National Educational Technology Standards
NETS 4: Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices. Teachers:
a. advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.
Teaching the safe, legal and ethical use of digital information is such an important part of the digital media curriculum that an entire unit is devoted to copyright. For student projects they often find stock media on the Internet and it's important that we teach the concepts of Fair Use, attribution, intellectual property, and many other pertinent aspects of copyright law to the digital media field. In 7377 Introduction to Technology in Schools I was able to fully develop the unit in my technology integration plan project. While I feel I already felt I had a quality unit developed, my research for this project led me to many excellent resources that I was able to incorporate into my class. For all our class assignments where students use internet resources or stock media, they are required to follow copyright laws and give proper attribution to their sources. In this documentary video assignment sheet, students are required to add credits at the end of their video and are scored based on proper attribution. While students find this one of the more boring units within the curriculum, it is reinforced through the school year and probably has more lasting relevance than any of the software that is taught.
b. address the diverse needs of all learners by using learner-centered strategies providing equitable access to appropriate digital tools and resources.
There are many ways in which the diverse needs of all learners are addressed in my digital media classroom. For diverse learning styles, I model tools and techniques using a projector connected to my computer and students have dual screen monitors where Vision software is used to push my desktop to theirs which enables them to easily follow along while I demonstrate. For physical needs, my classroom is equipped with adjustable chairs that can be modified for each student's desired height. I have an adjustable computer work station that can be modified to adapt to students in wheelchairs. We purchased Zoom Text, a software that enlarges the screen for visually impaired students. A visually impaired student was vey successful (one of the highest grades in the class) in my digital media class and has gone on to take numerous computer classes, all aided by Zoom Text. At the beginning of each school year modifications are identified and made for students with individualized education plans. These modifications can include anything from seating assignments, more time on projects, adapted equipment (like Zoom Text, adjustable tables, adapted keyboards), etc. It is important that students feel comfortable in my classroom and that their mental and physical needs are addressed and met.
c. promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information.
As a teacher of digital media I find I am constantly promoting and modeling digital etiquette with my students. For my Technology Integration Learning Plan in 7377 Introduction to Technology in Schools I was able to refine my copyright unit and then implemented the unit in my classroom. One of the activities during the copyright unit is a class discussion regarding many different copyright scenarios, from email to music to the use and showing of feature films on DVD. These scenarios lead to many discussions where I reinforce the law by discussing my own personal behavior in relation to copying and distributing digital media. Given that I teach the Adobe Creative Suite and my classroom is equipped with the software on all our computers, students often ask me if I will "loan" them the DVD's so they may copy them at home. I take this opportunity to remind them of copyright law and the legal and ethical issues surrounding unauthorized sharing of software. Even though the Adobe software is quite expensive, I point students to Academic Superstore, an online software retailer that provides discounts on software for students.
d. develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with colleagues and students of other cultures using digital-age communication and collaboration tools.
I have had many opportunities to engage with colleagues and students of other cultures by virtue of teaching at Hickman High School in Columbia, MO. Hickman has a very diverse student population consisting of students from over 40 different countries. I am fortunate to have had students in my classes from all over the world. For students in my class with limited English proficiency, our English Language Learners department provides support to both me and my students. At the beginning of each year I use Google Earth's push pin feature to mark the birthplace of all my students. This promotes a lot of good discussion that generally opens an ongoing dialogue among the students. I am a sponsor of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) and help to mentor students participating in various district and state competitive events. One of these events is the Global Business performance event. A team of 2-3 students are provided a case study relating to business from a global perspective and must respond to the case study. It is my responsibility to prepare them for the event. Students have access to school textbooks and I also direct them to a multitude of websites that aid in their preparation. Two popular ones are The Wall Street Journal's Glossary of Terms for International Business and International Business Etiquette, Manners, & Culture.