.
Healthy Uses
Just because it’s available, it doesn’t mean you have view it, read it, digest it, or do anything with it. Losing sleep due to online staring contests with your phone is not a healthy choice. There is a time and place for everything important in your world. Friends, family, education, play, relaxation, and screen time. Having a healthy balance in today’s world is challenging for most people and more than likely, one of the major parts of a person’s day is being neglected due to increased screen time. If screen time is important to you (as I tell my students) then make time for it, but don’t forget about the real world. Don’t forget about the 3-D world and people around you. We always complain about not having enough time in the day to get things done. We all do. I challenged my students over the course of a single day to document the amount of minutes they spend in front of a screen – even during the school hours. When they realized that it was, on average, more than a full-length movie, they were not even shocked. They know are in front of their screens all day, and some even know it takes up too much of their day, but don’t know any other way of life. In our 8th grade English class, we teach the book “Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens,” written by Sean Covey. Habit three states to put first things first, as the rest will fall into place. This has helped many of my students figure out what really is important and more of a healthy choice in their lives, and what is just fun. Doing something about it is their next step.
Legal Uses
Stealing is stealing, except when it’s not. Understanding the copyright and fair use laws, or at least knowing they exist and where to find them, is important for teachers. We need to practice what we preach, as students today need to understand that just because it is online and shareable, it does not belong to them. The artifact, Copyright & Fair Use Powerpoint (ITEC 7445 – Multimedia & Web Design) was shared with my school to help teachers obtain a better understanding of the basics of copyright and fair use. Is it easier to just take and use digital information rather than always giving credit where credit is due? Of course it is. Is it legal? Of course it is not legal. Basically, if there is any question, giving credit to the owner of the document is correct legal decision to make. As our students begin to see the credit to the pictures on the teacher webpages, or in the Google Slides or PowerPoint lessons, they will begin to ask what that reference is there for. That question alone allows for a quick lesson on copyright and fair use with students as they were intrigued by the citations. Every year this happens, and we have that discussion because it is important for them to know that giving credit where credit is due – be it on a basketball court or on a webpage, it is a significant step in becoming a better person in the real world and a better user in the online one. If the people who students learn from don’t do it, the students never will.
Ethical Uses
If we have learned but one thing from Jurassic Park, it is that just because you could, it does not mean you should. Many of my students have no problem sharing unflattering photos and comments, downloading songs illegally, or spreading gossip over fact. In previous generations, adults guided young people with the ethical decision making process as there was not an online world to live in. Today, most adults don’t have a clue about what really happens online, or even more importantly, how or why it happens. We can still reach today’s youth, but it is more challenging. Right and wrong are still right and wrong. Engaging the students in real talks about the decisions they make online can not only hurt others, but also hurt their chances at future jobs, current friendships, and their own personal safety. Most of the students that I have spoken with post things to get as many followers on their social media platforms as possible, because the competition is to see who can get the most amount of followers or likes on their posts. When we discuss this with our students, I like to show them a clip from Jurassic Park that discusses the possible ethical issues of creating dinosaurs by reading others work and then just taking the next step in the process. I parallel this with online posting and the lack of decision thinking and making when one can just tap “share” and it is done. Again, just because you could, it does not mean you should.
I learned that I as a teacher have more flexibility in terms of copyright and fair use than I initially realized. Just like any other game, knowing the rules will help one do a better job playing said game. Practicing the correct procedures for copyright and more so, fair use, will help students see what citing sources is really all about, and more importantly, why. If I could change anything with the creation of this artifact, it would be to include more examples and ideas on how educators can implement strategies to reach students in terms of copyright and fair use. Students love free stuff, and by showing them how to obtain it, legally, some may even consider it a game or challenge to master.
By understanding how copyright and fair use works for the educator, more may take the correct approach in terms of daily usage to model this type of online behavior for their students. This not only impacts faculty development, but online student learning as well. It helps to prepare our students to be more informed digital citizens.
The level of measurement will be the increase of citing on teacher websites, the school website, and other documents within the classroom setting.
Safe Uses
When working with students, I try to instill in them a mindset of “non-identifiable” in terms of an online presence. User profiles should not have their name, photo, or any other identifiable data that can be linked to them. Showing the students how easy it is to find them online and gather identifiable information on them and their personal lives wakes them up immediately. Some just don’t know how easy it is to be found online. We also talk about what is shared online is always online as it only takes one other person to share it, copy it, print it, or save it, to make it stay online forever. Even if that doesn’t happen, the posts are always backed up online somewhere – ask Snapchat users… Basically, I tell my students that if you don’t want your parents to find out or you can’t say it in front of grandma, don’t do it – online or offline. Protect yourself, and be safe out there.
Healthy Uses
Just because it’s available, it doesn’t mean you have view it, read it, digest it, or do anything with it. Losing sleep due to online staring contests with your phone is not a healthy choice. There is a time and place for everything important in your world. Friends, family, education, play, relaxation, and screen time. Having a healthy balance in today’s world is challenging for most people and more than likely, one of the major parts of a person’s day is being neglected due to increased screen time. If screen time is important to you (as I tell my students) then make time for it, but don’t forget about the real world. Don’t forget about the 3-D world and people around you. We always complain about not having enough time in the day to get things done. We all do. I challenged my students over the course of a single day to document the amount of minutes they spend in front of a screen – even during the school hours. When they realized that it was, on average, more than a full-length movie, they were not even shocked. They know are in front of their screens all day, and some even know it takes up too much of their day, but don’t know any other way of life. In our 8th grade English class, we teach the book “Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens,” written by Sean Covey. Habit three states to put first things first, as the rest will fall into place. This has helped many of my students figure out what really is important and more of a healthy choice in their lives, and what is just fun. Doing something about it is their next step.
Legal Uses
Stealing is stealing, except when it’s not. Understanding the copyright and fair use laws, or at least knowing they exist and where to find them, is important for teachers. We need to practice what we preach, as students today need to understand that just because it is online and shareable, it does not belong to them. The artifact, Copyright & Fair Use Powerpoint (ITEC 7445 – Multimedia & Web Design) was shared with my school to help teachers obtain a better understanding of the basics of copyright and fair use. Is it easier to just take and use digital information rather than always giving credit where credit is due? Of course it is. Is it legal? Of course it is not legal. Basically, if there is any question, giving credit to the owner of the document is correct legal decision to make. As our students begin to see the credit to the pictures on the teacher webpages, or in the Google Slides or PowerPoint lessons, they will begin to ask what that reference is there for. That question alone allows for a quick lesson on copyright and fair use with students as they were intrigued by the citations. Every year this happens, and we have that discussion because it is important for them to know that giving credit where credit is due – be it on a basketball court or on a webpage, it is a significant step in becoming a better person in the real world and a better user in the online one. If the people who students learn from don’t do it, the students never will.
Ethical Uses
If we have learned but one thing from Jurassic Park, it is that just because you could, it does not mean you should. Many of my students have no problem sharing unflattering photos and comments, downloading songs illegally, or spreading gossip over fact. In previous generations, adults guided young people with the ethical decision making process as there was not an online world to live in. Today, most adults don’t have a clue about what really happens online, or even more importantly, how or why it happens. We can still reach today’s youth, but it is more challenging. Right and wrong are still right and wrong. Engaging the students in real talks about the decisions they make online can not only hurt others, but also hurt their chances at future jobs, current friendships, and their own personal safety. Most of the students that I have spoken with post things to get as many followers on their social media platforms as possible, because the competition is to see who can get the most amount of followers or likes on their posts. When we discuss this with our students, I like to show them a clip from Jurassic Park that discusses the possible ethical issues of creating dinosaurs by reading others work and then just taking the next step in the process. I parallel this with online posting and the lack of decision thinking and making when one can just tap “share” and it is done. Again, just because you could, it does not mean you should.
I learned that I as a teacher have more flexibility in terms of copyright and fair use than I initially realized. Just like any other game, knowing the rules will help one do a better job playing said game. Practicing the correct procedures for copyright and more so, fair use, will help students see what citing sources is really all about, and more importantly, why. If I could change anything with the creation of this artifact, it would be to include more examples and ideas on how educators can implement strategies to reach students in terms of copyright and fair use. Students love free stuff, and by showing them how to obtain it, legally, some may even consider it a game or challenge to master.
By understanding how copyright and fair use works for the educator, more may take the correct approach in terms of daily usage to model this type of online behavior for their students. This not only impacts faculty development, but online student learning as well. It helps to prepare our students to be more informed digital citizens.
The level of measurement will be the increase of citing on teacher websites, the school website, and other documents within the classroom setting.