Assisting educators to effectively integrate technology into the classroom.
Technology is a tool that can help teachers
expand instructional practices and differentiate instruction, ultimately increasing gains in students’ knowledge.
expand instructional practices and differentiate instruction, ultimately increasing gains in students’ knowledge.
Equitable Use
Technology can foster personalized learning for students. It provides opportunities for differentiated approaches, allowing students to work at their own pace. Technology can also help create more authentic learning experiences for students. It allows students to virtually visit sites that may be physically inaccessible to them, places like museums and historical landmarks. And through technology, students can connect with others around the world, specialists in a variety of fields. Ideally, as the learning becomes more personalized, students grow more engaged with their education.
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Ethical UseWhen working with technology, it is important to teach students the legality and fair use of copyrights. Works that appear on the internet, such as writings, artwork, or music, appear to be free because they are readily available. However, original intellectual design is protected by copyright law. Fair use does protect the limited use of copyrighted material for nonprofit, educational purposes. Limited is the key word. A brief excerpt may be used, but students must be taught to cite the original source. And if a longer piece is used in a digital format, teach students to embed or link the information to provide a path to its original location.
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Social Responsibility
The Respect-Educate-Protect format provides an excellent framework for teaching students social responsibility with technology. Teach students respect by considering how what you post online might affect others. Do not post anything online you would not say to a person’s face. Educate students by evaluating online resources. Help students learn how to determine if a resource is accurate and trustworthy. Teach students to recognize phishing schemes. And finally, teach students to protect themselves online: protect passwords, do not share personal information, and report/block inappropriate users.
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