Social and Ethical Issues In Technology

Copyright Infringement

At the very end of class today, a comment was made about copyright and intellectual property. For the sake of time, we did not discuss the comment further, but I think that the idea of copyright is one of the most important issues that will come up with increased use of technology, both in the classroom and everywhere. Teachers have always made light of copyright laws: Photocopying work sheets, recording videos from the library, etc., with the idea that breaking copyright law for the pursuit of education isn't that bad. Although it has always happened, the availability of materials and property on the Internet is so immense, that the scale on which copyright infringement is occurring is extraordinary. File-sharing networks, YouTube, easy access to images on Google: All of these resources can enhance education...while making teachers into criminals. Many teachers may use materials that they do not even realize have been illegally attained. They may use images in ways that the author/owner/creator did not intend, and mass distribute it to their students. The subject of intellectual property encompasses so much, including music, images, videos, all items that teachers can use to make their classes more stimulating and interesting to the 21st century child. The availability of materials on the Internet, and the new prospect of "sharing," which has really helped to define the Web 2.0 movement, is forcing legal minds and consumers to rething the idea of copyright. I am not sure what I think about it yet. I know that the amount of money that artists and creators can make on the Internet is enormous, and that stealing access, for whatever purpose, is still stealing. I also know, however, that the pursuit of education, and access to intellectual property, should be the intellectual freedom of every child. Hopefully, I will learn more about copyright law, in order to make sure that I am modelling the ethical use of Internet materials to my students, as well as to my colleagues.

Distance Education

At home and in class, we explored virtual schools and online education. There were many different advantages that jumped out at me as I was exploring the idea of distance education. For students who work or have demanding schedules for health or personal reasons, distance education could be a wonderful fit, as they could still work in a comprehensive education while maintaining their necessary schedule. Students who have anxiety problems or difficulty working in groups and need more of a transition into a school setting would not be faced with continuous interaction with students and teachers. Students who are in families that move around a lot would have access to a constant curriculum, which would help ensure that there were no gaps in their education due to switching schools. Students whose parents want them to be home-schooled, for whatever reason, would still have access to a standardized curriculum, lesson plans, and interactive group projects. Also, students who need a little more time to work on classwork would have it, which could be advantageous for students who learn at a slower pace.

There are, however, many disadvantages to distance education. As you can tell from its name, distance education has an inherent distance between students and teachers, and students and students. No matter how interactive the lessons are, there is no way to make students have the same level of face-to-face interactions that they would have in another school. Distance education may also have different standards than traditional school, which could make it more or less difficult for students. Standardized curriculum would be necessary to make sure that students are getting the same level of quality education.

In order to participate in a distance education program, students must have a strong sense of discipline, or a very involved parental guide (depending on the student's age). Remembering assignments and not procrastinating might be too strong of a temptation for some students when the constant reminders of teachers and classmates are taken away. Students must also have a working knowledge of technology and computer usage, as a student who does not understand how to use the computer could have a lot of difficulty representing themselves at their best.

In order to teach in a virtual school, teachers would also need to have a lot of background in computer usage and website design. Teachers would also need to have a strong dedication to connecting with their students, as the lack of face-to-face contact might make building connections difficult. Teachers, especially for the younger grades, may run into problems in recognizing student achievement and excellence, because distance takes away the ability to give vocal, instantaneous comments and compliments.

Emerging Technologies in the Classroom

In my exploration of emerging technologies in the classroom, I explored Smart Boards, Google Earth 5.0, and the use of Wiki Pages. Smart Boards are interactive, touch-screen controlled boards that allow students and teachers to engage with class presentations with movement and visuals. They are created by Smart Technology, and more information can be found about them at this website: smarttech.com/ . Google 5.0 is the latest in the line of the Google Earth tools, and it allows students explore the surface of the Earth, including the ocean floor. Google Earth 5.0 allows students to "travel" throughout the world without ever leaving their computer screen. Google Earth 5.0 can be accessed at this link: earth.google.com/ . I also looked at Wiki pages, and how they are used in classrooms. Wiki pages are interactive webspaces. They allow the readers of the pages to edit the content and create new content within the page. More information about Wiki pages can be found at this link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki, and you can visit wikipages.com/index.php/Home to create your own Wiki page.

All three of these technologies could have an impact on how I teach and the lessons that I design for my classroom. Smart Boards offer a unique ability for teachers and students to "go inside" a demonstration, and visually show the class how to do an assignment. There are new programs that have been created largely for use on Smart Boards that allow students to create whole worlds that they can monitor and explore, such as the Jungle Maker program at http://www.nga.gov/kids/zone/jungle.htm . Google Earth 5.0 could really impact geography education: Rather than looking at plain old maps or globes, students can "visit" each location they are interested in, and learn about its topography. Wiki Pages, out of the three technologies that I examined, are perhaps the one that I am most excited about using in my classroom. Wiki pages allow students and teachers to interact and collaborate in ways that were not possible when I went to elementary school. Students can use Wikis to play an active role in sharing information, ideas, and discussion with their classmates, and teachers are able to take part in and monitor their activities. Wikis can be used as a constant means of communication between students and teachers.

The emerging technologies discussed in this post could hugely impact the ways in which students learn. Many of the technologies used in education are interactive and exciting approaches to instruction. They are able to incorporate sight, sound, hearing, and movement, allowing students of many different learning styles to flourish under the same instruction. They also allow students more freedom in directing their own instruction, a skill that enables them to become lifelong learners, rather than students who learn only in a school setting. As for meeting objectives, these new technologies provide different ways of monitoring student achievement and assessing the students proficiency. Wiki pages allow the teacher to review what each student has contributed to a project or discussion. Smart Boards allow the teacher to see what the student is engaging in, and how they are using the technology. Google Earth 5.0 is less of an assessment tool than it is a teaching tool, but it could be used as a resource for many different projects.

The most prevalent idea within these emerging technologies is that education and instruction are changing. When the Internet became more interactive and group-based, it started being referred to as "Web 2.0." Well, tomorrow's classroom could just as well be described as "Classroom 2.0." Classrooms are becoming interactive. They are empowering students to lead their own education and gather their own knowledge, and teachers better be right there with them.

Engaging Students With Concept Mapping

Here is an example of a concept map!

1. Concept mapping is an important strategy for children to learn, because it allows them to organize their thoughts clearly. Concept maps can also help teachers assess how much their students understand about different subjects, so that they can then tailor their lessons to the level of the class.

In my class, I could use concept maps as a whole class activity or as an individual activity. For example, if my class was about to start a unit on Conservation, we could work together as a class to create a concept map (similar to the one above) on the white board or overhead. This would help the class collaborate to come up with a lot of information, and help students that do not know as much about the topic learn a few new things. As an individual activity, concept mapping can be very helpful as a brainstorm or organization activity. For example, when students are writing a story, they could make a concept map that would help them organize the characters, settings, and plot within the story, so that they know what they want to write before they actually begin writing it.

Concept mapping allows students to see, in a very visual and organized manner, what they and their classmates know and understand about different topics. In my practicum, when the students were starting a new unit on insects, the teacher had them brainstorm things that they "knew" about insects and things that they wanted to know about insects. Although the teacher did not use a concept map, as such, she graphically organized them on the white board in front of the class, and that really helped a lot of the students see just how much they already knew about insects, and how much they wanted to know. A concept map would be another way of accomplishing this.

2. Concept maps could have a very large impact on student learning and student abilities within the classroom. Concept maps (along with other organizers) can really help students organize thoughts, see how much they know about subjects, and understand what they still need to learn or work on. Concept maps have the additional benefit of combining text, pictures and shapes, and arrows, a style that has elements that could appeal to many different learning styles.

One area in which I think that concept maps could really benefit student learning is within the children's abilities to answer prompts. Students, especially younger students, tend to have difficulty answering prompts without wandering from the topic or writing about other subjects entirely. Concept mapping can help these students figure out exactly what they want to write about, before they actually write it, which would allow them to stay on topic throughout their writing. Concept maps that are done as part of a prewriting process can also help teachers determine the student's thought process, and what direction they were thinking in when they started the project.

3. If I was trying to decide whether or not concept mapping would be used within the scope of a specific lesson, I would think about several factors. First, is it something my students know anything about? If the students do not know very much at all about a subject, a concept map done as a whole class or individual activity may not be very successful. Second, does the subject allow for clearly related topics to be combined in a hierarchy? If the subject matter does not have many associated facts or connotations, then it could be difficult to graphically organize them in a way that would make any sense to the students. Third, would a concept map be done more successfully as a whole group activity or an individual activity? If the entire class is beginning a unit, it might be very helpful to do a whole class concept map, but if the students are working on writing individual stories, where each one will be different, it would probably be more beneficial for students to work on concept maps on their own.

I think that, really, the most important part of the concept map idea is that students know it is an option they can use whenever they need to. A concept map does not have to be an assigned part of a project, as concept maps are just one tool, and will work better for some students than others. Teaching students how to create and incorporate that tool, however, is extremely important, as is giving them the information and freedom to decide which tools work best for them as individual learners.

Blogs and Wikis in Education

1. While looking at different classroom blogs for K-12 classrooms, I discovered several different ways that teachers are using blogs and wikis in interesting and innovative ways. In one blog, which was entirely dedicated to the book Sarah, Plain and Tall, the teacher posted questions that required the students to critically read and analyze the book. The students then commented on the blog with their replies to the questions. Another blog that I looked at provided students with summer reading lists and the chance to talk about and discuss their reading with the teacher and the other students in the class during the summer months. I thought it was neat that the students were able to participate in a low-key sort of way during the summer, while the teacher was able to make sure that learning was still happening. I also found a wiki where students who were working on a group science project together each had a page, where they could post information and "meet" on-line. I thought that this was really neat because it makes it easier for students to get together and brainstorm without actually having to meet outside of class.

2. RSS Readers or Aggregators are programs that allow you to select different news or blog-type sites, and have their updated information sent directly to you. In a classroom, this could be really helpful, because the class could select different topics that they were interested in, and the teacher could, maybe at the beginning of the day, read over the news on those topics, so that students would get updated information without a lot of extra work for the teacher. Also, if students are required to do any sort of current events project, having them set up their own aggregator could help them find new, relevant information easily, without exposing them, necessarily, to some of the dangers of searching the internet.

3. There are a lot of potential benefits to using blogs and wikis in education. The most exciting pro would be that it gives students a way to communicate while they are at home. They can interact with other students and participate in web-based projects. Another pro is that students are given the chance to work with technology and experience creating and contributing to the Internet. This is incredibly important, as it will help students develop a level of comfort with using and creating technology. One drawback to using wikis or blogs, as with using any sort of sharing technology on the internet, is that it may compromise student safety, especially if any personal information or pictures are posted. The other major drawback, that I can foresee, is that students who do not have the same level of access to computers and technology, whether for economic or other reasons, may feel isolated or may have difficulty completing assignments.

Teacher Web Project Critiques

1. Describe and discuss the impacts your use of a class web site like the one we created on TeacherWeb might have on student learning, on student engagement, and communications with students and parents.

A class website, like my TeacherWeb, could really help the students in my future classes learn to take charge of their own learning, be actively engaged learners, and could also foster a more readily accessible means of communicating, both with parents and students and between students and parents. Allowing students to access a site that allows them to choose their own learning journey can help them feel independent and in control of their own education, which could lead to a higher self efficacy. Some students, for various reasons, may have a more difficult time engaging with the class on a one-on-one basis, and web-based communication may help them feel more involved within the classroom. Also, the TeacherWeb can function as a communication tool in many ways. It provides a teacher with the means to contact students and their parents, it provides parents and students access to the teacher and a way to contact the teacher. It also provides a nice way for students to communicate with their parents. A class website that provides a clear picture of the daily activity of a classroom could be a wonderful tool for children to share with their parents, and could help those parents that don't have the time or ability to visit the classroom feel more connected with their student and their student's learning.


2. Identify and discuss what you see as the two biggest advantages of designing and using a classroom web site whithin your teaching activities. Also, identify what you see as the biggest disadvantages of using a class website for instructional activities and why.

A classroom website has a lot of potential advantages. The potential for communication and knowledge-sharing on the internet is amazing, and could allow students to collaborate and become engaged in the classroom in ways they never had before. The largest advantage I can think of is that potential: Students have the ability to access their own classroom and select their own way to learn. If students are involved in their own learners, they will be learning not just content material, but the joy of knowledge, and the importance of lifelong learning. The second most important advantage would be that students who are absent, parents who don't live with their students, parents who don't have time to visit the student's classroom, and even extended family and friends could have an inroad to their student's education. Parents who do not live with or see their students on a daily basis can still be an active part of their student's learning.

With these wonderful advantages come some serious drawbacks. The most severe disadvantage is, as with anything posted on the Internet, the idea that a classroom website could in some way compromise student's safety and wellbeing. A classroom website brings up many questions of ethics: Should pictures be on the website? Should students and parents be able to post? All of these questions do not have clear answers, and depending on the lines that teachers draw, students could be put in danger. The second, and somewhat less dramatic, disadvantage is that students may become reliant on computers for accessing knowledge. While the Internet is an amazing tool that can be used in amazing ways, understanding how to use reference tools like encyclopedias and dictionaries is important for students.

MI In the Classroom

In my Education Technology class, all the students completed an inventory of their likes/dislikes and skills. After completing the inventory, students were supplied with their levels of intelligence in eight different areas, as described my Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligence (kinesthetic, linguistic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, rhythmic, naturalist, existential, visual, and logical). After reading about our own intelligences, we were asked to examine several aspects of the importance of this information, including 1) which intelligences we had strengths in, 2) what students with that type of intelligence are likely to enjoy, do, or be, 3) how that form of intelligence can be supported in the classroom, 4) what technologies stimulate the intelligence, and 5) how paying attention to multiple intelligences can help student learning in the classroom.
Here are my responses to those questions:

I have strengths in several multiple intelligences, but the two that I identify with the most are the Naturalist Intelligence and the Kinesthetic Intelligence. Some of the characteristics that are common to those with a high Naturalist intelligence are the ability to classify things in hierarchies, and that Naturalists tend to feel a natural empathy toward nature. Naturalists have a strong tendency to classify things by their relationships and attributes. Kinesthetic learners are very tactile, they like to take a hands-on approach to things, and enjoy sensory learning. Kinesthetic learners tend to be reflexive and quick to respond physically, and have well-developed motor skills. Out of these core characteristics, many of them describe me. I am very tactile. In science classes, labwork always helped reinforce ideas and understanding more than lecture. All of the Naturalist characteristics describe me. I am very nature-oriented, and I understand things as they fit into a hierarchy. I have a quick recall of things that, in my head, I have sorted by their attributes and characteristics.

Children who demonstrate high Naturalist intelligences will be empathetic toward nature, and will like to make and sort collections. They will like to find their own sense of order, and will also enjoy learning via charts and tables, as opposed to a lot of words. Kinesthetic learners will enjoy hands-on activities, movement-based learning, and will be able to focus on learning for a long time, as long as it is movement-based. They will enjoy group work and active learning tasks, and will be able to learn a concept once they have been able to actually do it.

When appealing to the learning preferences of these children, it will be important to incorporate some different methods to teaching than the traditional idea of lecturing. With Naturalists, it may be helpful to have activities that are based in sorting things, and making sure that they are given the chance to practice their understanding of hierarchies. With Kinesthetic learners, using manipulatives and other hands-on aspects of the lesson can really help, as will incorporating dramatic exercises, interactive games, and offering lots of opportunities for movement.

Naturalists are intrigued by some life-science equipment (microscopes, magnifying glasses, telescopes, etc.), specimen collection equipment (bug boxes, sandwich bag, plastic container, etc.), organizers (scrapbooks, and (although this wasn't included in the website) photo albums), and different organization-based software (such as databases and mapping tools). Kinesthetic learners are interested in anything they can move around or actively construct or deconstruct. Construction tools, kitchen tools, tools of movement (pulleys, wedges, etc.), P.E. equipment (balls, bats, etc.), manipulatives (mouse, joystick, etc.), and any sort of hand-eye coordination technology (video games, digital probes, etc.)

I think that, first and foremost, it is crucial that every teacher acknowledge the range of intelligences within their classroom, and do their best both to acknowledge students' individual strengths in those intelligences and to tailor their lessons to appeal to as many styles as possible. A large aspect of a student's ability to learn is their self-esteem and their self-efficacy: If they don't believe they are competent enough to learn,they won't learn. Encouraging and praising all different forms of intelligence will help students feel more confident. For example, many teachers reward students who read the most books or perform well on spelling tests, but not many students reward students who are fast runners (kinesthetic), who dance well (music), who ask thought-provoking questions (existential), and, as I know from personal experience, who catch insects, slugs, and small animals at recess and bring them into class (naturalist). Although some of these skills may not fit into EALRs or the student curriculum, they are still forms of intelligence, and the ability to recognize and reward students for them will go a long way toward encouraging competency and teaching students to respect each other's differences and contributions.