One of the issues I can see impacting the integration of technology in my lessons is Accessing sites with inappropriate materials.
Based on my experience with school internet filtering software, there is often lots of sites which accidentally get classified as malicious or blocked for no reason, thus making it hard for you and your students to access.
As a teacher, I’ll need to make sure to check access to key sites I need my students to use are available before staring my lessons, so I have time to get it unblocked or access granted so as not to impact on my teaching and my students learning.
I know the NSW DET offers a service where the teacher is able to check the URL of a site to see if it’s accessible by their students, and if not, easily submit it for approval.
I’ll need to invest more time in learning how to provide custom Google Search engines for my students using Google Custom Search (http://www.teachthought.com/uncategorized/how-to-create-a-custom-search-engine-for-your-students/), as I see this as being a useful feature for my students by requiring them to still search for the right pages, whilst at the same time having some control over the content that will be accessible, through sites and keyword restrictions.
Some Web2.0 tools I could use in my lessons are:
- Blogger – Students can use this site to create their own blogs, showcasing their learning throughout the course and commenting on other students work.
- Voki – Students can use this to create computerised speaking animations for their blog, to help find new, creative ways of describing their ideas and conveying their understanding.
- Prezi – Allows students to present their information and content in a more engaging and interesting manner that possible with PowerPoint. Prezi allows you to see the whole picture, before zooming into different areas of interest for more detailed analysis.
My work has an AUP, but it hasn’t been updated to take into account social media sites and services, as these have been covered by a separate social media policy. I’m not sure if most of the staff and students are aware of the AUP, even though they all technically have accepted it by using the on-site wireless network and internet connection. Further remind staff and students of the AUP throughout the year would probably help to ensure school resources were only being used for appropriate purposes.
Cyberbulling is a major problem today in the 21st century, and it’s mainly due to students being unaware of the impact their actions online can have on other individuals. Better education of the consequences of cyberbulling should be undertaken in schools, such as the Outreach programs that were offered by ACMA, as well as other current providers such as Optus Digital Thumbprint – http://www.digitalthumbprint.com.au/
Whilst education of students can help, teachers can also help by keeping an eye on their class, not only in person but as much as possible in the online space. In this way, teachers should be able to help prevent many cyberbulling cases from escalating. Whilst this may take some extra time for the teacher, it could be integrated into the school’s pastoral care/student well-being program.