Standard 4
Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices.
a. Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources
Meeting the Standard
Students today are bombarded with a wealth of information at their finger tips. With this wealth of information comes the responsibility of learning to use digital information in a legal manner that gives respect for copyright. Before my students begin using the computers, we spend some time reviewing and gaining an understanding of copyright. After teaching students about copyright policies, I then have my students sign off on a Computer Contract discussing acceptable uses of the technology in the classroom. Early on in the school year, we review several links that I post in portaportal under Internet Safety. One of the fourth grade favorites is Net Smartz. We use the videos and interactive activities to help us learn how to stay safe on the internet.
b. Address the diverse needs of all learners by using learner-centered strategies providing equitable access to appropriate digital tools and resources
Meeting the Standard
In my Instructional Systems Design course, we focused on being able to address the diverse needs of the learner. Up until this program, I basically thought in a linear manner of identifying the objective that I wanted to teach, plan for the instruction, and then assessing to see if the students met the objective. After taking the Instructional Systems Design course, I realized that there are four fundamental components that form a framework for systematic instructional design. These four components include the following: the learners, the objectives, the methods, and the evaluation. Previously, my focus was more on what do I have to teach, now I feel my teaching methods consider the learners. This is evident in a project where I had to work with a team of colleagues and design instruction for teaching a group of educators about a science museum, Port Discovery. You can view screen shots of Team E's project that was completed using Voice Thread, getting an idea of how we took various needs of our learners into consideration. You can also see some of our peer's evaluations of our project too. In this same class, I worked with a team discussing the needs assessment. Assessing needs is an important part of the design process, because valuable time can be saved. Creating a Needs Assessment Chart, as evident in our Skillset 2 Lesson, a systematic approach to determining optimals, actuals, needs for instruction, and feelings can serve as a guide in addressing the diverse needs of learners.
c. Promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information
Meeting the Standard
Digital etiquette is definitely a growing need in society today, by children and adults as well. To promote digital etiquette, I use several sites that I have bookmarked in Portaportal , but one specific site I have taken resources from included here has a section titled Scenario Debriefing and Learning Activities. These scenarios are great for having students discuss in class. Another resource that I have come across is a WebQuest titled Journey to Becoming a Digital Citizen.
d. Develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with colleagues and students of other cultures using digital age communication and collaboration tools
Meeting the Standard
To help my students gain an understanding of global awareness, I have been exploring the topic of finding pen pals for my 30 students. I have registered through ePals and received a welcome letter . Since then, I have received 30 student accounts and will soon embark on guiding my students through the process of communicating through the use of this tool.Pals
a. Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources
Meeting the Standard
Students today are bombarded with a wealth of information at their finger tips. With this wealth of information comes the responsibility of learning to use digital information in a legal manner that gives respect for copyright. Before my students begin using the computers, we spend some time reviewing and gaining an understanding of copyright. After teaching students about copyright policies, I then have my students sign off on a Computer Contract discussing acceptable uses of the technology in the classroom. Early on in the school year, we review several links that I post in portaportal under Internet Safety. One of the fourth grade favorites is Net Smartz. We use the videos and interactive activities to help us learn how to stay safe on the internet.
b. Address the diverse needs of all learners by using learner-centered strategies providing equitable access to appropriate digital tools and resources
Meeting the Standard
In my Instructional Systems Design course, we focused on being able to address the diverse needs of the learner. Up until this program, I basically thought in a linear manner of identifying the objective that I wanted to teach, plan for the instruction, and then assessing to see if the students met the objective. After taking the Instructional Systems Design course, I realized that there are four fundamental components that form a framework for systematic instructional design. These four components include the following: the learners, the objectives, the methods, and the evaluation. Previously, my focus was more on what do I have to teach, now I feel my teaching methods consider the learners. This is evident in a project where I had to work with a team of colleagues and design instruction for teaching a group of educators about a science museum, Port Discovery. You can view screen shots of Team E's project that was completed using Voice Thread, getting an idea of how we took various needs of our learners into consideration. You can also see some of our peer's evaluations of our project too. In this same class, I worked with a team discussing the needs assessment. Assessing needs is an important part of the design process, because valuable time can be saved. Creating a Needs Assessment Chart, as evident in our Skillset 2 Lesson, a systematic approach to determining optimals, actuals, needs for instruction, and feelings can serve as a guide in addressing the diverse needs of learners.
c. Promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information
Meeting the Standard
Digital etiquette is definitely a growing need in society today, by children and adults as well. To promote digital etiquette, I use several sites that I have bookmarked in Portaportal , but one specific site I have taken resources from included here has a section titled Scenario Debriefing and Learning Activities. These scenarios are great for having students discuss in class. Another resource that I have come across is a WebQuest titled Journey to Becoming a Digital Citizen.
d. Develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with colleagues and students of other cultures using digital age communication and collaboration tools
Meeting the Standard
To help my students gain an understanding of global awareness, I have been exploring the topic of finding pen pals for my 30 students. I have registered through ePals and received a welcome letter . Since then, I have received 30 student accounts and will soon embark on guiding my students through the process of communicating through the use of this tool.Pals