Personal Framework Paper

Personal Framework Paper Christine Vassos Concordia University Chicago EDUC 1070 April 13, 2014

Personal Framework Paper Technology is growing and developing rapidly both inside and outside the home access

for children because technology is becoming prominent in childrens lives not only in the home, but also in their classrooms at school. For teachers, the problem is the demand on them to keep up with the new technology information and stay knowledgeable on the safety issues with technology to ensure a safe, enjoyable, and knowledgeable experience in the classroom for all of their students. There are four key technology issues that teachers should be aware of, which include social issues, educational issues, cultural and equity issues, and the legal and ethical issues.

The first issue that impacts the environment for using technology and the demand for teachers to be familiar with are social issues. Social issues include the need for teachers to keep their personal information private and protected and should not share their home address to their students, give out their cell number to text their students, give out any computer passwords, or accept friend requests on Facebook from their current students. Piracy is an issue that educators are concerned with along with the health issues that computers can have, like hearing loss from headphone use or eyestrain if the children are looking and reading at the computer screen for large amounts of time. According to the theorist, John Dewey, he felt technology supports opportunities for collaboration; visual presentations help students connect abstract concepts with real-world applications (Roblyer 2013). Dewey believed implementing technology could be visually beneficial for students and would connect to the social issues because the use of technology would be beneficially used in smaller periods that are engaging and not negatively affecting the students health. In addition, the social issues include the fears about technology overuses and misuses, the risks of online social networking, and problems due to malware, viruses, and spam. The fear of technology overuse is with the increase of technology use in

Personal Framework Paper young people the fear is the consequence will be addiction to the Internet. Their needs to be a balance with technology and a good understanding on the users part so technology does not get misused. Stated from the academic journal, The Only Thing We Have to Fear is... 120

Characters, cell phones have been banned in 69% of todays classrooms (CommonSense, 2010). The reasons for banding the cell-phones are created because students will misuse them to cheat, use textese in place of Standard English, cyber bully, and sexting (Brady & Conn, 2006; Johnson, 2004; Obringer & Coffey, 2007). The problems with computers that teachers need to be aware with are the problems with malware, spam, and other malicious actions, which if not protected and used safely can become time consuming and a financial burden on schools to correct.

Another issue when using technology in the classroom is the educational issues. The issues include the lack of technology funding in schools, teachers need to keep up to date on the latest federal requirements, how to successfully incorporate technology into the curriculum, and reliance on distance education. Teachers need to take initiative and be resourceful, if their schools have a lack of funding for technology, and find some strategies like open-source options that make technology use more equivalent to costs of other instructional materials (Roblyer 2013). According to the database, One-to-One Computing: What Does It Bring to Schools? currently at least thirty-three states have schools experimenting one-to-one computing projects and more schools are seriously considering one-to-one programs (Lei, Conway, & Zhao, 2007). Also, student accountability is present to drive teachers toward using technology in ways that help teachers and students pass tests and meet required standards, rather than to support more innovative teaching strategies (Roblyer 2013). In addition, the 21st Century Standards help to

Personal Framework Paper inform educators on the growing debate over the best practices with technologies, so teachers have a guideline to follow.

In addition, cultural and equity issues are challenged when using technology with students because of the technology digital divide with the gap between knowledge and access with computers to the students, racial and gender equity, and to successfully incorporate technology for those students with special needs. Technology use remains dominated by males and certain ethnic groups (Roblyer 2013). Wolfe (1986) found that students from diverse ethnic backgrounds and female students hold stereotype, concerning technology that interferes with their use of technology as a tool for education, recreation, artistic expression, informationalorganization, and problem-solving (Brown, Higgins, Hartley 2001). In addition, there are devices and methods to help compensate students with special needs that educators need to be willing to explore and implement into the classroom. According to the theorist, Lev Vygotsky, he believed technology could support multiple paths to studying the same material (Roblyer 2013). In other words, Vygotsky felt technology could individualize the curriculum because it could benefit a variety of students and their needs relating to the cultural and equity issues with technology. Overall, teachers need to understand these cultural and equity issues so they can effectively incorporate technology into their classroom and accommodate all their students and their individualized needs.

Lastly, teachers need to be aware of the legal and ethical issues that are involved with technology, which include hacking, safety issues, plagiarism and academic dishonesty, and illegal downloads and software piracy with music and the consequences that students can face if they break these piracy laws. Firewalls are being enforced for schools to install, which is

Personal Framework Paper software that blocks unauthorized access to classroom computers and also to constantly educate teachers and students on strategies to prevent these attacks (Roblyer 2013). Cybercheating is a

form of online cheating that relates to academic dishonesty. A solution for teachers to avoid their students from cybercheating is to structure assignments that make this kind of cheating more difficult (Roblyer 2013). Sated from a peer-reviewed article, students rationalize the continuous use of pirated software, claiming that they cannot bear the cost of genuine software (2010). Teachers need to communicate to their students that illegal downloading is ethically wrong and there are consequences for their actions. Also, teachers need to be good models to their students and not download free materials to show their respect for software and media.

I pledge, both as a college student at Concordia University Chicago and as a future teacher to my students to adhere to the ethical and legal standards. I pledge to stay loyal and honest and reframe from breaking any of the technology guidelines, to the best of my abilities, and will use personal framework paper to be reminded of my goals and standards. In conclusion, teachers need to be aware of the issues when using technology with the social issues, educational issues, cultural and equity issues, and the legal and ethical issues both inside and outside the classroom. Teachers need to be role models for their students and follow these ethical standards so they do not break any of the issues and can educate their students as well. Also, teachers need to accommodate their different student needs to ensure the best result when incorporating technology into the classroom for a safe and interactive learning experience.

Personal Framework Paper References Brown, M. R., Higgins, K., & Hartley, K. (2001). Teachers and technology equity. Teaching Exceptional Children, 33(4), 32-39. JING LEIYONG, Z. (2008). One-to-One Computing: What Does It Bring to Schools?. Journal Of Educational Computing Research, 39(2), 97-122. Konstantakis, N. I., Palaigeorgiou, G. E., Siozos, P. D., & Tsoukalas, I. A. (2010). What do computer science students think about software piracy?. Behaviour & Information Technology, 29(3), 277-285. doi:10.1080/01449290902765076 Roblyer, M. D. & Doering, A. H. (2013). Integrating educational technology into teaching. (6th Ed.). Pearson Education, Inc. Thomas, K., & McGee, C. (2012). The Only Thing We Have to Fear is... 120 Characters. Techtrends: Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning, 56(1), 19-33. doi:10.1007/s11528-011-0550-4