Digital Safety for Teachers and Students

Image: A Teacher utilizing computer or internet for class. 

The image reflects our class at the University of Guam and that is ED271 Technology Applications for Education. In this class, we were required to create a presentation in regard to Digital Safety. The class was divided into 4 groups, then was assigned the topics. The topics were Copyright and fair use, digital safety and privacy, pharming and phishing, cyberbullying, and textual harassment and sexting. It is important that Educators and students becomes aware of the danger online surfing is. When it comes to copying materials it is important that teachers understand the law of Copyright and Fair Use. According to Rocket Lawyer "Copyright and Fair Use"  Teachers are not allowed to photocopy and entire chapter from the book to distribute to students without permission because then it is considered infringement of the law (Copyright law, n.d.).

As a future Educator, I would like to enhance my student's knowledge about these information especially when it comes to cyberbullying, and textual harassment. I would definitely use the same technique that my teacher did, separate the class into smaller groups therefore there is no one working by themselves and the information will be understood easily. I really want to put my focus on cyberbullying and harassment since it is something that younger students are more prone to. Not only will I educate my students, but also their parents. I believe that having a parent involvement in these cases are very important. If some of them still could not grasp the message that I am trying to send, I would create or show a video that talks about real crime and dangers that these activities promote. An example of a video that I think is really effective was from Carrollton Police. 
The video shows what consequences we have when posting online and it encourages students to think before posting anything online (Carrollton Police, 2008). 

The tools that my group and I used were google hangouts, whatsapp, skype for business, google docs, prezi, and socrative in order to communicate with one another. We chose tools that allows us to communicate and edit at the same time. These tools are convenient, especially when one of our group mate recently became a new daddy. When he was out from class, we used skype for business and google hangouts to do a video call so we can transmit the information easier and faster. Prezi is the tool that we used to present our topic, Copyright and Fair use. We decided to use Prezi only because we have not used this app before and all of us have an existing account in this website. We used Socrative as an interacting activity for our classmates. Socrative is an app that allows teachers to create quizzes and assignment and this app is accessible via mobile. 

In conclusion, technology is slowly taking over our education practices. We can access information online without any difficulties. As educators, we must know what our limits and what we can provide for our students. It is important that students understand what consequences are waiting for them if they fail to obey the law and become too comfortable with the use of the internet. 

References: 

Copyright and Fair Use Guidelines for Teachers and Schools. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.rocketlawyer.com/article/copyright-and-fair-use-guidelines-for-teachers-and-schools-ps.rl

C. (2008, February 11). Internet Danger- Everyone Knows Sarah. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThxmgXMBpoM

Equal Opportunities for Everyone

 All around the world Education is available for everyone, from K to 12 a public school system is provided. A total of 13 percent from the public school population are students with disabilities (NCES, 2018). Many kids with disabilities have fought all their life to fulfill a dream or to be treated as one. As we progress and develop our technology, students live a more interesting and easier life than usual. In the "Enabling Dreams" video, by engaging to these kind of program students were given the opportunity to become an advocate for themselves (The DOIT Center, 2015). 

Growing up in the Philippines, we were not exposed or given any opportunities to learn about assistive technology. The school that I came from barely had any students with disabilities. It was only when I moved here on Island that I was able to interact with other students with disabilities. John F. Kennedy High School offers such assistance, for example the school provides hearing aid for those who applies and prove that they need and/or can utilize such a device. 

In the Video: STEM and People with Disabilities, shows that students who are exposed to science and math are more engaged and are more likely to become successful. This program allows students with disabilities to become independent and to experience working with other students. One of the students that got my attention was Alex Mckenzie, knowing that she is partially blind and was still able to create DNA libraries. It was an eye opening video, it showcase that most of the time students with disabilities are more capable of doing some activities or task that others could not with enough resources and help from teachers.

As future Educators, we can format our lesson plan based on ASSURE to be more creative for students with disabilities to participate in our class. We must be knowledgeable of what equipments are available and how we can utilize them to create a better life for our students. At the University of Guam, there are several assistive technology available that is found in the Science Building. I had the opportunity to be inside the facility, the amount of equipments available for elementary, high school, and college students with disabilities was overwhelming. 
 When inside the classroom a Test-to-Speech, a technology designed for students who are having difficulty reading standard print. "The technology works by scanning the words and then reading it out loud in a synthesized voice. TTS technology is more accurate and lifelike than ever (Neese, 2015)."

As a future educator, I am engaged to create a better educational system and experience for these children and young adults. After watching this video it gave me an opportunity to become a better person, this video does not only apply to those college students and high schoolers. I believe that introducing STEM to younger population will encourage them to learn more and to become active in school. STEM helps students to become a more successful citizen, to experience life, to get hands on experience that most schools are unable to provide.

 References:

Neese, B. (2015). Figure 2f from: Irimia R, Gottschling M (2016) Taxonomic revision of Rochefortia Sw. (Ehretiaceae, Boraginales). Biodiversity Data Journal 4: E7720. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.4.e7720. 5 Assistive Technology That Are Making a Difference. 

T. (2015, April 20). STEM and People with Disabilities. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIogBga8zgc