Safe, Legal, and Ethical Use of Digital Information and Technology

Safe, Legal, and Ethical Use 

of Digital Information and Technology

Supervision and Monitoring of Students

• It is imperative that students are constantly monitored when using any computer or technology device.
• Teachers must teach students the importance of not giving out personal information on the internet.
• Provide boundaries for students.  
• Provide students with the steps to follow in the event something inappropriate appears on the computer.

Primary and Intermediate Internet Safety Rules

1. I will tell my trusted adult if anything makes me feel sad, scared, or confused.
2. I will ask my trusted adult before sharing information like my name, address, and phone number.
3. I won't meet face-to-face with anyone from the Internet.
4. I will always use good netiquette and not be rude or mean online.

(http://www.netsmartz.org/Resources/Pledges)

Education about Safe and Responsible Use. 

Teachers and administrators should receive instruction on issues related to the safe and responsible use of the Internet.  This knowledge should be passed down to each student. .

The National Education Technology Standards for Students (NETS), National Education Technology Standards for Teachers (NETT), and Technology Standards for School Administrators (TSSA), all available at the National Education Technology Standards Project.

A Focus on the Educational Purpose.

• The use of computers and the internet should be limited to activities that support education and enrichment. 
• Computers should be used to support curriculum that is already being taught.
• Teach students to question the reliability and authenticity of a website.

Discipline. Misuse of the Internet should result in consequences that are appropriate to the circumstances.

Legal

• Teach students how to cite a source. 
• Require students to give credit to the websites they use to avoid plagiarism. 
• Students must understand that text is not the only medium that must be cited.  Pictures, sounds, and videos must also be cited.  

         A Dozen Ways to Teach Ethical and Safe Technology Use

1. Articulate personal values when using technology. Talk to students about ethical online conduct and set clear limits about what is allowed and what is not allowed. Teachers need to be knowledgeable about the school’s Acceptable Use Policy and work to help their students understand it.  A district’s current acceptable use policy should include language about posting private information about both oneself and others. This private information includes home addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, and labeled photographs. Any bullying policies you might have should cover electronic bullying as well as physical bullying.

2. Stress the consideration and application of principles rather than relying on a detailed set of rules.Although sometimes more difficult to enforce in a consistent manner, a set of a few guidelines* rather than lengthy set of specific rules is more beneficial to students in the long run. By applying guidelines rather than following rules, students engage in higher level thinking processes and learn behaviors that will continue into their next classroom, their homes, and their adult lives.

Model ethical behaviors. All of us learn more from what othersdo than what they say. Verbalization of how we personally make decisions is a very powerful teaching tool, but it’s useless to lecture about safe and appropriate use when we ourselves might not follow our own rules.

4. Build student trust. If an inappropriate site is accidentally accessed, use the incident to teach some strategies about using clues in search result findings to discriminate between relevant and non-relevant sites. (“Jose, when the search results say ‘hot chicks xxx,’ that probably won’t be a source for your report on chickens.”)

5. Encourage discussion of ethical issues. “Cases,” whether from news sources or from actual school events, can provide superb discussion starters and should be used when students are actually learning computer skills. Students need practice in creating meaningful analogies between the virtual world and the physical world. How is reading another person’s e-mail without their permission like and unlike reading their physical mail?

6. Accept the fact students will make mistakes. Coach John Wooden famously said, “If you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything.” Learning is about making errors and figuring out how not to repeat them. A middle school student who shares her password with a friend who then destroys files has made a recoverable mistake -- one that she might remember before sharing personal data as an adult.

7. Allow students personal use of the Internet. If Internet computers are not being used for curricular purposes, students can research topics of personal interest (that are not inherently dangerous or pornographic). The best reason for allowing that is that students are far less likely to risk loss of Internet privileges if that means losing access to sites they enjoy.

8. Reinforce ethical behaviors and react to the misuse of technology. Technology use behaviors are treated no differently than other behaviors -- good or bad -- and the consequences of such behaviors are equal. Try not to overreact to incidents of technological misuse. If a student were caught reading Playboy in paper form, it’s doubtful we’d suspend all his reading privileges.

9. Create environments that help students avoid temptations. Computer screens that are easily monitored and the requirement that users log in and out of network systems help remove the opportunities for technology misuse. Your presence is a far more effective means of assuring good behavior than filtering software.

10. Assess children’s understanding of ethical concepts. Do not give technology-use privileges until a student has demonstrated that he or she knows and can apply school policies. Test appropriate use prior to students gaining online access.

11. Educate our students and ourselves. Aware teachers are using online curricula from organizations like iLearn, BlogSafety, NetFamilyNews, and Responsible Netizen to inform themselves and their children. These ready-made curricula are simple to integrate when teaching Internet safety units.

12. Educate your parents about ethical technology use. Through school newsletters, talks at parent organization meetings, and through school orientation programs, you can inform and enlist the aid of parents in teaching and enforcing good technology practices.

http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2010/12/26/a-dozen-ways-to-teach-ethical-and-safe-technology-use.html