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Saturday, October 22, 2011

EDLD 5370 Week 3 part 3.6

Janet Kelly
ET 8027/ Cohort 13
October 22, 2011

Week 3 Assignment, Part 3.6: Reflections on Technology Facilitator Standard VI: Social, Ethical, Legal, and Human Issues

Self –Assessment

Standard Six is one of the few standards that has to do with our attitude toward technology. Are we loose with it or do we desire to manage it in such a way as to let in only the good? Technology facilitators need to be “techies” who understand the social consequences of student communication and student work being done on and published through technology. This Standard is one that I was familiar with prior to beginning the Lamar Academic Partnerships program. Our schools are very proactive in teaching students to have a clean online presence. One the most enjoyable internship activities I completed was preparing and presenting a talk to sixth graders on how to have manners online and especially how to protect students’ privacy. It is amazing how many young students are already online in one of these venues, and they all had to lie about their age to make an account.

We also learned about appropriate behavior for teachers in our Human Resources coursework. After reviewing the footage of a mock ARD committee, we created a scenario plan to communicate with the parent the needs of the student and the progress made. Utilizing technology to communicate with the parent was an important part of this assignment. I learned how important that communication can be when emotions are high.

Learn as a Learner

To find activities where I could “shape technology use for the common good” (Williamson & Redish, 2009, p. 123), I spoke with a teacher and asked her how I could help her to teach kids about the social aspect of being online. We came up with the presentation time, worked with a second teacher, and found on open spot on their calendar. I also created a flyer for students to promote a safe and healthy use of using the internet and to remind them of the basic rules of being online – such as working on secure sites and only posting event messages in past tense. I also gave them information for websites that teach about online safety and suggestions for parents for whole house internet filtering.

All the feedback I received for my talk was positive. In my opinion, I should probably have changed up my power point slides a little, as I found myself talking in a slightly different direction in front of the students. I did renew my friendship with her and she just held a going away dinner for me last week, which was very sweet.

To help a student use technology resources to empower a learner struggling in reading, I also downloaded a text to speech program called Verbose Text to Speech (Verbose, 2011). He is able to use this program for understanding directions to assignments and for building fluency in his reading. This was to fulfill “technology facilitators must consider how to use digital-age learning tools to empower students with different learning abilities” (Williamson & Redish, 2009, p. 134).

My favorite activity overall for my internship program has been the mentoring activities I have done. The 2011 Horizon Report states, “Mentoring and preparing students for the world in which they will live is again at the forefront” (Johnson, Adams, & Haywood, 2011, p. 4). This mentoring relationship allowed me to promote the safe use of technology in regards to family life through several avenues including video, gaming, and cell phone use.

Lifelong Learning Skills


In reflecting on what I have learned on social, ethical, legal and human issues in regards to technology, I think the realization for the future is of the need to be vigilant is the most important lesson. Because of the constant change in technology services and resources, educators must keep up with the changes not only to protect students, but also to understand new exposure risks. Cyber bullying is both real and difficult for parents and educators to grasp the amount of harm done to a student before retaliation occurs.

By participating in a Thinkfinity course on social networking, I was able to learn about another avenue for colleague interaction through the Verizon website for educators (Thinkfinity.org, 2011). This venue allows teachers to post their favorite links and teaching tools and share their own creations with others. The professional learning communities established on the site are across the globe and allow for true cross-culture learning. In addition, it is free, which is very important at this time of diminishing education funds.


Bibliography

(2011). Retrieved Oct 22, 2011, from Verbose: http://www.nch.com.au/verbose/index.html

(2011). Retrieved Oct 22, 2011, from Thinkfinity.org: http://thinkfinity.org/

Johnson, L., Adams, S., & Haywood, K. (2011). The NMC horizon report: 2011 K-12 edition. Austin: The New Media Consortium.

Williamson, J., & Redish, T. (2009). ISTE's technology facilitation and leadership standards: What every k-12 leader should know and be able to do. Eugene: International Society for Technology in Education.

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