Ethical and Social Issues in the Implementation of Technology

This week I learned about the challenges that teachers face when utilizing technology in the classroom. The main challenges include the using technology in the classroom as an effective tool to promote engagement and learning, to teach and model the safe, legal, and ethical use of technology, as well as attend to the diverse needs of all learners. Educators should also teach and model digital etiquette, cultural understanding, and global awareness.

Digital etiquette applies many of the rules that we govern ourselves by on a daily basis to online social behavior. Such rules include be polite, have tolerance for others, use appropriate language, respect others’ property. The shift occurs in applying these rules to online behavior. Other netiquette rules include protecting the privacy of yourself and others and recognize that email and the Internet is not private and online communication sometimes yields miscommunication.

When utilizing technology and the Internet in a classroom setting, it is imperative that an Acceptable Use Policy is developed and implemented school wide. An AUP is a contract between students, school officials, teachers, and parents that outlines safe and appropriate Internet behavior. An AUP should explain how the Internet is connected to teaching and learning, student responsibilities, repercussions, and should be signed by both parents and students.

Schools should also take advantage of antivirus software, firewalls, and filters. Antivirus software is needed to protect school computers from the harmful affects of malware, such as viruses, computer worms, and trojan horses. Firewalls block unauthorized users and filters block inappropriate content. I do not currently have student computers in my Art or Drama classroom; however, we have access to the computer lab and laptops at the school. I am unaware of the specific software being utilized, but I am certain that YPA is utilizing an antivirus software as well as firewall and filter protection software.

The benefits of utilizing online communication tools in the classroom include enabling one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many communications for the purpose of educating and learning. Online communication tools also enable dialogs to occur that otherwise may not be possible due to the constraints of location and time such as dialogs with an expert or classroom on the other side of the world. Online Communication tools allow educators the opportunity to teach students about the proper use of technology and promote the use of a real life tool. Access to these tools give students an opportunity to experience learning in multiple ways, to make connections with others around the world, and assists students that may have difficulty learning!

Software Selection and File Management

This week I learned about software, which are the programs that allow a computer to operate or complete tasks. To break it down, I see the hardware of a computer as the empty (exterior) shell, and the software (interior) makes things happen or function, but you can’t touch it… if that makes any sense at all!

Anyway, there are four general types of software, including:

1. Application Software is the actual program, such as spreadsheets, databases, web browsers, and word-processing programs that perform specific tasks.
2. System Software is the computer operating system that provides the computer with general commands
3. Freeware Software is various types of software that are available online for free download.
4. Shareware Software is available online for temporary trial use before the complete version is purchased.

I also learned about the seven main types of Educational Software including drill-and-practice, problem solving, creative/critical thinking, tutorials, simulations, image editing, and draw/paint. Most importantly I learned that the focus is not the software, it is utilizing the software to reach the end goals, student learning and engagement.

File Management refers to the organization of your files and folders for retrieving purposes at a later date. Each digital file that you create has a marker that indicates to the user which program was used to create it and which programs you can use to open it. For example, PowerPoint files are. ppt. My experience in a design agency has made me very aware of the importance in organization! At any given time, I had a server of thousands of files that may need to be accessed by myself or another designer! Always title each file appropriately and specifically as well as place it in an appropriately titles folder. My Suggestion is to come up with a system!

For my Art and Drama classrooms in the Fall, I imagine that I could easily utilize Image Editing Software. I am not sure what programs we will have on the computers in the computer lab; however, I can easily find a freeware for the students to use to manipulate images. By performing a quick Google search, I located an Impressionist Tutorial to teach students how to use Photoshop Elements to edit an image digitally.

I could ask students to take a picture and convert it into multiple images illustrating a principle of impressionism (movement, surface differences, lighting). Objectives and goals could be that the students recognize and appreciate the style of impressionist art, understand the impact photography had on impressionist artists, and demonstrate how to create a piece of impressionist art in Photoshop Elements, or similar freeware. I imagine that the students would enjoy manipulating the images; however, I think, the challenge is teaching them and myself the freeware software.

Teaching with WebQuests

Before this week, I had never heard the word WebQuest. I knew there were online learning activities for students, but I was unaware of WebQuests and how they can be utilized as a creative tool for the classroom. WebQuests were invented by Bernie Dodge and Tom March in 1995, and are inquiry-based, on-line learning activities. The focus of a WebQuest is to promote learning and understanding via the Internet. Students have met the activity objective when they are able to demonstrate what they have learned.

To go along with this lesson, I had to create a WebQuest for middle school Art or Drama students. I first chose an Art lesson plan that I felt was suitable for creating an activity for use in an online WebQuest. My lesson plan revolved around Environmental Art and the Elements of Art. Second, I added a story line to the lesson plan to create an exciting and imaginative activity for the students. I thought Environmental Art could lead to an interesting outdoor adventure!

Once I had the basics down, I registered for a temporary account at QuestGarden.com and began creating my WebQuest. QuestGarden.com was really easy to use and walked me clearly through each of the steps as well as supplied examples and advice along the way (which I found very helpful).My only concerns regarding the WebQuest would be planning, evaluation and time.

I had to rework some of the copy in the sections as I delved farther into the activity. I would get a great new idea and add tweaks that would then affect prior information or I simply added the wrong information in the wrong section and needed to correct it. So, this tells me that I did not planning adequately. My general planning notes did not include all of the necessary details that I needed.

The other major task that I encountered was the evaluation. I could identify each evaluation item, but the corresponding situations were difficult to construct and I was not quite sure how to adjust them. The template QuestGarden gave you seemed to simple and generic, but I may be wrong.

WebQuests take a lot of time to complete, but they create a really cool, interesting learning activity that I think my middle school students can learn from and appreciate! Feel free to take a look at my WebQuest and let me know what you think. My WebQuest, An Environmental Art Excursion, can be viewed at QuestGarden.com.