The nine elements presented by Mike Ribble in Digital Citizenship in Schools, Nine Elements All Students Should Know explains in detail the responsibility of being a digital citizen. The nine elements are: digital access, digital commerce, digital communication, digital literacy, digital etiquette, digital law, digital rights and responsibilities, digital health and wellness and digital security. Being able to safely and responsibly manipulate and contribute to an online environment is crucial to being a digital citizen.
Teaching students at a young age how to use technology responsibly is important. Students do not understand the consequences of online misuse or irresponsibility. These are things that have to be taught, they do not come naturally. However, students must first be taught how to be good citizens face-to-face before they can understand how to be a good citizen digitally. Sometimes, teachers forget where students come from. Some young students have heard and seen things that teachers may never hear or see in their lifetime. Recently, some second and third grade students performed Google searches using inappropriate words. When confronted with what they had done, most of the students were embarrassed. When told that their parents would be called, some cried. Young students do not understand that everything they do digitally can be found or seen. Because of the searches, the district began requiring that all students log onto the internet with their own personal sign-in. The students were told that teachers and administrators will be able to see everything they do on their iPads. The teachers modeled through Apple Classroom, to show them that they can see exactly what they are looking at and typing. Their responses were amazing to see. They truly thought that what they did on their iPads was private, that no one would know what they did. This is an example of digital dualism. They believe that what happens online is a separate and distant reality. (Kuropativa, 2019) Some people believe that they can say things online, through social media, that they normally would not say when face-to-face with a person. People hide behind the keyboard and become bullies and complainers. Because of this, people/students do not have a grasp on what it means to be a digital citizen. Being a digital citizen requires a person to participate in a digital community in a positive, caring, fair, trustworthy and respectful way. Most teens and young children do not understand good citizenship, personally nor digitally. Students need to be taught empathy and respect for others. They need to be taught that humor at another's expense is not appropriate behavior whether online or in person. Because students do not understand this, cyberbullying often occurs. Too often there is a disconnect between personal communication and digital communication. In today’s teen society, cyberbullying is an issue that needs to be dealt with. “We define cyberbullying as, “...willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones and other electronic devices.” (Hinduja & Patchin, 2015) There are many types of cyberbullying: spreading rumors, flaming, posting pictures and videos, captions, commenting and messages, photoshopping, confession pages, information spreading, impersonation, tagging and untagging, cyberstalking, self-cyberbullying, and physical threats. However, the key word in the definition of bullying is “repeated”. The harm must be inflicted repeatedly to be classified as bullying. Teens are mainly affected by cyberbullying. “However, research has also consistently noted that adolescent girls tend to participate in more indirect , less visible forms bullying. It makes sense that most studies show that girls are just as likely, if not more likely, to be involved in cyberbullying, both as a target and as a perpetrator.” (Hinduja & Patchin, 2015) In several ways, cyberbullying is much easier than traditional bullying. Mainly due to anonymity. The fact that teens believe that no one will find out it is them being the bully gives them a sense of authority over their victims. What these bullies do not understand is that they have an IP address that leaves a footprint on whatever they do online. Teens also do not realize the impact cyberbullying has on their victims. Monica Lewinsky speaks in her TED Talk of how she was one of the first victims of cyberbullying. In this talk, she stands up and demands that cyberbullying and online shaming be stopped. Her boldness to speak out against online shaming is impressive. Monica states “With every click we make a choice, the more we saturate our culture with public shaming, the more accepted it is, the more we will see behavior like cyberbullying, trolling, some forms of hacking and online harassment. Why, because they all have humiliation at their cores.” She goes on to say, “This behavior is a symptom of the culture we’ve created. Changing behavior begins with evolving beliefs. What we need is a cultural revolution. Public shaming as a blood sport has to stop. It’s time for an intervention on the internet and in our culture. We need to return to a long held value of compassion and empathy.” (TED, 2015) Today’s society has lost almost all compassion and empathy. Especially, our teenagers. They seem to have no regard for others feelings. Why? Has our teens become desensitized to other’s pain? Has shaming and harrassing become the norm? Media is partially to blame for some of this. Television shows and movies are filled with shaming, hate and disrespect. The negating of others has become comedy for many. We must openly discuss these issues with children at a young age. Teens need to understand the effects these actions have on others. This is why it is so important to teach appropriate digital citizenship at an early age. Students need to learn that their posts have consequences and sometimes grave ones. According to Hinduja & Patchin, one of the first steps in preventing cyberbullying is education. Teachers, students and parents need to be educated on what cyberbullying is and how to recognize and prevent it. One way to educate is to hold staff meetings discussing cyberbullying, completing an assessment of students to find out if there is cyberbullying in your school. Using relatable stories is a good way to educate students about cyberbullying. “Stories should be shared with students to constantly remind them about the reality of fallout from unwise electronic communication.” (Hinduja & Patchin, 2015) We also need to teach students to think before they post. Students need to understand the impact their words have and that they need to assess whether or not their posts are going to be hurtful. We need to teach our students how to show empathy and compassion. “Students should be exposed to cyberbullying prevention programming through signage at school, assemblies with compelling and vetted speakers, the dissemination of interactive materials, and with creative strategies to combat hate among peers and promote a healthy and respectful school climate.” (Hinduja & Patchin, 2015) Implementing a good character curriculum at an early age can help. Teaching students to have compassion, empathy and respect can save them hurt in the future. "Without guided practice, inappropriate use of technology can occur without students being aware of it." (Ribble, 2015). Good character must be modeled in the classroom. Then, students will be able to transfer that good character online. However, students need to be made aware of the fact that their online environment must be treated as if it were face-to-face. If students think of it in those terms, they are more likely not to post or respond to others inappropriately. Presentation Reflection I chose to create a Google Site for my culminating project. I decided to do this so that I could easily add to or update at anytime. I also chose this platform because I felt that it would be easy to share with colleagues and for them to manipulate. I wanted this to be a resource other teachers could use to help teach digital citizenship. I made sure to place a Creative Commons license on my site so that others could use, attribute, or modify for their own use, if needed. I am extremely happy with how the site turned out. I created a homepage for an introduction to the site. The homepage includes my mantra, which I created using Canva and then loaded to my site as a header across the top, a short video explaining digital citizenship and an infographic by ISTE comparing the nine elements to regular citizenship. Then, I created a page for each of the nine elements. I also included my references at the bottom of each page. However, I am not sure if I need more detailed descriptions over each of the elements. I did not want the site to be too “wordy”. I feel that when there is long, drawn out text, it is less likely to be read or used. My goal was to make each description short and to the point. I added videos and sample lesson plans for teachers to use, to help teach students and themselves about digital citizenship. Hopefully, this will be a resource others will be able to use for years to come. References TED. (2015, March 20). The price of shame | Monica Lewinsky. Retrieved March 29, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_8y0WLm78U. Hinduja, S., & Patchin, J. W. (2015). Bullying beyond the schoolyard: Preventing and responding to cyberbullying. Thousand Oaks: Corwin. Ribble, M. (2015). Digital citizenship in schools: Nine elements all students should know(Third ed.). Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education. Anthology, T. B. (2015, July 16). Darren Kuropatwa - Digital Ethics and Digital Citizenship #BLC15. Retrieved March 5, 2019, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbMsbxYvr4E (n.d.). Retrieved March 5, 2019, from https://luonline.blackboard.com/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_141909_1&content_id=_3724086_1.
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I feel that the assignment for this week is also my reflection. This week we learned about cyberbullying, what it is, who is affected, the consequences for victims and perpetrators and how to educate teens, teachers and parents. Education is the key to preventing cyberbullying. All parties must be informed of what it is and how it affects students. Adults do not realize that cyberbullying is 24/7, unlike when we were kids and we could go home at the end of the day to have a break from it. The anonymity of cyberbullying makes it easier for students to attack others online. Although possible through their IP address, it is not easy to identify perpetrators immediately.
In today’s teen society, cyberbullying is an issue that needs to be dealt with. “We define cyberbullying as, “...willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones and other electronic devices.” (Hinduja & Patchin, 2015) There are many types of cyberbullying: spreading rumors, flaming, posting pictures and videos, captions, commenting and messages, photoshopping, confession pages, information spreading, impersonation, tagging and untagging, cyberstalking, self-cyberbullying, and physical threats. However, the key word in the definition of bullying is “repeated”. The harm must be inflicted repeatedly to be classified as bullying. Teens are mainly affected by cyberbullying. “However, research has also consistently noted that adolescent girls tend to participate in more indirect , less visible forms bullying. It makes sense that most studies show that girls are just as likely, if not more likely, to be involved in cyberbullying, both as a target and as a perpetrator.” (Hinduja & Patchin, 2015) In several ways, cyberbullying is much easier than traditional bullying. Mainly due to anonymity. The fact that teens believe that no one will find out it is them being the bully gives them a sense of authority over their victims. What these bullies do not understand is that they have an IP address that leaves a footprint on whatever they do online. Teens also do not realize the impact cyberbullying has on their victims. This is why it is so important to teach appropriate digital citizenship at an early age. Students need to learn that their posts have consequences and sometimes grave ones. According to Hinduja & Patchin one of the first steps in preventing cyberbullying is education. Teachers, students and parents need to be educated on what cyberbullying is and how to recognize and prevent it. One way to educate is to hold staff meetings discussing cyberbullying, completing an assessment of students to find out if there is cyberbullying in your school. Using relatable stories is a good way to educate students about cyberbullying. “Stories should be shared with students to constantly remind them about the reality of fallout from unwise electronic communication.” (Hinduja & Patchin, 2015) We also need to teach students to think before they post. Students need to understand the impact their words have and that they need to assess whether or not their posts are going to be hurtful. We need to teach our students how to show empathy and compassion. “Students should be exposed to cyberbullying prevention programming through signage at school, assemblies with compelling and vetted speakers, the dissemination of interactive materials, and with creative strategies to combat hate among peers and promote a healthy and respectful school climate.” (Hinduja & Patchin, 2015) References Hinduja, S., Patchin, J. W. (2015). Bullying beyond the schoolyard preventing and responding to cyberbullying. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. This week in EDLD 5316 was all about Copyright laws. I feel that after this week, I have clearer picture of what Copyright is and how to use it appropriately. I also learned the difference between Copyright infringement and plagiarism. This week has made me realize that people push the boundaries of Fair Use under the Copyright law.
"A copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States to authors of "original works of authorship." This includes literary, dramatic, musical, artistic and certain other creative works. Material not protected by copyright (or otherwise protected) is available for use by anyone without the author's consent. A copyright holder can prevent others from copying, performing or otherwise using the work without his or her consent." (LegalZoom, 2019) These laws are in place to enhance Science, culture and ideas. Copyright laws protects individuals original works from the moment it is created. However, under Fair Use, certain parts and copies of works can be duplicated and used, especially for educational purposes. "A fair use is any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work. Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner. In other words, fair use is a defense against a claim of copyright infringement. If your use qualifies as a fair use, then it would not be considered an infringement" (Stanford University Libraries, 2019). Commonly, this transformation is considered a commentary, criticism or parody of another's work. Fair Use is even for lax when it comes to works used for educational purposes. These laws not only protect the originators of published works, but they also protect the users. Copyright laws help to advance society's creativity. It pushes people to think beyond what they have seen or read. New ideas are created everyday and science is propelled forward due to the copyright laws in place today. Resources: Definition of a Copyright. (2016, October 28). Retrieved March 25, 2019, from https://www.legalzoom.com/knowledge/copyright/topic/copyright-definition Stim, R., & Stim, R. (2017, April 11). What Is Fair Use? Retrieved March 25, 2019, from https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/what-is-fair-use/ Stim, R., & Stim, R. (2017, April 17). Educational Uses of Non-coursepack Materials. Retrieved March 25, 2019, from https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/academic-and-educational-permissions/non-coursepack/ Although, “Copyright law provides educators with a separate set of rights in addition to fair use,” (University of Texas, 2018) it is important to teach students the correct way to cite and attribute work to it’s creator. When teachers follow Copyright laws, it models how to use other’s creations legally and appropriately for students. It also teaches students that people’s work and creations are important and should be respected. The TEACH Act loosens educator’s rights of fair use, however “ ...our reliance on fair use should be limited” (University of Texas, 2018).
Using copyrighted materials teaches students that not only are other’s creative work important and respected, but it teaches them that their work is important and protected, too. “The goal of copyright law and policy is to foster the progress of science, the creation of culture, and the dissemination of ideas” (University of Texas, 2018). Teaching students how to properly give credit to the originators of the work used fosters creativity. Students learn how to research to know what has been created, what has not and what they can build upon. This knowledge encourages creativity and creates a culture of respect for others creations. It reinforces to student’s that their own creations are protected in the same way. If teachers do not properly model how to follow copyright laws in the classroom, students are not taught how to legally use someone else’s creations. Copyright laws are crucial for students to learn at an early age. When learning how to write and create, it is natural to research what others have done in the past. It is common for students at a young age to copy others work or use other’s ideas as their own, unintentionally. So, teaching students that people’s creations are automatically protected by law as soon as it is created, teaches them to respect other’s work and that the originator deserves credit for their creations. In turn, it pushes students to develop new ideas and creations. Even though copyright restrictions are loosened for educators through fair use, teachers must teach students the proper and legal way to cite and attribute others influences in their creations. By doing this students learn to appreciate others hard work and creativity. It drives students to their own creativity and teaches them how to generate new ideas. There can be advantages to being more liberal with fair use, however it can be very risky (McCord, 2018). So, teaching students to follow copyright citation and attribution is definitely the safest and best route to take. Resources University of Texas Libraries (2018) LibGuides: Copyright Crash Course: TEACH Act. Retrieved March 24, 2019, from https://guides.lib.utexas.edu/copyright/teachact McCord, G. (2018). Fair Use: The Secrets No One Tells You (e-book). Retrieved March 24, 2019, from https://digitalinfolaw.com/product/fair-use-the-secrets-no-one-tells-you-e-book/ Association of Research Libraries (2012) Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Academic and Research Libraries, retrieved from https://learn-us-east-1-prod-fleet01-xythos.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/5c082f78d4ba4/2590893?response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27code-of-best-practices-fair-use%25281%2529.pdf&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20190324T231658Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=21600&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAIBGJ7RCS23L3LEJQ%2F20190324%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2 After reading the Hudson Institute White Paper, I agree that the Copyright Office should be it's on entity. Due to the advancement in technology over the years, the Library of Congress has not been able to keep up with the needs of this office. The Hudson Institute White Paper quotes The Software and Information Industry Association, saying, "Despite the critical nature of the services provided by the Office, many of these services have failed to keep pace with technology and the marketplace. While the Office should be held accountable for its shortcomings to some extent, in truth many of these deficiencies have been caused by many years of budgetary neglect and structural deficits that would make it difficult for any agency to merely keep pace, to say nothing about modernization." (Hudson Institute, 2015). According to the Hudson Institute, the Copyright Office is not a priority of the Library of Congress. I can see where this can be a problem in today's times. The majority of an intellectual work, especially written, is published electronically. If the Library of Congress cannot keep up with technological advances for the purpose of fulfilling the requirements of the Copyright Office, then something should be changed. If the Copyright Office is able to be its own entity, then it would have it's own budget. If able to manage it's own budgetary needs and requirements, the Office will be able to in turn put priority on it's technology needs. This will allow better organization of information, and faster and easier application.
When discussing Copyright laws, it is important to know some key terms that are closely associated with copyrights. Plagiarism is when someone takes someone else's work or ideas as their own. Here is an example of plagiarism from Stanford University states "A student turned in a paper that was identical (except for cover sheet and typographical errors) to a paper submitted by another student to a different course the previous quarter. A teaching assistant who happened to TA both courses discovered the plagiarism. The student did not contest the facts or the violation. A Judicial Panel found the student responsible for violating the Honor Code. Sanctions: One-quarter suspension and 40 hours of community service." (Stanford University, 2019) Copyright Infringement is when someone reproduces or distributes someone else's work or display or perform their work publicly without appropriate permissions. An example of copyright infringement is The Modern Dog Design vs Target and Disney case. It states that "They (The Modern Dog Design) claim that Disney and Target used their design in a tee shirt they were selling, and also featured photos of the tee shirt on their web site. Their claim is against Target and Disney making unauthorized copies of the artwork for use on shirts." (Intellectual Property, 2019) "Attribution is the cornerstone condition when using a resource or text released with an open-copyright licence. This legal requirement states that users must attribute — give credit — to the creator of the work." (Aesoph, 2019) An example of an attribution is "Source – Paraphrase, Jeb Jones, a resident of the trailer park, said the sound of the tornado was terrifying." (Rogers, 2018) Transformation is when an original work has been changed to have new or different meaning, expression, insights or understandings. An example is "Libraries that provided a search engine company (Google) with books to scan were protected by fair use when the libraries later used the resulting digital scans for three purposes: preservation, a full-text search engine, and electronic access for disabled patrons who could not read the print versions. The three purposes for which the scans were used were considered transformative. The court also did not find any evidence of financial harm. Authors Guild v. Hathitrust, No. 1:11-cv-06351-HB (S.D.N.Y., October 10, 2012)." (Stim, 2015) Resources Aesoph, L. M. (2018, February 20). Self-Publishing Guide. Retrieved March 20, 2019, from https://opentextbc.ca/selfpublishguide/chapter/citation-vs-attribution/ [email protected]. (n.d.). Modern Dog Design vs Target and Disney. Retrieved March 20, 2019, from https://sites.udel.edu/cisc356/2015/04/29/modern-dog-design-vs-target-and-disney/ Rogers, T. (2018, December 22). How to Use Attribution Correctly as a Reporter. Retrieved March 20, 2019, from https://www.thoughtco.com/attribution-when-writing-news-stories-2074313 Stanford University. (n.d.). Sample Plagiarism Cases. Retrieved March 20, 2019, from https://communitystandards.stanford.edu/policies-and-guidance/what-plagiarism/sample-plagiarism-cases Stim, R. (2015, July 30). Fair Use: What Is Transformative? Retrieved March 20, 2019, from https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/fair-use-what-transformative.html I did not realize until reading the articles this week that net neutrality was an issue with service providers. It is not something that I have ever thought about. However, I can see now how it is something that is important to understand and be aware of. Especially, what the effects of not having net neutrality could have on users.
The FCC's framework for protecting internet freedom has three main objectives: consumer protection, transparency and removing unnecessary regulations to promote broadband investments. It is put in other words by cnet.com, no blocking, no throttling and no paid prioritization. This is important to have in place to protect citizens rights to access information. Users should be able to access any legal content. If these regulations were not put into place, internet service providers would be able to control what information users could access based on paid providers to their service. They would be able to issue faster and slower bandwidths to providers who had paid interests in their companies. This would allow them to direct users to certain sites just because those sites were paying the ISP. How would users be able to access unbiased information if regulations were not in place? Users need to continue to advocate for net neutrality to protect our right to equal internet access. Internet service providers should not be allowed to dictate the information users are allowed to access. What would this do to users who were not able to afford high speed internet packages. They might not be able to access information more wealthy users could access. How would this benefit our students and society when gaining knowledge? It wouldn't! Resourses An introduction to net neutrality. (2014) Retrieved from http://www.marshalldata.com/2014/05/an-introduction-to-net-neutrality-what-it-is-what-it-means-for-you-and-what-you-can-do-about-it/ (Note: This is an introduction before the FCCs ruling) Federal Communications Commision (2015). Open internet. Retrieved from https://www.fcc.gov/openinternet Long, C. (2015). What net neutrality means for students and Educators. Retrieved from http://neatoday.org/2015/03/11/net-neutrality-means-students-educators/ Madden, M., & Raine, L. (2015). Americans' attitudes about privacy, security and survellance. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/05/20/americans-attitudes-about-privacy-security-and-surveillance/ Reardon, M. (2015). 13 Things you need to know about the FCC’s net neutrality regulation. Retreived fromhttp://www.cnet.com/news/13-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-fccs-net-neutrality-regulation/ Internet access is extremely important in today's society. Almost everything we do is online. That is also true in the classroom for some. In my second grade classroom, a majority of our content and activities are done online. Teachers lesson planning is done online and we also access information and content for those lessons online. Without having net neutrality in place, it would greatly hinder the effectiveness and diversity of lesson planning and the information students are able to access. Content, research, websites, learning games would all be at the mercy of whatever internet service provider is used. Your digital footprint is any information you have posted or "given" to the internet. Anything and everything can be saved and accessed through the internet. So, any words entered, any photos or videos uploaded or taken are all stored somewhere on the internet (even if you think you have deleted it). That is why it is so important to always portray a positive image of yourself online. You have to be careful of what you search for online and what you post. You also want to be aware of what others are posting about you. One of the first things employers do when hiring a new employee theses days is search an applicant's digital footprint. An employer does not want someone working for their company that will have a negative impact for them. This is important to teach students at a young age. They must realize the potential consequences of their digital footprint. Resource Long, C. (2015, March 11). What Net Neutrality Means for Students and Educators. Retrieved March 17, 2019, from http://neatoday.org/2015/03/11/net-neutrality-means-students-educators/ I feel that there is not a difference between citizenship and digital citizenship. In either area people need to be kind, respectful and responsible. People need to "do the right thing." Both physical and digital citizenship relies on being a good friend and making wise choices in words and deeds. It involves participation and is tied to a community.
I do feel that people have a sense of digital dualism. They believe that what happens online is a separate and distant reality. (Kuropativa, 2019) Some people believe that they can say things online, through social media, that they normally would not say when face-to-face with a person. People hide behind the keyboard and become bullies and complainers. Because of this, I do not believe people/students have a grasp on what it means to be a digital citizen. Being a digital citizens requires a person to participate in a digital community in a positive, caring, fair, trustworthy and respectful way. The most important elements of digital citizenship to me and my class would be: digital literacy, digital etiquette and digital security. These are important because we have to teach students the proper way to use technology and how to conduct themselves digitally, while in a safe digital environment. We as teachers have the responsibility of teaching students how to use technology appropriately during learning. We must show them how to access information and decipher credible information from non-credible. We must teach them how to respond and post in a positive, respectful manner, using proper digital etiquette. This can all be done by incorporating these issues during lessons that include technology. They can be stand alone lessons, as well. It is also the school's responsibility to keep our students safe while using technology. We must have effective firewalls and filters in place to protect our students from obscene, violent and inappropriate content while online. This creates a safe environment for learning. Teaching appropriate digital citizenship must start at a young age. We live in a society where children are practically born with a device in their hand. I recently met a woman with a one year old daughter who cried because she wanted to play with her mom’s phone. I remember the mother saying “She always wants to play with my phone and see herself in the camera.” She stated “She even knows how to unlock my phone.” I remember being astonished that a one year old was already capable of unlocking a phone and taking selfies. What would she be able to do by age two? This is why citizenship should be taught early. Students need to be taught the nine elements of digital citizenship so that they can be productive, safe, and effective digital citizens in the future. Resources Ribble, M. (2015). Digital citizenship in schools: Nine elements all students should know(Third ed.). Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education. Anthology, T. B. (2015, July 16). Darren Kuropatwa - Digital Ethics and Digital Citizenship #BLC15. Retrieved March 5, 2019, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbMsbxYvr4E (n.d.). Retrieved March 5, 2019, from https://luonline.blackboard.com/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_141909_1&content_id=_3724086_1 In an age of digital citizenship, student success in online learning is crucial. There are so many skills that are developed when students are provided opportunities to learn online. “...most knowledge-based activities depend heavily on the use of technology. However the key issue is that these skills need to be embedded within the knowledge domain in which the activity takes place.” (Bates, 2015). Students need to learn how to be autonomous learners. They need to be able to research, develop, and apply knowledge digitally in order to be successful in today’s society. Online learning helps to develop these skills. Students are able to become owners of their learning. When given information in a variety of ways, learners learning styles are met. If implemented properly, learners are able to have choice in how they learn and present their knowledge. We do not need citizens who can sit and listen, we need future citizens who have initiative and take control of situations by constructing their own learning and being able to apply it in the workforce independently. After reviewing the different learning theories, The How-to for Guided Reading online course is a combination of Cognitivism, Constructivism, and Connectivism. An instructor must get to know their students and how they learn best. The planning of this course was designed with a variety of learning styles in mind. This would fall under Cognitivism. Active participation happens when the instructor knows their students. "People are rational beings that require active participation in order to learn, and whose actions are a consequence of thinking." (David, 2015) However, Constructivism and Connectivism is where this online class can truly fall. Using these theories when planning allows for students to construct their own learning and connect that learning across disciplines and through online collaboration with others. These two theories allows for authentic, autonomous learning. In this online course, the instructor used the Understanding by Design model (UbD) to develop and implement learning. This was done by first developing the learners overall objective for the course and then the objectives for each unit within the course. This follows stage 1 of the UbD model (MCTIGHE & Wiggins, 2012). After the objectives were set, how best to assess each learning objective (stage 2 of UbD) was decided. According to the UbD model, a learner truly understands when they can: explain, interpret, apply, demonstrate perspective, display empathy, and have self knowledge, not necessarily all at once (MCTIGHE & Wiggins, 2012). The How-to for Guided Reading course assesses many of these areas. Learners explain and interpret understanding through reflection pieces. They demonstrate their perspective, empathy and self-knowledge through video; and they apply knowledge in authentic ways by conducting their own Guided Reading lessons for assessment. The last stage of the UbD model is to plan learning experiences and instruction. In this stage the instructor must decide how and what information does the learner need in order to transfer, make meaning and acquisition of knowledge. In this course, learning is conducted in a variety of ways; learners gain knowledge through articles, videos, and personal research and application. Each aspect of the UbD model was applied when designing this online course. Online teaching is more than watching a video and writing a paper. Online teaching should enhance student learning and provide student engagement. “Two-thirds of middle school students (64%) agree that effective technology use increases their interest in what they are learning at school.” (Project Tomorrow, 2017). When creating an online course or online lesson in a Blended learning environment, the teacher must follow quality assurances to ensure that online learning is effective and efficient for students and teachers. In order to do this teachers need to follow an instructional design. Instructional design helps to enhance student learning by first, analyzing learning contexts, developing course goals and selecting material, then implementing. “... critical to the concept of instructional design is acknowledging that it supports the process of learning rather than the process of teaching.” (Morrison, 2014). When carefully planned, keeping the end in mind from the beginning, online learning can be a game changer for student’s success. It can help to develop goal oriented, autonomous, critical thinkers. Resources: Mctighe, J., & Wiggns, G. (2014). UNDERSTANDING BY DESIGN® FRAMEWORK [Scholarly project]. In Universal Design for Learning Theory and Practice. By Anne Meyer, David H. Rose, and David Gordon. Retrieved February 24, 2019, from https://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/siteASCD/publications/UbD_WhitePaper0312.pdf David L, "Cognitivism," in Learning Theories, June 19, 2015, https://www.learning-theories.com/cognitivism.html. A.w., Tony, & Bates. (2015, April 05). Book Title. Retrieved February 24, 2019, from https://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/ Project Tomorrow. (2017). "Trends in Digital Learning: Empowering Innovative Classroom Models for Learning". Retrieved February 24, 2019, from https://tomorrow.org/speakup/2015_ClassroomModels.html Morrison, D. (2014, November 20). Why Online Courses [Really] Need an Instructional Design Strategy. Retrieved February 24, 2019, from https://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2013/05/07/why-online-courses-really-need-an-instructional-design-strategy/ During the development of my course, I have found that it took time to research and curate credible articles, videos, and information. I also, would have liked to have had a textbook to reference, but did not feel that I had time to research textbooks. However, I did end up locating some great articles and videos over Guided Reading to use in my professional development coarse.
I also struggled with determining how to assess learners throughout the coarse. I used discussions for pre-assessments to assess learners prior knowledge of the different aspects of Guided Reading. I then tried to use a variety of activities for assessments. I used reflection essays and presentations, video recordings, and Padlet. I wanted to use the COVA approach, so I decided to give learners the option of presenting their work by whatever platform decided upon. Bates suggests using computer based multiple choice questions, essays and short answers, project work, simulations, educational games, and eportfolios (Bates, 2015). I chose video assessments so that learners could have an opportunity to work hands-on with students. I am hoping having discussions and Padlet posts develops collaboration and that the videos and reflection essays helps learners be engaged. Resouce Bates, T. (2015). Teaching in a digital age: Guidelines for designing teaching and learning. Retrieved February 10, 2019, from https://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/ |
AuthorSecond Grade teacher and lifelong learner. Graduate student at Lamar University. Archives
April 2019
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