Using ICT Safely, Responsibly and Ethically

What is ICT?

Information Communication Technology has become an essential problem-solving toolset in our knowledge-based society which can include: Laptops and computers, ipads and tablets, mobile phones, cameras, social media, blogs, and even calculators. ICT has a massive impact on society through every day to day activities, for staying in touch, exploring or sharing, which can have both positive and negative impacts on society. It is important for us as teachers to model the correct behaviour and attitudes of this technology for students to help demonstrate how we can have a positive impact on society when used safely responsibly and ethically.

Using ICT within the classroom

Today’s society is constantly surrounded by constant new digital technologies which are transforming our learning, recreational activities, home life and work. ICT also provides an amazing opportunity to provide engagement across the Australian curriculum.

Within the Australian Curriculum (2014), ICT has the opportunity for students to:

“Participate in a knowledge- based economy and to be empowered within a technologically sophisticated society now and in to the future, students need the knowledge, skills and confidence to make ICT work for them at school, at home, at work and in their communities”.  

As teachers it is in our best interest to educate or students about ICT and model correct behaviour towards the use of it at all times.

As a teacher

Australian Professional standards for teaching:     4.5 Use ICT safely, responsibly and ethically.

We as teachers must be able to demonstrate an understanding of the relevant issues and strategies available to supports this safe, responsible and ethical use of ICT in our learning and teaching.

Safely

We must encourage students how to safely explore the cyber world. It is important that students know the risks or dangers of doing so however and how to keep themselves safe in these situations. This includes inappropriate content, cyber bullying, plagiarism, copyright, file sharing, scams and social networking to ensure they are making a positive digital footprint.

A good resource to teach students about cyber bullying and how to protect personal information with appropriate protocols is the Australian Governments Cyber Safety program providing “activities, resources and practical advice to help young kids, kids, teens and parents safely enjoy the online world”.   http://www.cybersmart.gov.au.

Responsibly

To be responsible online it is important for students to consider their effects of their actions and what it can mean for others. As teachers we must ensure that students are aware of their role as a digital citizen and what it can mean. They must b respectful and accept that people will have their own opinions and views and need to show positive responsible interactions.

Budd:e is an Australian resource for teacher that provides activities about the risks and consequences of internet use https://budd-e.staysmartonline.gov.au/primary/main.php#.

Ethically

Students entering cyber space as digital citizen need to show the respect for applying social and ethical protocols and practices when using technology. As a teacher we need to model this for our students in ways that include:

Checking content of websites, have ICT protected with security to block inappropriate websites,  setting out and following rules and guidelines, understanding creative commons and copyright laws, and keeping personal information private.

Learn more at http://creativecommons.org.au about being ethical online and privacy laws and search copyright free images at http://search.creativecommons.org/ .  Smart copying is another website that is dedicated to educating people about copyright in all Australian schools http://www.smartcopying.edu.au/scw/go .

The Australian curriculum

ICT Capability (ACARA, 2013)
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Australia (CC BY NC SA)

The future of education is producing digitally literate students that can be seen to be implemented from an early age within the Australian curriculum. Through these sections of the curriculum strand, we are able to identify links to the ICT General Capability in the figure above, determining the importance how we apply these social and ethical protocols. Students must understand how to use ICT appropriately and to follow the rules and guidelines to help keep both themselves and others safe as digital citizens.

As a teacher we could encourage and provide exposure to the online spaces through sites such as Edmodo, which is the ‘world’s largest k-12 social learning community where teachers, students and parents can connect safely and securely’ providing opportunities for students to investigate, communicate and create with ICT. This can enable teachers to develop students understanding of intellectual property and digital information and how to recognise circumstances where this is evident. Edmodo would help on building students confidence in demonstrating a safe online identity when communicating, following school rules and guidelines whist providing a more hands on understanding of the social networking environment in a controlled supervised blog space.

The following website provides more information on this network https://www.edmodo.com.

Incorporating the use of technology into our classroom curriculum through ways such as Edmodo can provide a social learning platform and an insight in to social networking to help student’s knowledge and preparation of applying digital information security practises. It builds on digital citizenship skills whist also being integratable throughout many subject areas for assessment, projects, discussions and for delivering differentiated content. Teachers can therefore be a key influence in ensuring students use ICT in safe, responsible and ethical ways.

References

ACARA: Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority, (2013), Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capability, retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities/Information-and-Communication-Technology-capability/Organising-elements/Applying-social-and-ethical-protocols-and-practices-when-using-ICT

AITSL: Australian Institute for Teaching and school Leadership, (2012), Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, retrieved from http://www.teacherstandards.aitsl.edu.au/careerstage/graduateteachers/standards

Edmodo: Edmodo - Where Learning Happens, (2014), About Edmodo,
retrieved from  https://www.edmodo.com/about 

 

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