Ethical Practices of Technology Use

Program Learning Outcome Five:

Exemplify ethical practices of technology usage

Introduction

Privacy and ethical issues will always be a concern when working in a public setting.  It is up to those who work within that setting to be diligent in monitoring these issues and making sure those who participate adhere to the policies and procedures which are set up to protect them.  In the educational setting, privacy and ethics have become even more of a concern with the incorporation of technology into the classrooms.  Many of the privacy and ethical issues with the incorporation of technology into the educational setting will be examined in this paper.  The program learning outcome, “to exemplify ethical practices of technology usage” will be met as ethical practices of technology use will be discussed in this paper along with the redesign of a prior MATLT activity.  There were some challenges with the redesign of the activity which will be discussed as well how those challenges were overcome. Instructional design principles and theories should play a big part in the design of any instructional activity.  The author of this paper will touch on why certain principles and theories were selected in the design and redesign of the prior MATLT activity.

Ethical Practices of Technology Usage

Technology is a means to address and overcome specific challenges today’s learners may face (Newby, Stepich, Lehman, Ottenbreit-Leftwich & Russell, 2011).  Technology is also a way to help educators design and implement learning experiences which engage learners in complex, realistic learning (Newby et al., 2011).  The introduction of technology into the educational setting has introduced several issues such as the varying levels of technology access for those who come from different socioeconomic backgrounds and cultures, an increased desire of educators to create and implement privacy and security measures, as well as legal and ethical issues surrounding plagiarism or identity theft.  Educational establishments battle with these issues daily and need to be diligent in providing access to technology to all students as well as protecting those students who are enrolled in their programs in order to provide a safe environment in which to learn.  Access to technology and the opportunity to learn to use it appropriately will be vital for each student’s economic success now and in the future (Newby et al., 2011).  Educators need to take care to offer equitable access to all students when it comes to technology and the tools that go along with it.  The Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) created a code of ethics to promote professional practice in instructional technology according to a reputable set of rules (Reiser & Dempsey, 2012).  Reiser and Dempsey (2012) highlight some of the important points of the code.  One point made was the importance of ensuring that all learners in an instructional setting have a safe environment in which to learn. Another point was that instructional technology professionals need to treat all individuals regarding privacy within the framework of personal integrity. 

 In the article about ethics in instructional technology by Lin (2007), he interviewed professional technologists regarding ethical issues associated with the use of instructional technology.  One participant discussed the issue of learner’s privacy and how easily a learner’s private information can be misused in the application of instructional technology.  The participant went on to  explain that technology gives learners and people in general a lot of capabilities that were once not available which opens up opportunities for unethical behaviors that might not have been considered ethical (Lin, 2007).  Richardson (2010) discusses how to keep students safe while incorporating technology such as the Internet into the classroom.  He talks about blocking questionable sites from student access.  However, blocking some undesirable sites also means blocking some sites that may be relevant to learning (Richardson, 2010).  He suggests teaching students the skills they need to navigate areas of the Internet safely and effectively.  The school district the author teaches in has a CIPA filter which restricts student access of sites determined by the technology director.  However, some sites the author has attempted to visit which would be very relevant to the learning occurring in the classroom have been restricted as well.  The author then needed to contact the technology director to see if the site could be taken off the CIPA filter list.  This takes time on the part of the teacher but is worth it in the end to help protect the students by having the filter.  The author’s school houses Pre-K to fifth grade students.  The school has one computer lab in which students in kindergarten through fifth grade attend at various times during a week.  The kindergarten classes attend the computer lab once a week and the computer teacher teaches the students.  The computer teacher and the classroom teachers monitor the students while using the various programs and tools of the computer and Internet.  The students and parents sign a consent/permission form at registration at the beginning of each year for the student’s to use the Internet and have their picture posted, if applicable, on any school related site.  This is part of the school district’s policy to protect the students and their privacy.  If students are not allowed to have their pictures posted online, their name is added to a list created by the computer teacher and distributed to the appropriate teachers so they are aware of the student’s right to privacy.  Before the students ever use the Internet, the computer teacher has a lesson on Internet safety and teaches the students what to do in case they come across something inappropriate while using the Internet.  Richardson (2010) also advises teachers and educators to discuss their plans of technology use and integration with their supervisors and administrators so they are aware of what is happening in the classroom in case an issue was to arise.  Richardson (2010) also suggests another safeguard strategy teachers should incorporate into their classrooms when using technology is teaching students what is appropriate and what is not appropriate to post online.  He explains posting information about where they live, where they work, or anything that may identify them to potential predators should be part of those safeguard strategies.  Students also need to be aware that any content they post online will become part of their Internet portfolio for life (Richardson, 2010).  Schools need to have a clearly stated policy concerning copyright which should accessible to all teachers, students, and parents (Newby et al., 2011).  Educating students on the proper way to use educational technology within the confines of copyright laws is the responsibility of the schools and teachers (Newby et al., 2011).  Balancing the safety of the student with the benefits that come with all of the possibilities the Internet has to offer students and teachers alike is the biggest challenge the educational world faces today.    

Original Lesson

EDU652 Week Four Assignment:  Topic as a Learning Activity

What is a Topic as a Learning Activity?

Horton (2012) identifies a topic as a way to accomplish specific learning objectives.  He explains that topics might consist of a single page or several pages.  Basically Horton (2012) defines a topic as a learning object.  A learning object, as defined in e-learning, enriches a traditional teaching resource with computer services, enabling a certain degree of interactivity (Dumitru, 2005).  Dumitru (2005) states that learning objects are used in teaching and learning because they increase student motivation and interest.  According to Horton (2012), topics consist of the following components; objective, title, introduction, tests, activities, summary, and links.  Each component is important but in order to know whether or not there is evidence of what learners know and can do, there must be an assessment or test (Newby, Stepich, Lehman, Ottenbreit-Leftwich & Russell, 2011).

The Topic as a Learning Activity I chose was based on the needs assessment I conducted after several team planning meetings with the two other kindergarten teachers I work with at Riverdale Elementary.  The needs assessment showed me that I need to develop a document for my two colleagues to effectively upload pictures to and utilize the new photo sharing site, Winkflash.  This topic activity accomplishes one learning objective.  The learning objective is included in the topic activity below.  This learning objective needs to be clear enough to guide the design of all of the components (Horton, 2012).

Uploading to Winkflash

Kindergarten teachers desire a website to be able to upload, store and share their classroom pictures with parents/guardians.  Winkflash is a photo sharing site where an unlimited number of photos can be uploaded and stored for an unlimited amount of time at no cost.  The students (two kindergarten teachers) will be able to successfully upload pictures of their class to the photo sharing site Winkflash.  There are simple steps they will follow in order to successfully upload pictures to Winkflash.  These steps will be outlined in a PDF document.  The teachers will click on the link is below to see on overview on uploading pictures to Winkflash:
Uploading Pictures to Winkflash

They are reminded from the overview that they need to create an account before they can begin to upload pictures to Winkflash.  Once their account is created, they will try to upload the two pictures to their account.  Once the teachers have successfully uploaded the two pictures to Winkflash they will be asked to select picture files from their computer of their current class and begin to upload those files to their account.  The true test will be if the teachers can successfully upload pictures from their current class files to the website.
A short checklist of how to upload pictures to Winkflash is below:
1.  The teachers must first visit the site; www.winkflash.com 
2.  The teachers must create an account.
3.  The teachers must select a picture file to download.
4.  The teachers must send the file to Winkflash by clicking on the send button.
5.  If the file appears in the Winky Folders window, the teachers have successfully uploaded a file to Winkflash!

Redesigned Lesson

            The lesson teaches the teachers how to upload and store pictures to a public Internet site.  It teaches them how to perform the tasks visually and in interactively.  The teachers are not watching someone else upload and store the pictures; they are involved in the lesson and fully engaged.  The lesson instructs them how to perform the tasks at hand.  The lesson does not meet the needs of the student who may be an auditory learner.  In the redesign, the author would add audio inserts in order for the learner to hear the instructions as well as read them.  A video tutorial could also be added such as a VoiceThread or YouTube video showing how to upload the pictures to Winkflash as well.  This lesson is about uploading pictures of students and the privacy of those students will need to be addressed.  The teachers need to inform the student’s parents of the technology plan and offer them an opportunity for their child to participate as well ask for their permission to post pictures of their child.  A sample letter would be included with the lesson for the teachers to personalize and copy to send home with the students.  This letter would explain what the site is all about and include a portion for parents to fill out with permission allowing pictures of their child to be uploaded to the site.  This letter is in addition to a universal letter signed by parents and students at the beginning of the year during registration.  This letter will be housed by the teachers specifically for this technology project.  The sample letter will be attached to this paper when it is uploaded to the assignment drop box.

Instructional Design Principles and Theories

            According to Sasikumar (2008), the basic idea of constructivism is that learning is individual.  Lever-Duffy and McDonald (2011) explain knowledge is unique to the individual who constructs it. Sasikumar (2008) states there is no way to ensure that identical learning takes place among a set of learners and that each learner absorbs instruction depending on his/her existing mental model and other characteristics including his/her learning and behavioral style. Given the focus of constructivism on individual variations in learning, the constructivist model encourages use of exploratory and collaborative learning scenarios, unlike the traditional 'lecture' mode delivery of instruction used in behaviorist models (Sasikumar, 2008).  The lesson and redesign created followed the constructivism model of learning.  The teachers would work together collaboratively to build individual sites to house their student’s photos and share those photos with parents via the Internet.  The lesson would meet the needs of all learning styles; visual, auditory, and kinesthetic.  The learners would see the instructions, hear the instructions, and perform the instructions to create the site to upload the pictures.  According to Dabbagh (2006), the basic principle of Cognitivism/Pragmatism is the learner is viewed as an active participant in the learning process.  The lesson lends itself to the learner being active and participating.  Dabbagh (2006) explains one of the basic principles of constructivism is knowledge is embedded in the context in which it is used (authentic tasks in meaningful realistic settings).  The lesson is authentic and realistic to the teachers who are learning from it.  Instructional designers need to create learning experiences where the participants will be active and that provide meaning to those who are learning from them.  These basic principles were followed in the design and redesign of the Winkflash lesson.  Visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles were also considered and included in the lessons.  Meeting the needs of all of the learners using design principles and theories is essential in the design and the effectiveness of every lesson.  The original lesson was lacking the auditory needs of some learners.  Addressing the privacy issue that arouse when the student photos would be uploaded to the Internet site is also meeting the needs of all learners by providing safety to the learner’s personal information.  The basic principles listed by Dabbagh (2008) stating “learners build personal interpretation of the world based on experiences and interactions” and “create novel and situation-specific understandings by "assembling" knowledge from diverse sources appropriate to the problem at hand (flexible use of knowledge)” both address the ethical and privacy issues that arose from the lesson on uploading pictures to the Winkflash site.  The teachers will uphold their responsibility of keeping their students information private and secure based on the experience within the lesson they participated in.  They also gained knowledge from the lesson on how to handle the problem of privacy with the creation of the letter of permission to upload pictures to be sent to the parents of their students.  

Challenges

            The challenges with this redesign were in making sure all of the privacy and ethical issues are covered as well as trying to assure parents that their children’s photos will be safe and secure on the site chosen by the teacher to store and share photos.  Another challenge would be in reassuring parents who choose not to have their child’s photos uploaded to the site that what is stated by the teacher about respecting their wishes will hold true.   Another challenge appeared when uploading any classroom group photos of students whose parents wished to not have their child’s photo displayed.  The teacher must make a choice not to include any children who are not allowed to have their picture uploaded in the classroom group photo or they will need to figure out a technique to blur the faces of those who are not to be displayed.  Both options are time consuming and take organization and skill on the part of the teacher to keep track of those students who are not participating as well as learning a new skill to blur faces.  If the decision is to exclude some students from the group photos, the teacher needs to figure a way to present that to those children so they will not feel left out or hurt.  A decision to take two photos, one which will be published with only those students who have parent permission could be taken as well as one which could only be displayed in the classroom for the students to view.

            The challenge of adding audio to the lesson would mainly be the time it would take to transfer the information to audio and make it available to those who will be participating in the lesson.  This addition to the lesson would help meet the needs of all learners.

Conclusion

Balancing the safety of the learner with all of the possibilities the World Wide Web and technology has to offer the educational world today is what challenges instructional designers today.  An ethical practice of technology usage is the responsibility of instructional designers and those who create learning experiences in the educational setting.  Ensuring that all learners in an educational environment have an equitable, safe and secure place to learn is also the responsibility of all who educate learners in this technology-rich world in which we live.  As we move toward the future, the educational world will feel an even greater convergence of instructional design, media, and computer capabilities (Newby et al., 2011).  Making sure learners are ready to receive this convergence effectively, efficiently, and safely is something we all need to strive to achieve.      

References

Dabbagh, N. (2006). Instructional design knowledge base. Retrieved from http://classweb.gmu.edu/ndabbagh/Resources/IDKB/models_theories.htm Dumitru, P. (2005, October 07). Learning objects make learning easier. Retrieved fromhttp://myeurope.eun.org/ww/en/pub/myeurope/home/news/headlines/los.htm 

Dumitru, P. (2005, October 07). Learning objects make learning easier. Retrieved fromhttp://myeurope.eun.org/ww/en/pub/myeurope/home/news/headlines/los.htm 

Horton, W. (2012). E-Learning by design (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Wiley. 

Lever-Duffy, J., & McDonald, J. B. (2011). Teaching and learning with technology. (4th ed., pp. 34-37). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Allyn & Bacon.

Lin, H. (2007). The ethics of instructional technology: issues and coping strategies experienced by professional technologists in design and training situations in higher education. Educational Technology Research and Development, 55, 411-437. Retrieved from http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/ed690mb/ethics.pdf

Newby, T. J., Stepich, D. A., Lehman, J. D., Russell, J. D., & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A. 

(2011).Educational technology for teaching and learning (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson
Education, Inc.

Reiser, R. & Dempsey, J. (2012). Trends and issues in instructional design and technology (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson. ISBN: 9781256080831

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.

Sasikumar, M. (2008, October 31). Instruction design and e-learning: Issues and challenges. Retrieved from http://thelittlesasi.wikidot.com/inst-design-hyd

Winkflash:  www.winkflash.com