Hi All,

I really enjoyed taking this class along with you!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, discoveries, links, what works for you, etc.

Creating my 1st website was a fun experience! I'd like to be more thorough, but as for now didn't wish to share too much info on the web. Weebly was simple to use, and I like how they include a how-to video. My Sophomore asked if he too could create a free site on Weebly; hmm....I think that could be arranged! =)

Here's my link: http://swordandlightsamplings.weebly.com/index.html

Blessings to each of you during this school year and always,

Jules

Now let's go spend that $50,000 :)

Final Project Due Saturday

Thanks again for all of your hard work with the blog posts and weekly papers. I've been terribly busy with the start of classes so I am still trying to get everyone's grades updated. I should be able to take care of that tomorrow.

I believe everyone should have their final project or paper settled with me through email. Please post it to the course blog by this Saturday at noon. No blog comments are required this week but you are more than welcome to provide feedback to what people post for their final project or paper.

Should you have any questions please let me know!  Thanks for a great class =)

UPDATE: All grades should now be entered on blackboard. If you could please confirm that your grade is accurate I would appreciate it.  Reminder that your final project is due by this Saturday at noon.  Thanks!

Posted by Tanya Winter

eth·ics

1.

( used with a singular or plural verb ) a system of moral principles: the ethics of a culture.

2.

the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.: medical ethics; Christian ethics.

3.

moral principles, as of an individual: His ethics forbade betrayal of a confidence.

4.

( usually used with a singular verb ) that branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ethics

cyber eth·ics

What is cyber ethics? And how do you teach it to your children? Simply put, cyber ethics is a code of behavior for using the Internet. One easy way to think about cyber ethics and to address the subject with children is this: acceptable behavior on the Internet is very much the same as acceptable behavior in everyday life.

http://us.norton.com/library/familyresource/article.jsp?aid=pr_cyberethics

I found the ethical dilemmas of using computers in the classroom a very interesting subject.  Through my readings this week I discovered many ethical areas that were hot topics such as:  Piratism, plagiarism, hacking, cyber-bullying, etcOne idea particular that stuck out as kind of different was:

"Making poor decision making faster" 

Say what??

I know, making poor decision making faster..what are you talking about, Tanya? Well, let me explain.  Basically, we are all using computers in the classroom.  Yes, hopefully everyone is smart enough to use a filter system and yes, hopefully we have rules and regulations in the classroom. HOWEVER, access to the web throughout the day can have negative impacts on the decisions our kids are making while they work because it takes less time to make a mistake. 

First example:

Brady was sick on Monday and is already one day behind on getting a paper started that is due Wednesday.  Tuesday he decided to do a search on shoes because basketball is right around the corner. If he does not find the perfect shoes...well, he just wont be as awesome as everyone thinks he is.  Well, he wasted class period and a study hall and now he is down to the wire.  He decides to cut a few paragraphs here and a few more there…done in less than an hour and now he can go back to looking up shoes for the rest of the night!  BAD DECISION!!  We all know the consequences of plagiarism are pretty serious.  Is it possible that would not have happened if the paper had to be hand-written?  He probably would have come up with a pretty poor paper to hand in, but the chance that his words and thoughts would have actually been used is much higher!

Second example:
Clara had to run back to her locker and asked her best friend Sophie to save her a seat in English class.  She just makes it to the classroom before the bell rings, grabs her Mac and looks for Sophie.  WHAT! Sophie is sitting by Hillary and they are laughing at Clara because she has to sit in the front row by nose-picking Jane!! Sara begins working, but in the heat of the moment opens up to her Face book account and types “Sophie is a b___h on her Wall for everyone to see.  Before she realizes what happens, everyone sees it and things just spiral downward from that bad decision.  Now I know that it is her own fault for acting out in anger, but I am simply suggesting that it is easier to make mistakes when you can type it out in five seconds as opposed to her taking out a piece of paper and trying to write a nasty letter to her friend. Chances are she would have ripped it up before she ever even had a chance to give it to her. She probably would have yelled at Sophie after class and had a one-on-one argument, but at least she would have had all of class period to kind of cool down a little.

I have children and I do understand it is my job (as it is any parents) to teach my kids self-control, restraint, how to overcome peer pressure, and what it means to have consequences to his/her actions.  The question I am proposing here is "...Is it possible to be making it easier for our children to make bad decisions by exposing them to computers and the internet in the classroom?..."

I do look forward to reading your responses on this one!!

IDK WTH ISTE & NETS is, LOL!

We all know there is a huge push to get technology and information about technology into the classrooms. But who is doing this pushing? There is actually an organization dedicated to bringing technology into PK-12 classrooms and it is called the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). They have a very informative and comprehensive website you can view by following this LINK. ISTE “…is the premier membership association for educators and education leaders engaged in improving learning and teaching by advancing the effective use of technology in PK-12.” Also, ISTE has an impressive 100,000+ members. ISTE strives to be a community that connects educators in a meaningful and powerful way to share in the transformation of education.

This website also has a LINK to the National Educational Technology Standards or NETS. There are NETS standards for not only teachers but students and administrators as well. Upon reading the standards applicable to teachers I felt that they were very vague. They didn’t say students need to know how to do (blank) on a computer, or know (blank) about the Internet. I feel that ambiguous standards allow teachers to have a lot of flexibility but do not really give teachers a direction. However, strict standards allow teachers to head in a more clear direction but then teachers have less flexibility. I guess the NETS are like many other standards in education. I feel that as a teacher I would like these standards to stay the way they are that way I could feel free to integrate technology into my classroom and instruction they way I saw best. I know other people would disagree.

I found a lot of feedback about ISTE and some was positive and some was negative. I think that it all depends how you view technology in the classroom, it seems there are more people than I would have ever thought that think students are already to technological savvy and rely to heavily on technology. I agree that technology should supplement the class and enhance real experiences with real people instead of replacing them. I found a very interesting video that explains how ISTE connects educators and how this is helping to forge the future for technology in the classroom.

A Major Ethical Dilemma in the Age of Technology

The punishments for it can range from something as simple as failing an assignment to being expelled from school, from a fine of anywhere from $100 to $50,000 to up to ten years in jail. What is it? It is plagiarism and in the age of copying-and-pasting from the internet, it is drastically on the rise. (http://www.plagiarism.org/plag_article_plagiarism_faq.html ). According to a 2003 survey conducted by Rutgers University, 38% of undergrad students admitted to one or more instances of “cut-and-paste” anything from a sentence to a full paragraph that they found in an online source. (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/03/nyregion/a-campus-fad-that-s-being-copied-internet-plagiarism-seems-on-the-rise.html).

Simply put, plagiarism is the use of someone else’s thoughts, words or ideas as if they were your own and neglecting to give credit or acknowledgment to the source it came from (http://www.plagiarism.org/plag_article_plagiarism_faq.html). Plagiarism can be something as simple as forgetting to cite, or improperly citing, a source to bluntly turning in a paper or assignment that you did not write but that you claim to be yours (http://kykernel.com/2010/01/24/reported-plagiarism-on-the-rise/).

But why do people plagiarize things? Sometimes it is accidental, but other times it is intentional. A freshman at Rhode Island College was accused of plagiarizing but he claimed it was not because the website he used did not provide author information (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/education/02cheat.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=homepage). According to a writing tutor at Rhode Island College, students just do not understand that it is a serious offense to use words that you did not write as your own (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/education/02cheat.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=homepage). According to a report by the BBC news, the “decision to plagiarize may be associated with increasing pressure on students arising from….heavier coursework load, or lack of personal organization skills” (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/4257479.stm). Teresa Fishman from Clemson University says, “Now we have a whole generation of students who’ve grown up with information that just seems to be hanging out there in cyberspace and doesn’t seem to have an author” (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/education/02cheat.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=homepage).

Accidental or not, plagiarism is a crime and it is up to teachers and administrators at both the high school and college level to do something about it and to stress to students how important it is to give credit to authors and other sources that are used.

How are students using technology?

I'm not sure about an ethical dilemma with technology but this was a struggle I had last year teaching science.
Last year, I taught Biology and Physical Science classes that were required to complete a high school science fair project.  When I found out about that, to be honest, I was a bit scared of it.  The schools I went to never participated in science fair so this would be my first journey into the world of science fair.  At a previous school, I had many parents doing projects for their child.  So I was very careful about what I was getting into. 
When it came to for students to get their topic, I thought it would be good to give the students some time in the computer lab allowing them to use the internet to find some topics.  It started good and the students found some topics but there is a problem with that.  The topics the students found were word for word from the internet sites.  I later found that some of the students used the information from these sites as their own work for their project.  I know using the internet can be very helpful for the students but I learned I have to be very careful in what the students are turning in. 
Later, I found myself giving time to students to type up their literature review and discussion in the computer lab.  Again to my dismiss, I found students cut and pasting internet sites onto their document and saying it was their own work.  I learned that you can't give your students an inch with an assignment like this.  Maybe one of the worst parts was working with the students on their reference pages.  They were allowed two internet sites and had to have 8 primary resources.  They had written research papers in 7th and 8th so I thought they would know the difference but I was wrong again.  Primary resources to my students meant internet articles.  I knew they were struggling so I found some online peer reviewed article from some professional journals that I know.  I showed them what a primary resource looks like and what to look for.  I was very troubled to see that about 80% of my students still included at least 6-8 internet resources in their reference section of their paper.  It was again astonishing when they tried to convince me that they were primary resources.  I learned a valuable lesson that I can't assume anything with my students, especially with technology.   If I give my students an inch with technology, they will take a mile.  I was learning just as much if not more than some of my students with this science fair project last year. 
This is the age of technology and teachers are doing everything they can do to introduce more and more technology in their classes including myself.  We want to give the students more and more time in the computer lab and online activities.  Expose them to more and more technology and they will be ready to succeed after high school.  Our students are smarter than we give them credit for.  Most already know more about technology than we as teachers know.  Students know at times how to get around different assignments so they can do as little work as possible.  While trying to incorporate as much technology is good for the student and teacher, teachers have to be very careful about how the students are using technology and what they are turning in for their assignments.

The Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics

Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics

1. Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people.
2. Thou shalt not interfere with other people's computer work.
3. Thou shalt not snoop around in other people's files.
4. Thou shalt not use a computer to steal.
5. Thou shalt not use a computer to bear false witness.
6. Thou shalt not copy or use proprietary software for which you have not paid.
7. Thou shalt not use other people's computer resources without authorization or proper compensation.
8. Thou shalt not appropriate other people's intellectual output.
9. Thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program you write or the system you design.
10. Thou shalt use a computer in ways that show consideration of and respect for your fellow humans.

Copyright: Computer Ethics Institute Author: Dr. Ramon C. Barquin

Understanding appropriate behavior with technology is as important as understanding how to use the technology. As teachers we must be as involved with our students as we would with our own children. Technology creates anxiety in many people, especially the threats of danger that come with using the internet. As a parent I focus a lot on the websites that my children are using. But as they continue to use the internet in school and at home, I need to help teach them the importance of how they share and use information.

The "Commandments" are great guidelines to use in the classroom. I believe they provide the boundaries for acceptable behavior and help students understand how to ethically use technology. The temptation of technology, mainly the internet, is the isolation of the user. Students may feel alone as they use technology, but that perception isn't always true. Below is a great strategy on incorporating technology in the classrom from Education World.

•Draw parallels between the real world and the electronic world. Make direct comparisons between what students do on the Internet and how they behave in their daily lives.
•Involve students in constructive activities. Ask them to develop ten rules for a classroom acceptable use policy, for example.
•Post a written acceptable use policy in your classroom, and include the consequences for violating it.
•Reinforce proper behavior. Treat offenses as mistakes rather than "crimes," especially in the beginning.
•Assign students to work with technology buddies, other students who have already worked with technology and will set a good example. Peers can help sell a point that students might not accept from adults. In addition, kids who are working together are less likely to get off task.
•Take advantage of every teachable moment. You can't overstate the issue.
•Don't model inappropriate behavior.
•Instill a sense of responsibility, point out the real costs of misusing technology, and express a belief in students' ability to handle technology properly. Students will live up to or down to your expectations.

As teachers, we can't assume that students are being taught or know how to use technology properly. It is important that we get involved and provide clear expectations from the beginning. Incorporating technology into our classrooms is critical to providing the opportunities for students, and teaching them ethics along the way is part of that process.