Week 3: Privacy and Copyright

This week we read about Privacy when it comes to online programs most notably for minors/children (in an article by the Office of Educational Technology) and about Copyright laws (from videos from copyrightandcreativity.org). Many privacy acts have been enacted over the years since the Internet has emerged. With the development of the internet came the development of educational media and online sources that teachers use for their classrooms. These websites, as most do, collect personal data when one signs up. Laws were enacted in order to ensure the rights of school aged children using these services so as their data is not shared with the public or used in a negative way. Hence why these kinds of things have a Terms of Service which explains what data is collected and why. In addition, for younger children, acts have been set in stone that give the parents the control of what information of their child is shared with online databases or what information online is shared with the parents. Acts such as the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and Children's Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA) do this. FERPA allows parents to see their child's education record up until they graduate high school, where then the rights go to the child. COPPA allows parents to decide which information that belongs to their child is shared online on certain platforms. Both ensure that what is shared is reasonable and is not going to a negative cause. When it comes to Copyright, it is important to know that any content online that was created by an individual is protected by copyright laws, including student work. Copyright laws prevent the illegal use, sharing, or copying of someone else's work without permission. There are multiple categories within copyright that work can fall into, including Trademark, Fair Use, Creative Commons, and Public Domain. Something in the Public Domain is allowed to be shared and used. Anytime you use someone else's work (and with this I think of writing an essay and using quotes or information from another source or even making a presentation and using images off of the internet) you need to give proper credit to the original owner. It is important to check copyright statis of things that you are thinking of using or sharing. Copyright is not only to prevent the copying of famous works shared online, but copyright also applies to everyone sharing their creations. 

Whenever you sign up for a website or app, whether that be for school purposes or even if it isn't for school, it is important to know what information you are giving them, why you are giving them that information, and to make sure that the information shared will not be abused in some way. It is important to look at the Terms of Service and limit the amount of information shared. When it comes to being a teacher and using online programs for school in which you need to sign up for, you must trust the site, limit the amount of the students' information that is shared, and make sure parents and the school are content with the sharing of the information. Keeping FERPA in mind and making sure you as a teacher are not infringing upon those rights is essential. In the little video about the relation of teacher email and FERPA (by Online Education), it explains how teachers must keep in mind FERPA protections when emailing a coworker, a parent, or anyone else about a child in the classroom. Don't provide "classified" information or unessential information when emailing a parent or even a school board member, or else you'd be infringing on FERPA rights. When it comes to copyright, everyone has to be considerate of others' shared work. When creating essays, presentations, or even lesson plans, check the information and items you are using and make sure they are allowed to be used and that you give proper credit. Whenever I create a presentation with images, I always find ones within the Public Domain, or I just use my own photos that I took. It is important that both the teacher and the students are informed about copyright laws for others' works and copyright protection for their work.

Week 2: SAMR

    This week, we read an article and watched a video about Dr. Ruben R. Puentedura's SAMR model of technology integration in the classroom. This model involves four standpoints for technology integration separated into two parts. The first two components, Substitution and Augmentation, fit into the Enhancement category. The top two components, Modification and Redefinition, fit into the Transformation category. The point isn't so much so to try to make it to the highest level of technology usage in the classroom, the point is to provide the right level needed for the corresponding lesson at hand. Substitution involves just replacing what could have been a physical task into a virtual task that involves the use of technology. An example of this is what could have been a hand-written essay being typed out instead. Augmentation involves substitution to some degree but enhances the task just a little bit. Taking that same typed essay example, if students take advantage of features like spellcheck, the word count, and other things, the task is both substituted and improved a little bit. Once you get to Modification, which is considered Transformation, you are not only substituting a non-virtual task to a virtual one, but you are also including various improvements such as online peer-to-peer sharing and communication with the previously mentioned typed essay. The top tier, Redefinition, involves extreme advancements to a what could have been a physical activity. An example would be the typed-out essay, with the use of features like spellcheck and the ability to share with classmates, if the students were to make corresponding videos with that essay and submitted them for peer review. In a case like that, you are not only making the task involve technology, but you are providing many things that would otherwise be impossible without it. 

    With this though, the point is to not make assignments the most technologically advanced ever. The point of this scale is to see the different kinds of levels of technology that can be used and picking the right placement for that particular assignment or task. Not all things would benefit greatly from being transformed completely digital. Some things are just more effective without extreme integration of technology. You also have to make sure that the technology doesn't become too much of a distraction or an obstacle, or it ruins the whole thing and makes matters worse. This is why it is good to evaluate the different possibilities of integrating technology within the task and seeing where the best fit would be without going overboard or making things worse. Not everything has to be top tier, but that's okay.

    I think that this is a very useful model when determining the extent to which technology is integrated in a classroom for an assignment. It is good to know that this model does not intend for there to be competition as to how much technology integration you can do, but instead serves as a means of technological possibilities. This is definitely something I will keep in the back of my head when I start teaching myself. With all the advancements in technology these days, with both upsides and downsides, it is useful to know that there is a scale for determining what is best.

Week 1: Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD) in the Classroom

     This week we read a few articles about the benefits (and even some of the detriments) of the idea of Bring Your Own Devices to school. The two articles were "Why Every Student Should be in a 1:1 Classroom" by Kelly Walsh on EmergingEdTech, and "20 Pros and Cons of Implementing BYOD in Schools" by Danny Mareco on SecurEdge. After reading these, it seems as though these articles are mainly referring to this concept in a more elementary school setting (maybe even middle school). However, it could be applied to higher grades. I know for my middle school and even my high school, they assigned us devices, so we were not able to bring our own personal computers. In middle school we got iPads and in high school we got MacBooks. These devices were meant to only be used for school purposes. Back in elementary school, in later years (4th and 5th grade) they had Chromebook carts that would go from classroom to classroom depending on which teacher needed to use them (and I know of some elementary schools that still have school Chromebook carts). 

    These two articles describe the switch to the idea that students of all grade levels bring their own devices to school instead of having the school supply the device. These articles gave many pros and also some cons. For one thing, allowing students to bring their own devices allows for familiarity with the device, instead of having to learn how to operate a completely new device, which allows for more focus on the learning of the content aspect (and also saves time). It also saves the school from having to supply every single student with their own school-related device, which allows them to focus more on just providing for those students who cannot afford their own device. Overall, the concept of bringing your own device allows for a variety of ways for how to learn and demonstrate learning material, whether that be through online projects (like research and presentations), or apps or computer programs that are designed to fit individual student learning levels, and it allows for students to learn at their own pace instead of having to follow the pace of the teacher which may not always be fitting.

    Though with these pros, there were also some cons that have to be considered. But as according to the second article, "20 Pros and Cons of Implementing BYOD in Schools" by Danny Mareco on SecurEdge, "...the pros for BYOD in schools are beating the out the cons here" (as he was only able to think of 15 cons but 20 pros). A few of the possible cons described include students not remembering to charge or even bring their devices which would definitely provide a barrier for the day for that particular student, irresponsible students can find ways to cheat on their devices, the fact that not every family may be able to afford a reasonable device for their child, network problems can occur like overloading from all the devices being on the WiFi at once or even if someone's computer has a virus on it, and just overall distractions that can result from the student's personal device. 

    After reading these pros and cons from these two articles, I think that for at the high school level and even the middle school level, the concept of BYOD is a fantabulous idea. Especially at those ages and in this society now, kids are always on their devices, and I think the ability to broaden learning with them by allowing students to bring them into school and use them for school purposes is a good idea to implement. I think that it also has the potential to be a good idea for elementary classrooms, and I think would work the best in 4th and 5th grade classrooms. It is true that in this day and age almost everyone, and even many younger kids (my 9-year-old cousin being one example) have their own device like an iPad, computer, or sometimes even a phone, but for really young kids, like kindergarten and even 1st grade, the concept of BYOD may not provide as many benefits. Really little kids would probably just be tempted to explore and play on their devices instead of learning through them, and not all kids at that age are able to comprehend the devices in terms of learning as well as older kids. In my opinion, for early elementary-aged children, it may be the best idea to halt the idea of BYOD, but for older kids, I think it is definitely a beneficial concept.