Module 4: Creating Security Issues, Ethics, and Emerging Technologies in Education

Objectives

You will be able to:

Classify various security risks that threaten home and school computers.
Describe how computer viruses and malicious software programs work and the steps you can take to prevent viruses.
Explain ethical issues related to Internet and computer usage in the K-12 classroom.
Describe Fair Use and determine how it applies to the use of the Internet and copyrighted materials in the classroom.
Describe Creative Commons licensing and determine how it applies to the use of the Internet and copyrighted materials in the classroom.
Describe emerging technologies that will transform traditional classrooms.
Explain the future of a world without wires.
Critically evaluate current research and professional practice literature
Contribute to professional development of other educators
Demonstrate use of current technologies for participation in extended education community

This is Important Because...

Today’s technologies, while having many educational and learning benefits, have also presented some new security and ethical challenges. While we embrace the positive educational possibilities these technologies offer, it is equally as important to educate ourselves and our students about the proper, and safe, use of these technologies. Chapter 8 in the textbook, along with the end of chapter materials, and variety of links presented at the textbook Web site provide you with great information and online resources for learning how to keep students and information safe, how to behave ethically while online, and how to protect your software and hardware. Be sure to explore many of these excellent resources. In addition, the fourth ISTE NETS-T standard is "Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility." By understanding security issues, demonstrating ethical use of technology, hardware, and software, teachers are modeling digital citizenship and responsibility while keeping their students safe.

Ethics and the Information Age

Ethics n.Date: 14th century: the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation; a set of moral principles or values; the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group; a guiding philosophy. Source: Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

Ethics are the moral guidelines that govern behavior. Ethics describe how we determine what is good and right from what is bad and wrong. Teachers and students need to be aware of appropriate and acceptable behavior in relation to computer practices and Internet usage. Computer ethics focuses on the unauthorized use of computer systems, software theft (piracy), information privacy, unauthorized collection and use of information, and copyright.

Plagiarism/Academic Misconduct

student looking at another student's written work in class

"Plagiarism 1 Michael Brunsden" by photoeditorvision on Flickr
CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44156128@N00/314107087

You've already had the opportunity in this course to review material on avoiding plagiarism (and citing sources) as a student and to explore copyright and Creative Commons as they pertain to your creative work as students. (If you'd like, you may review the content of the Information Literacy modules using the links in the preceding sentence. You do not need to complete the assessments again.) However, we're going to take a moment to explore some related resources that may be useful to you as you teach your own students.

Why don't we start by taking a look at resources UCF provides to combat academic misconduct among (primarily) undergraduate students. First, there's an eleven minute video overview of faculty responsibilities related to academic misconduct. Then there are a series of short instructional modules on academic integrity provided to incoming UCF students. Each module is based around a short topical video. You may preview the Maintaining Academic Integrity and Tips for Success videos directly, or if you'd like to see the full modules, keep reading. You should be able to view the academic integrity modules by logging into the http://my.ucf.edu portal and clicking the "Online Course Tools" tab just as if you were accessing Webcourses@UCF. If you scroll down past your Webcourses links, you should see the academic integrity modules. Take a look at the message delivered to incoming undergraduate students.

As a current (or future) K-12 classroom teacher, how do the ethical issues in higher education compare to those in our local schools?

One of the greatest ethical challenges facing teachers today is that of Internet plagiarism. With the ease of copying and pasting information directly from Web sites, students often find it easier and quicker to take someone else’s work and turn it in as their own. A bit of awareness and creativity on a teacher’s part can greatly reduce this problem.

Robert Harris in Anti-Plagiarism Strategies for Research Papers outlines why students cheat and goes on to provide strategies to combat the increasing amount of plagiarism on research papers; in particular, he focuses on educating yourself and your students.

Lisa Renard, in her article Cut and Paste 101: Plagiarism and the Net, notes that it is more important to find ways to encourage students to produce their own work as opposed to spending time searching for plagiarism. She points out those students who choose to plagiarize are more focused on the end product rather than on learning the skills gained through the writing process. She suggests that how teachers’ structure writing projects can greatly impact a student’s motivation and interest as well as hampering the ability and opportunity to plagiarize. Read through her article for more information about Internet plagiarism and ideas for how to prevent it and explore some of the additional resources presented below.

Catching Digital Cheaters - Resources for both teachers and students are provided here, including proper citing of sources, resources for detecting plagiarism, and lesson plans for teaching students how to write without plagiarizing.
An Antidote to Plagiarism - This is a great lesson plan that outlines how to teach students to write research papers without plagiarizing.
Plagiarism.org - Many excellent resources and suggestions are available at this site for students and teachers. Students can learn more about how to avoid plagiarizing and teachers will find strategies for preventing plagiarism.

Teachers can begin to show students how to properly cite all resources they use when creating reports or projects, including Internet resources. Even young students often use the Internet to locate images for class projects. The Modern Language Association, or MLA, format for citing references is most often used in K-12 schools. The other common format is American Psychological Association (APA) format, and this is typically used in articles written by educational researchers (and in this course). In order to keep abreast on the proper formatting for citing Web sites, CD-ROM materials, online journals, online libraries, etc. as well as constructing bibliography entries, explore some of the resources below.

The Library of Congress: How to Cite Electronic Sources
Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University: Using Modern Language Association (MLA) Format
NoodleTools - You may use their free "NoddleTools Express" to create MLA or APA citations yourself, or you might wish to check out their "NoodleTools MLA Lite" designed for use with elementary and middle school students.)

The Internet is an incredible research tool and should be used by teachers and students. However, it is imperative to teach students how to properly cite the work and ideas of others as you create an excitement and appreciation for the writing process.

What is the Difference Between Citing Content Academically and Using Content Legally?

Up until now in this module, we have been addressing the appropriate citation of existing content in academic work (i.e., avoiding plagiarism). We are going to shift our focus now to the legal re-use of someone else's content in new work produced by teachers or students in academic contexts (i.e., honoring copyright). But wait! Those are the same things, right?!? Actually, while the issues can be related, academic integrity is an ethical issue while copyright is a legal issue. The University of Connecticut Libraries has prepared a short piece seeking to disentangle these issues: Plagiarism vs. Copyright Infringement. In addition, the Cooperative Extension Service provides an identically named article with a number of concrete examples differentiating between plagiarism and copyright infringement.

Fair Use v. Creative Commons

Teachers may use copyrighted materials found on the Internet in their classrooms if they follow "Fair Use" guidelines. When creating and publishing Web pages however, no copyrighted materials may be used without written consent from the owner of the material. Fair use does not apply to published Web pages. Visit the following link to learn more about copyright and Web pages.

Copyright Issues - Keep reading down this page to learn about copyright issues and the Web as well as to locate numerous resources for learning more about this important topic.

As the use of technology, the Internet, and multimedia increase in the classroom, teachers are more accountable for adhering to copyright and fair use law. Publishing on the Web continues to become easier for the novice computer user. Many mistakes are made because of a lack of awareness. Violating copyright and fair use law on the Web, or in the classroom, can cause serious consequences for teachers and school districts yet are easy to avoid with a little education.

One way for teachers to appropriately use (and model use of) non-original content in their public web sites is by using "open licensed" content. One of the most common sets of "open licenses" is Creative Commons to which you were introduced last week. Such licenses are not alternatives to copyright. The rights of the copyright holder are still uniquely their own. The copyright holders are merely granting some or all of these protected rights to others. You may find the following resources very helpful in determining the best way to use such content in the future:

Creative Commons: An Educational Primer - This brief article provides an overview of Creative Commons relevant to educators. While copyright laws provide some provision for educational uses, materials (e.g., texts, videos, audio, images, etc.) released under one of the Creative Commons licenses are actually much easier to incorporate into course content. Rather than just linking to a source, you may have the licensed right to incorporate and edit the material directly.
Creative Commons: A User Guide - Written by an attorney from Italy, this is both a technical and philosophical implementation guide for media authors who wish to use Creative Commons licensing. Of particular note are the detailed practical instructions for marking specific file types with a CC license.

Outside Tools Inside the Classroom

With this week’s topics addressing security and ethics, it seems appropriate to include in the discussion cell phones in the classroom and blocked Internet sites.

Cell phones present an interesting dilemma in the classroom. Most school districts allow students to have cell phones on campus for security reasons; however, generally they are to be kept in lockers or backpacks and turned off. There is also the concern over high-tech cheating by students using cell phones or other devices. Yet some creative teachers are trying to find educational ways to use cell phones in the classroom. For example, is your school short on digital cameras? If you teach at a middle school or high school, chances are good that one of your students has a cell phone that takes digital pictures. From the Tennessee Board of Regents' Emerging Technologies and Mobilization Web site, 40 Quick Ways to Use Mobile Phones in Classrooms, explores some of the potentially valuable uses of cell phones. (While you're there, check out the categorized database of over 60,000(!!) educational smartphone apps! Note: Look in the sidebar for "Mobile Apps Resource Bank.") However, "Do Cellphones Belong in the Classroom?" That's the title of a thought-provoking piece from The Atlantic.

combination padlock displaying the code B Y O D

"BYOD at School" by woscholar on Flickr
CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 license
http://www.flickr.com/photos/17974986@N00/8056606155/

Most people would never consider cutting in line at the cafeteria or stealing somebody else's personal parking space in the parking lot. This courtesy seems to elude many people when it comes to cellular phone etiquette. While most consider cellular phones to be essential personal and business tools, some people have taken the use of the phones in the school, workplace, and everywhere to extremes, spending hours a day in loud cell phone conversations. Many people take calls during class, meetings, doctor appointment, or other inappropriate times. Psychologists have found that it may not be the cell phone users’ speech volume that annoys us, but rather that the person is having a seemingly one-way conversation with no one, which is a much more difficult background noise for the brain to filter out. Teachers are getting phone calls during class, students are receiving calls or calling parents and friends all day during class time. This is causing great disruption in class time. Many schools have told students they must leave all cell phones in their lockers and only use during breaks. This has helped but aside from the rare emergency, some education leaders worry that electronic devices are distracting students and hurting learning.

Recently, cell phones have taken on a new personality in the schools – some students have used phones to bully other students or to even plan disturbances. As this MSNBC article reports, in one such incident students got on the phone, called each other, and the incident exploded from two students to twenty. Before the police could arrive the situation had developed into a wide-spread problem due to cell phone calls. Cell phones leading to violence is not a phenomenon restricted to the United States. Consider this opinion article in the Jerusalem Post detailing another incident. However, some schools are considering cell phones as tools against violence on their campuses as noted in "How Cellphones Are Changing School Emergency Plans." What do you think? Should cell phone use be banned or limited from schools? Why or why not? Should simple rules of etiquette for cell phone use be more publicized or enforced? Why or why not? If so, by whom?

As the old saying goes, ‘If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!’ Take a look at this 3 minute video of UCF professor Dr. Jay Brophy describing his approach to using students' personal technologies. See if you can find creative ways to join them!

This article from Scholastic Administrator demands that we Lift the Cell Phone Ban. Perhaps not surprisingly, Scholastic has also released a series of free lesson plans based around the use of cellphones in the classroom. Some would argue that "digital kids need digital tools." To learn more about digital kids you might want to visit Kids Informal Learning with Digital Media.

Advocates for student use of their personal technology devices for learning at school have begun using two related acronymed phrases to identify their initiatives: Bring Your Own Technology/Devices (BYOT/BYOD). A quick web search for these terms will reveal many up-to-date resources on this topic.

Do you have first-hand BYOD experiences using cellphones? If so, we'd love to hear about it. You do have another Learning Journal entry coming up. (Hint! Hint!)

Clearly, allowing cell phones and other personal electronic devices in the classroom has both pros and cons. How can one mitigate the risks to gain the benefits?

Increasingly, many school districts are blocking access to Web 2.0 tools and digital media content accessed via the Web in the name of (for example):

Protecting students from objectionable content
Protecting schools/personnel from security threats (hacking/viruses)
Protecting network bandwidth from "hogs"

Many of you probably have had some kind of first-hand experience with "being blocked." Whether you have or not, you may find illuminating these teacher comments (from 2008!) and these separate comments (from years later!). More recently, I've personally heard of different school districts blocking all access to blog sites and access to the http://bit.ly URL shortening service (popular with Twitter users and those who want to email shorter links).

What do you think? From the perspective of preparing students to live and work in the 21st century, is it more unethical to allow threats to students/schools (see lists above) or to deny students/teachers access to instructionally-relevant digital tools and content?

Take a look at one high school teacher's perspective from both angles by reading two of her blog postings, written only one week apart. First, read Gayle Nicholls' posting called "Is This Allowed?" and then read "I Can't Believe You Said That." Read the comments, and consider leaving one (or two) of your own. (If you do, please let me know how it goes.)

Foundational Tip: Be Virus Free!

Been there! Done That! Got the T-Shirt! These common phrases really apply to people having their computers infected with computer viruses. If you access the Web, personal CD-ROMs, or USB drives your computers will eventually be infected with a virus and files on your computers will be corrupted. Many teachers have lost years of work to computer viruses. Viruses can and will destroy your files. Hopefully, your school district will protect your school computers, but on your personal devices, the buck stops with you. Fortunately, the fix is really very simple. Purchase and install an anti-virus program. There are many programs to choose from, but Norton Anti-Virus and McAfee Anti-Virus are the two most popular and both can be downloaded from the Web or purchased at local stores. There are also freeware or shareware options for anti-virus software such as Avast. As you install the software (very easy to do), set the options so the software scans all removable media and most importantly, all downloaded files. Most antivirus programs provide free updates from their Web sites and the software can be set to update automatically. You do need to update your antivirus software regularly (at least once per week) if the software does not perform live updates for you.

Module 4 Assignment

Reading/Quiz: Read Chapter 8 in the textbook, all the information provided with this module, and if you haven't already done so from the link above, read Simone Aliprandi's Creative Commons: A User Guide, read at least Chapter 3, Section 6. (It's short. Don't panic!) Complete the online Chapter 8/Module 4 Quiz by the due date (see the Schedule).
Make your third Learning Journal entry by posting to your blog. Remember, you are free to write about what is on your mind related to educational technology. Feel free to spring board from any ideas or themes presented in the course. (Remember, your Learning Journal will be randomly scored four times throughout the term using the Learning Journal rubric in the "Syllabus" area of Webcourses@UCF.)
Make comments to the Learning Journal entries of others.
Rate the comments you receive using the instructor-designed Interaction/Commenting Rubric and the online commenting form you should already have bookmarked. I'll record your commenting scores (including any extra credit you've accrued for commenting) four times randomly during the term.
Continue to make your weekly "information stream" contributions via Twitter or via Diigo. (Remember, these contributions will be scored at the end of the term.)

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