Cyber Citizenship for Middle Level Teachers
The integration of the ethical,
legal, and social issues related to technology is a significant challenge
because middle level teachers may not have participated in professional
development related to the topic. A focus on what teachers can incorporate
within the area of curriculum and instruction will be the driving focus
for this section. The first three NETS-T indicators listed above which
relate to engaging students in learning activities, facilitating students'
needs when using technology, and advocating for legal and ethical behaviors.
Any or all courses can include all the indicators but this is an opportunity
to link three indicators to discipline courses.
Within a course the teacher
can select to infuse technology issues through the methods or materials
related to the curriculum of the specific discipline and the spiraling
of the technology within the program. One way to infuse the technology
standards into the course is by requiring students to use the technology
standards within lessons. The Cyber
Smart curriculum includes numerous lessons for middle level students
on responsible use of technology and each lesson aligns to the National
Education Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S, 2000) standards
(CyberSmart, 2005). Cyber
Smart lessons integrate literacy, social studies, and science through
units on manners, advertising, safety, research, and technology (CyberSmart,
2005). A valuable activity for a middle level class is to participate
in blogs, chat rooms, or instant messaging about a specific topic.
Beyond the middle level literacy,
mathematics, social studies, or science curricula in middle level school,
cyber citizenship in courses can focus on promoting the welfare of the
online community or using technology to take action for the common good
within the online community. For the welfare of the online community
within a course, teachers need written guidelines for consequences when
a student's social, moral, or ethical behavior is not acceptable. For
active online citizenship, teachers can write letters to political or
civic leaders, solicit support for a local or global environmental concern,
or discuss current or controversial issues in middle level classrooms
with an international community. Infusing these ideas into the courses
will promote cyber citizenship in the preparation of middle level educators.
Another method is for teachers
to model whom to contact when issues arise outside of the teacher's
experiences, abilities, or typical responsibilities. A few cyber “crimes”
include piracy, hacking, copyright laws, pornography, fair use, security,
and privacy. When issues arise, teach more about the topic, contact
an expert, problem solve, and then develop a plan for the future. Along
with curriculum and instruction, these are legitimate issues to incorporate
into courses.
Listed below are sample educator
resources for safe, responsible use of technology. There are numerous
online resources with some laws related to technology use by middle
level students. Teachers should have a basic understanding of the laws
and availability of online access to the information. National organizations
provide parents, teachers, and schools with resources to help middle
level students learn to use technology responsibly. One lesson for a
course is for teachers to design classroom rules that incorporate cyber
citizenship rules. Another lesson could be a discussion or debate on
copying a poem, song, photo, or music for a multimedia presentation.
Sample Educator Resources
