Policies, Laws & Practice

Like everything, the internet has the potential to be abused. In order to safeguard from such possible misuse, a number of laws have been implemented. Most business and schools also follow Acceptable Use Policies (AUP). An AUP is an outline of standards that are expected to be followed to ensure appropriate use of the internet and networking systems. Although AUPs may vary from school to school, most include the following guidelines:

ð Use is a privilege.
ð Behave as a guest, use netiquette.
ð Rules for online safety.
ð Rules concerning objectionable sites.
ð Rules concerning Copyright infringement.
ð Rules concerning Plagiarism.
ð Consequences and disciplinary action if the rules are broken.

It is Important to be informed about laws and policies especially when you will be using this technology in the classroom. Internet security measures such as firewalls and filtering software should be used. In addition, it is important to take the necessary precautions to protect against disclosure of students’ identity and personal information. In 1998 The Federal Trade Commission’s Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) was established to protect against child identity thief. COPPA also provides useful information to educators, students and parents about sites that have been reviewed and rated safe for children.
Two recent government actions, Dot Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act along with Children’s Internet Protection Act, have increased protection for children against possible exploitation. Dot Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act provide that any domain name ending in .kids will have content suitable for children under the age of thirteen. Children’s Internet Protection Act requires that every public library will use filters to block web sites containing obscene images or content.
Using filtering controls, AUPs, curriculum pages and teacher observation in schools should aid in providing a harmless and enriching internet experience in schools.

LoTi
Levels of Technology Implementation

LoTi is a scale used by districts, schools, and teachers to assess the implementation of technology as a means for interactive learning. The LoTi levels were developed by Dr. Moersch and with the help of the CEO Forum on Education and Technology. Target Technology levels, have also been established. The Target for technology is to use computers beyond simple tasks, such as word processing, and begin to use it for experimental learning and problem solving.
It’s hard to assess my own level of LoTi, since I am not a teacher and I have little classroom experience. Upon asking fellows in the field and in conjunction with my own thoughts and experiences, I have assessed a general LoTi level for myself, one that I think would be implemented if I was teaching at this time.

My PCU, Personal Computer Use, intensity is at level 4. I am comfortable with computers, software, and other devices. I am able to trouble shoot diagnose and resolve problems. I gather information from the internet on a daily basis; computers are a part of my life from music to shopping.

My CIP, Current Instructional Practices, would be at intensity Level 3-4. I would most likely start out as a level 3 for a beginning teacher but, would hope to move up the scale to a Level 4, once adjust to the classroom setting. Integrating technology methods, as new teacher, would be easier for me because I am starting from scratch, rather then reforming my current methods.

My LoTi, Level of Technology Implementation would be at Level 2, Exploration. After reading the descriptions of the different levels, this is what I measured myself to be. As the LoTi Connection mentions, technology is a good tool to gain attention, it is not the best tool for every lesson. I can see being at a higher LoTi level with other subject matters but for foreign language curriculum, I find it hard to go beyond the realm of web-based projects and educational games.

I would like the target goal for my CIP to be at the refinement level, Level 6 LoTi, but the reality of this, is many years and many dollars away. The LoTi site provides numerous avenues to explore, evaluate, and assist in integration. The online Loti Lounge, an educational web portal, is funded by corporate sponsors, thus allowing access to public and private schools in the nation as well as being a catalyst for reform in classrooms internationally. The LoTi Connection has a wealth of resources to help teachers with the skills needed to build and provide a technology rich learning, driven by standards. In addition, to numerous surveys that allow assessment of the levels of technology integration in their individual schools, print resources, databases and seminar information is also abundant.
A school can choose to become a LoTi project school. LoTi project schools are schools that make a commitment to technological changes, as well as, to the goals ingrained in the New Technology Infrastructure. They have high student expectations, comprehensive pupil accountability, and thorough curriculum. The benefits proven from this implementation include; academic achievement, strong teaching methods, and appropriate use of technology. I find that being a member of LoTi would be extremely beneficial. Using the online databases to keep up to date with the current trends in education and using their sources for unit and lessons plans could help with the integration process. While thinking about loti and lesson planning, I encountered one lesson that I think is a step towards moving up the LoTi ladder. While visiting http://retanet.unm.edu , a resource for teaching about the Americas, I came across the lesson, Latin American Pals. This lesson allows for students to become friends with and knowledgeable about a chosen Latin American country. By using Internet and Web connections to research the country, developing international relations with key pals, and creating a Hyperstudio stack on each country, to go along with a home page about the project. Implementing a project such as this is a move in the right direction. I found my LoTi experience to be quite enriching and plan to will refer back to Loti Connections in the future to continually assess my advances towards technology implementation in the classroom.

Technology Invading the Classroom

Today our group, Party of 5, met for the first time. We discussed the topics that were covered, in chapter one, in the book. Topics pertaining to items that can be found, almost, everywhere you look in most developed countries. Since the development of the first personal computer in the 1980’s, the technology has been advancing at such a rapid pace that, experts are anticipating that by the year 2010, almost all occupations will be using computer technology in one form or another. Most of us are familiar with common computer hardware components, such as the keyboard, scanner, modem, card reader, and such. However, a whole range of mobile computers and mobile devices are making there way to the general public. Items such as the Tablet PC, PDA, smart phones, smart watches and what ever else might be just around the corner.

As teachers, and teacher candidates, the relevance of all this technology comes to play in the school and classroom; technology immigrants and technology natives. There are undoubtedly immeasurable benefits that come from implementing technology in the classroom. There is a wealth of information at your finger tips with the internet. Digital media and different types of software can capture the interest of students while allowing the student to interact, communicate and expresses themselves in ways that were never possible before. But, at what point does all this technology begin to hinder the student or become a distraction? Is it possible that students may become over reliant on computers and technology and forget how to add or write? I think not. However I can see that misuse of technology can be a terrible waste of good time. While we think our students may be conscientiously attending to there assignment, they can actually be instant messaging. They could be watching music videos on their watch and we would think that they are checking the time. As a teacher it is important to know, at least, as much as your student does about technology. Technology is a way of life. There is no way to avoid it. You can’t beat them on this, so you might as well join them.

Education Connection

Just the other day, I had my first on line class. I have implemented technology into, yet, another area of life. I was a little excited, I never chatted before in a group, only, one on one, with instant messenger. It started out a little bumpy at first, but once all the bugs were fixed the class ran actually pretty smooth. It was truly a dress rehearsal for the next class.


In the beginning, I though that the questions were well, a bit rhetorical. I soon realized that they were not. Unlike a traditional class, with face to face communication, you can’t just stare at the instructor to let them know, that, they have your undivided attention. When called upon, I seemes as though I took forever to answer, and I did. A bit perplex and confused: Should I run spell check? What exactly is she asking? However, by the time class came to an end, I had gotten a grasp of the whole copy and past routine.

Teachers Attitudes Towards Technology

I think that a teacher’s attitude toward technology definitely plays a large role in which technology is implemented into the classroom. Every day, computer technologies are becoming increasingly vast. Yet, computer proficiency is not keeping up at the rate that technology is growing. Many only use computers and technology for tutorials, gaming, word processing, e-mails and web searches, leaving its true potential, as instructional instruments, behind. As with anybody, a certain level of knowledge is required to confidently and successfully use relevant technologies in the classroom. After all, we all know computers are a time saving means to accomplish a task more efficiently. As for me, I am glad to be learning more about what technology has to offer, it puts me a step ahead of my competition. Now, I only wish I had taken typing back in high school.

The Wonderful World of Technology

This is my first blog. I didn’t even know what a blog was until the first day of class, but I can tell you this, it’s a lot easier to start a blog then a webpage. As for a blog, you just sign up; fill in the blanks, answer a personal survey, and then, you are connected to a whole community of people that would have otherwise never entered your life. It’s actual quite cool. You can click on your favorite movie and see that someone in the Philippians loves it, just as much as you do. Of course, I am telling you all this, before I’ve actually posted this blog, so any difficulty I have may sway my opinion.

A webpage, on the other hand, is not as simplistic. After you choose exactly which host you would like to use, out of the swarm that exist, you then have to create it. While templates may seem to be the easiest way about it, I had difficulties customizing it. My first web page was through yahoo’s geocities. I dabbled with templates, a blank page, and then I even downloaded the free trail of Dreamweaver. The only thing I know about HTML, is what it stands for: Hyper Text Markup Language. I’ve seen what it looks like, and it might as well be Russian ;-) I was told that Dreamweaver was a great program, which would simplify creating a webpage. I disagree. I clicked, here and there, and then got in to my car to follow the advice of Teachers Discovering Computers. I went to the store and bought Microsoft Office Student and Teacher Edition. It was smooth sailing from there on, until I logged on to my site to discover that I had been excommunicated from geocities for providing links to pages other then theirs. Now, I am at angelfire. There seems to be a lot of ads and I am having problems displaying my pictures. If I am not satisfied here I’ll move to freewebs. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

Being part of a virtual community does not come with out rules, guidelines, proper protocol, and the like, otherwise known as netiquette. When I performed a search of netiquette, Google returned over 14,000 results, from typing to corporate communities. Netiquette is very important and cyberspace should be treated like any other physical space that you may enter. Because the lack of face to face communication removes voices and expressions, it’s easy to forget that, there is a human out there. Manners and accurate information are only a few of the crucial aspect that make the internet a pleasant experience for the millions of people who use it regularly. Without netiquette, the internet would be out of control, breeding anger, personal attacks, fraud and misinformation. So it is important to be the best netizen of cyberspace possible.

COME VISIT ME!