TF VI - Educational technology facilitators understand the social, ethical, legal, and human issues surrounding the use of technology in P-12 schools and assist teachers in applying the understanding in their practice.
Integrating technology into our schools brings so many positives, but it also brings so many more hurdles to work with. One area is the so-called 'digital divide'. My first year of teaching, I was working in a small 2A district that I knew had previous financial troubles. When I went into my classroom the first day, a computer lab, half of the room was brand new computers that had Windows XP and the other half contained computers that were older and had Windows 98 on them. The book I was teaching out of was for XP. It was quite a trying year figuring out what I needed to modify and when. Digital equity is what schools and states should strive for even though it is getting better. "K-12 technology professionals must continually monitor these concerns. Too often, race, gender, income, and locale continue to correlate to digital inequities" (Williamson and Redish, 2009, p. 126).
Online safety has become a large concern for parents and educators alike in the past few years. "Initial concerns related to Internet safety in schools centered on students' access to inappropriate content on the Web" (Williamson, 2009, p. 128). However, the focus now is the privacy and security of students while online. "There are concerns about sex offenders and other adults preying on young people they've met through social-networking Web sites such as MySpace" (Hochberg, 2007, para. 2). I taught a couple of classes to educators on internet safety and what we need to share with our students. Of course, the students think they are invincible and that they information is something they already understand, but it still needs to be discussed every year. They should know not to give out personal information just as well as they know to 'stop, drop, and roll'.
I was glad that this masters degree required us to read "Cyber Law" by Aimee Bissonette. I learned so much pertinant information from that book. As a technology teacher, I thought I knew the laws pretty well, but I was wrong. The TF VI Standard states for us to know the legal and ethical issues of using technology in schools and many probably break those issues without even knowing it. "School leaders do not need to feel hog-tied by copyright law, but they do need to accept reponsibility for educating all users of the school Internet system about legal uses of copyrighted material and how to steer clear of infringement" (Bissonette, 2009, p. 70). In another class for the masters degree, we were introduced to something called Creative Commons. Seeking out types of work with creative commons could have helped me, and my students in the past.
Bissonette, A. (2009). Cyber law: Maximizing safety and minimizing risk in classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Hochberg, A. (17 September, 2007). Back to School: Reading, Writing, and Internet Safety. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14427020
Williamson, J. and Redish, T. (2009). ISTE's technology facilitation and leadership standards. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.
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