Digital Rights

As students are using more and more technology in school and their everyday lives, it is important for educators to understand and teach students to know and understand their digital rights when it comes to using technology. Hsin et al. (2021) says that with the proliferation of internet-enabled devices in schools come novel social-behavioral challenges that may lead to increased acts of interpersonal harm, both intended and unintended. One of the most saliently identified of these threats is cyberbullying, an often-surreptitious phenomenon in which students who are still learning to manage their own self-regulatory and interpersonal behaviors may make choices that jeopardize the classroom culture and undermine their peers’ educational and social success. With a growing number of decisions about what kind of rules to lay down and rights to distribute around device use, especially considering threats of cyberbullying and the negative consequences that flow from it. The development of digital teaching competence continues to be one of the educational challenges to be accomplished by the education system (Garzón Artacho et al., 2020). While it can be a hard task to achieve, teaching about digital rights is an important task educators must seek to complete. Technology is only going to become more accessible to students everywhere and it is important that students know their rights and how to appropriately use technology.

References

Garzón Artacho, E., Martínez, T. S., Ortega Martín, J. L., Marín Marín, J. A., & Gómez García, G. (2020). Teacher training in lifelong Learning—The importance of digital competence in the encouragement of teaching innovation. Sustainability (Basel, Switzerland), 12(7), 2852. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12072852

Hsin, L. B., Mu, N., & Selman, R. L. (2021). Rights and responsibilities with tech: Students’ take on classroom policies. The Reading Teacher, 74(5), 549-558. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1986

Media Fluency - EDUC639

 It is important for anyone using the internet to be able to interpret and understand what they are reading as well as be able to communicate on different media platforms. Li et al. (2018) mention that digital fluency is defined as an individual’s ability to produce and reformulate knowledge, as well as express oneself creatively and properly through digital information technologies. It is important for educators to teach students how to acquire these skills to effectively use technology such as social and digital media. Social media is at the forefront of our youth every day, and it is important that students understand and know how to use it in a respectful manner. While social media can be a positive attribute to everyday life, it can also bring on problems for those that do not have media fluency. Technology continues to reshape how students think and learn. This reason, even more, why it is important for educators to teach media fluency as technology is one of the most impactful resources students use in today's world. Global Digital Citizen Foundation (2016, February 16) mentions that we need to be able to communicate effectively with graphic and multimedia formats as we do with text and through media fluency educators can teach their students these skills. 

References

Global Digital Citizen Foundation (2016, February 16) Media Fluency [Video]. YouTube. Media Fluency - YouTube 

• Li, Y., Ye, H. (., Liu, A., Yang, X., & Wang, X. (2018). Will digital fluency influence social media use?: An empirical study of WeChat users. The Data Base for Advances in Information Systems, 49(4), 30-45. https://doi.org/10.1145/3290768.3290773

Educational Blogs - EDUC639

 

Establishing a Learning Culture - EDUC639

  The way in which a teacher develops and runs their classroom will essentially impact the learning outcome for their students.  It is imperative that a teacher develops their classroom long before their students ever darken the doors of their class.  Planning is quintessential for positive outcomes as far as learning as well as managing behaviors in a classroom.  A positive learning atmosphere and conversation forms the basis for productive collaboration and is defined as ‘a trustful atmosphere of learning and exchange, in which critical aspects, as well as critical situations of classroom practice, can be addressed, existing teaching routines can be realized, and alternatives can be suggested without judgments’ (Alles et al., 2019). Providing students a positive learning environment can lead to trust and engagement from students ultimately resulting in learning, a goal for all teachers. Another way in which to establish a learning culture is for teachers to encourage a growth mindset. Whether students want to learn depends on whether they believe that they can learn: those who believe that abilities improve with practice (growth mindset) tend to show higher motivation than those who believe that abilities are unchangeable (Zeeb et al., 2020). Teachers should focus on promoting growth in their classroom by showing students that they may not always get it right or understand it at first, but through practice and repetition, all students can grow and learn.

References

• Alles, M., Seidel, T., & Gröschner, A. (2019). Establishing a positive learning atmosphere and conversation culture in the context of a video-based teacher learning community. Professional Development in Education, 45(2), 250-263. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2018.1430049

• Zeeb, H., Ostertag, J., & Renkl, A. (2020). Towards a growth mindset culture in the classroom: Implementation of a lesson-integrated mindset training. Education Research International, 2020, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/8067619

Educational Websites - EDUC 639

EDUC 639

 Educators are faced with many duties they must fulfill while teaching their students.  It can be a hard task to accomplish, but the social responsibility of educators is one that is very much important in today's world.  It is important for educators to understand when teaching young children they are setting them up for the rest of their educational and personal lives. Educators must understand that not all children learn and think the same way and students come from all different backgrounds and lives.  When educating young learners it is imperative that teachers communicate well. Melendez et al. (2021) suggests that regarding communication skills, the main factor was the ability of the teacher to articulate the message. There are many topics that students may not be aware of, and it is important to use appropriate vocabulary for the students to understand. Another suggestions by Melendez et al. (2021) was that teachers must use respect as a main focus in their classrooms.  Respect can not be mandated for students if the teacher does not show the same traits. Melendez et al. mentions that the main idea is that to teach values, the teacher has to use behaviors that resemble those behaviors in order for students to follow.  Carr-Chellman (2016) mentions that our education system is broken for a plethora of reasons such as the teaching methods are wrong.  While he may be correct in some form, I do not believe that it is completely broken, yet maybe just lost. He suggests that good teaching looks like good parenting.  I can attest to this for most kids who come from loving homes. However, many students do not.  It is important for educators to be mindful of their students and provide a positive learning environment for all students and not just some. 

References

Carr-Chellman, A. A. (2016). Issues in Technology, Learning, and Instructional Design. [MBS Direct]. Retrieved from https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781317484295/ 

• Meléndez Nieves, A., Estrada Oliver, L., & Vargas, A. (2021). Preservice physical education teachers’ experiences implementing the teaching personal and social responsibility model. The Physical Educator, 78(2), 183-204. https://doi.org/10.18666/TPE-2021-V78-I2-10394 

Reflection of Technology Practices for Instructional Improvement course

 

As I look back on my experience in this course, Technology Practices for Instructional Improvement, I have learned a great deal of information in regard to technology in the classroom; however, that does not come without challenges.  I have been out of the classroom for several years now, as I hold a different position.  The world of gaming was brand new to me.  I never really used gaming in my special education adaptive curriculum classroom. It was eye opening to me to see the advantages of what gaming can bring to a classroom.  I learned many lessons within this course but there are a couple that I will take with me in the future.  Data collection was an important discussion in the course and a nice reminder to me the importance it holds for me as a special education educator.  Data collection is what drives a student’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP).  Data collection is what is studied when determining the next steps for a student with special needs and without it I do not feel you can adequately plan a student’s future.  Also, Assistive Technology was an important lesson for me in this course.  I have always used assistive technology within my classrooms, but I was reminded how important it is for students to help get them to a level playing field when accessing the curriculum and instruction within a class. Through this course I also learned about many new assistive technology devices through my peers that I was not aware of beforehand.  One of my peers in this course discussed using a FM transmitter for a student with a hearing impairment.  The biggest takeaway for me from this course was that I realized that technology in the classroom goes beyond just a computer, and technology in the classroom provides students with a positive learning environment that helps engage them in the curriculum as well help them learn content in a fun and meaningful way.