Global awareness and digital-age communication

Communicating in Today's World

Today, so much of our communication happens through technology. We have Skype, texting, emailing, blogging,YouTube, and social networks that all help us to interact with the world around us. It is important that as a teacher we teach our students the complications of communicating in our digital world. A very important aspect that we need to inform our students about is that there is no emotion in text. The way you read it when you write it, is not always the way someone else reads it. Being careful of how you phrase things can save you a lot of trouble.

 

Another important aspect of communicating in today world, is that anyone has access to what you put online or send over text or email. Using any of the above communications tools has become day to day life for most people. Sometime it is easy to think that you can put whatever you want up and it is okay. As teachers we need to make sure that students under what is acceptable to send and post and what is not.  

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

Being Safe and Ethical while staying inside the law when using technology can be tricky. There is so much information out there, sometimes it is easy to forget that you need to give credit to those people who put the information out there and that not all websites are okay to use. 

Tips on Digital Safety in the Classroom

• Let students know about the dangers of the internet. So often we forget that it is easy to over look a shady email, or to not realize you are giving information that you shouldn't be. Have a talk about it, make sure that students understand that there are rules to using the web.
• Set up blocks. Block websites that you do not want students to be able to access during class. You cannot block every potentially dangerous website, but you can make sure that students are not getting on to inappropriate sites during school.
• Be involved. Being active in the students directly will not only help them learn the material better, but will let you help them stay safe and ethical while doing their research and their projects.
• Would your mother be okay with you doing/seeing this? When all else fails, if you are not sure if what you are doing is okay or not, ask yourself if your mother would be okay with it. Generally the answer is no, which means you should probably not take part in it. This is a "light" way of teaching students how to make good decisions when using the internet. 

Ethical Use of Digital Information

• Is it right? Teach students to recognize the right and wrong way to use information that is on the internet. 
• Copy and Paste. Students need to learn that if they are going to use someone else work, they need to give them credit for it. Growing up with the technology that they do, sometimes students do not understand that just because it is there, doesn't mean you can just take it. 
• Citations, citations, citations! Be sure that students understand how to properly cite the information they use. Just putting the URL down in the references page is not the right way to cite information that is not yours. I know growing up that is all I did, then I got into college and learned that doing it that way does not give proper credit to the proper people. Teaching students how to use APA format would be simple way to ensure that they are using information ethically. 

Keeping Students Inside The Law

• Think about others. Making sure that students understand that posting pictures or information about other people without their permission is not okay. A good way to help them understand this is to ask them, "would you want someone posting something of yours online?" 
• Piracy is illegal! We all know how to get movies and music off the internet for free, or know someone who can do it for us. This is illegal. As teachers, we need to make sure that we enforce this law in our classrooms. Teach them that it is both unethical and illegal to do so. Downloading movies or music can get you into a lot of trouble. 
• Could you do that if you were in person? Threatening someone's life over the internet is just as serious as doing it in real life. The same goes for ANY sort of harassment. This means that you have to be very conscious about what you are saying, and who you are saying it to.  

Meeting Diverse Needs of Learners Through

Learner-Centered Strategies and Equitable Access

Meeting the needs of every student in a classroom is always a goal of a good teacher. Living in today's world, meeting those needs has become a little easier. We can us technology that allows children to move that their own pace, helping us be able to assist the needs of not only the students who are below where they should be or the ones that are above most of the other. Leaner-centered games, lessons, and other technological tools are a way that we challenge EVERY child. Often times, the students in the bell part of the bell curve get overlooked. Making sure that every student has access to learner-centered strategies in the classroom is one step towards being able to meet the special needs of every child in the classroom.