Tech+Standard+6

Technology Facilitator Standard VI: Social, Ethical, Legal, and Human Issues



**__Self-Assessment__** Technology, especially the Internet, can be an tremendous resource asset. Internet is the world’s largest collaborative and “show and tell” platform. In 2009 survey by Pew Internet & American Life Project 93% of teens have been reported to have used the Internet. In recent report that came out in April 2010 by Pew Internet & American Life Project and Michigan University half of teens text message 50 or more time a day averaging about 1,500 a month, and one third of them text 100 times a day averaging 3,000 texts a month. (Lenhart, Campbell, & Purcell, 2010) With faster Internet capacity and unlimited access more and more teens are using social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace to connect. In 2008 58% of online teens had their own profile on these social network sites, 47% had uploaded photos to the internet, 39% shared their own creations online such as artwork, photos, stories, or videos, 14% uploaded videos to the web on sites like YouTube, 28% had blogs, 26% had their own webpage, and 19% had created avatar that interacts with others online. (Rainie, 2008) With these alarming statistics I learned that it is very important for me to teach my students about Internet safety. As schools are providing Internet access it is the school’s responsibility to teach the students about Internet safety. According to the Pew Internet research, 32% of online teens had been contacted by a stranger, and 23% said they were made scared or uncomfortable by the stranger contact. (Rainie, 2008) I’ve learned that there are great resources for teachers and parents on keeping the kids safe on the Internet. It is important to take a proactive action as the Internet users become younger and younger. The topic of legality and ethical behavior are topics that I’ve been teaching in my media classes for several years. After learning more about copyright issues I have emphasized more on ethical behavior when it comes to technology. I encourage my students to use the Internet to get inspired and expand their knowledge. I also educate them on legality issue of using copyrighted resources. Most teens today do not give a second thought about using any images they downloaded. In many cases they do not know what they can use and what they cannot. It is my job as a teacher to educate my students so that they are able to make good judgments. **__Learn as a Learner__** One of the greatest asset I’ve learned in the program is creativecommons.org. My Graphic Design and Animation classes rely on the Internet for resources. I teach my students the legality and ethical issues of using work created by someone else. I teach them about Creative Commons, an organization that help gather copyright free resources for people to share and use. Cyber safety is the hot topic for many schools. On my campus there has been discussions about how to bring awareness of cyber safety and cyber bullying. During the Multimedia Video course I had an opportunity to collaborate with four other colleagues in creating one minute Public Service Announcement video. Our group chose to produce the topic of cyber bullying because the topic was relevant to all of us as teachers. After the project was completed I had an opportunity show the PSA to our Dean who has been wanting to develop something like it show to our students. The Dean was inspired to create something similar to fit our campus. In working with our Dean I was lead as a technology expert and share my knowledge. **__Lifelong Learning Skills__** “When new technologies are implemented in school environments, they trigger a host of social, ethical, legal, and human issues. It is difficult to predict how educators and students will use new technologies and what the consequences of those uses will be.” (Williams & Redish, 2009, p.123) Although we cannot predict the future we can be proactive and stay alert. Students will find numerous ways to use technology, and some will not be positive. It is expected. In order to minimize the negative potentials schools need to have a strong technology use policy and frequently update the policy as technology changes. During the master’s program I researched about our district technology use policy. First, I had a difficult time finding out who had a digital copy. Ironically it was our school librarian who had it. I thought it should have been our tech person. Then I was shocked to find out that it has not been changed since originally drafted about ten years ago. At the time of my review there wasn’t any wording toward cyber bullying. However, since then there have been modifications and I believe our district is being more diligent about updating the policy as students much sign the agreement each year.

References Lenhart, A., Ling, R., Campbell, S., and Purcell, K. (2010). Teens and Mobile Phones. //Pew Internet & American Life Project//. web site: [] Rainie, L. (2008). Online Child Safety and Literacy. //Pew Internet & American Life Project, a project of the Pew Research Center.// web site: [] Pew Internet & American Life Project. (2009) Demographics of teen Internet users. //Pew Internet & American Life Project//. web site: [] Williamson, J., & Redish, T. (2009). ISTE's Technology Facilitation and Leadership Standards: What Every K-12 Leaders Should Know and Be Able to Do. Eugene: International Society for Technology in Education.


 * **VI.** |||| **Social, Ethical, Legal, and Human Issues** ||
 * |||| Educational technology facilitators understand the social, ethical, legal, and human issues surrounding the use of technology in PK-12 schools and assist teachers in applying that understanding in their practice. Educational technology facilitators: ||
 * A. || Model and teach legal and ethical practice related to technology use. Candidates: ||  ||   ||
 * || 1. develop strategies and provide professional development at the school/classroom level for teaching social, ethical, and legal issues and responsible use of technology. ||
 * || 2. assist others in summarizing copyright laws related to use of images, music, video, and other digital resources in varying formats. ||
 * B. || Apply technology resources to enable and empower learners with diverse backgrounds, characteristics, and abilities. Candidates: ||
 * || 1. assist teachers in selecting and applying appropriate technology resources to enable and empower learners with diverse backgrounds, characteristics, and abilities. ||
 * || 2. identify, classify, and recommend adaptive/assistive hardware and software for students and teachers with special needs and assist in the procurement and implementation. ||
 * C. || Identify and use technology resources that affirm diversity. Candidates: ||
 * || 1. assist teachers in selecting and applying appropriate technology resources to affirm diversity and address cultural and language differences. ||
 * D. || Promote safe and healthy use of technology resources. Candidates: ||
 * || 1. assist teachers in selecting and applying appropriate technology resources to promote safe and healthy use of technology. ||
 * E. || Facilitate equitable access to technology resources for all students. Candidates: ||
 * || 1. recommend policies and implement school/classroom strategies for achieving equitable access to technology resources for all students and teachers. ||  ||