Technological Literacy and Ethics
This summer, I am taking a course on Educational Technology from Drake University. For our first week of class, students are asked to write a blog post discussing: (a) new insights gained about technological literacy and (b) how to teach students about ethical issues related to technology. This post covers course standards 1 and 5.
Standard 1: Articulates a robust definition for technological literacy.
Standard 5: Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal and/or ethical use of digital information and technology, including, but not limited to, respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.
Before starting this class, I thought that technological literacy merely consisted of knowing what technologies are available and how to use them. After our readings for the week, I realize that was an overly simplistic view of all that it encompasses. One aspect of technological literacy that stood out to me, specifically from the Koehler and Mishra article, was the extent to which technology is in a constant state of flux, and what that means for a teacher implementing something in the classroom. What's available one day can be out-of-date or updated the next, requiring the user to stay well-informed in order to make the best use of the platform. They write that there is not "an end state, but rather sees it developmentally, as evolving over a lifetime of generative, open-ended interaction with technology" (Koehler and Mishra, 2009). As a future educator, I can see this being a challenge when you've incorporated a certain technology into a lesson and then it changes or becomes obsolete. Software and apps are constantly being updated and new ones created. A teacher would need to stay vigilant to ensure that their required resources were available and, in fact, the most suitable and current for students' needs. I can see a challenge in selecting the right technology for the students. You want to pick tech that is truly adding value to the student experience, not just using something for the sake of using it.
In addition to the issue of ever-changing technology, a quote from the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA) caught my attention. They write, "A characteristic of a technologically literate person is that they are comfortable with and objective about the use of technology, neither scared of it nor infatuated with it." This is an excellent point; to be technologically literate, one needs to find that delicate balance. I suspect that many young students are not afraid of technology in today's society, but I think many people can agree that there are hazards of being consumed by it, which may be even more harmful for adolescents' developing brains. I'd be interested to research this topic more. ITEEA and the International Technology Education Association (ITEA) created the Standards for Technological Literacy, and to be honest, I hadn't even thought about having standards for technology in education, like we do for content areas. I look forward to digging into these tech standards more. I think finding the perfect point where we control our technology use, not technology controlling us, is a very important issue in society today.
This leads me to how I could teach students about ethical issues related to technology. Primarily, I plan to do this through modeling ethical behaviors and encouraging conversations about why/why not I am doing things. I want to keep this at the top of mind throughout any lesson with my students. To me, this isn't a one-time discussion, but more of an ongoing issue that we consistently talk about and is woven throughout our days. Initially, when I thought of ethics and technology, issues like cyber-bullying, privacy, the effect of technology on relationships, and the responsible use of social media came to mind. I think these conversations are imperative to have with our young people today. However, after our readings, I see that there is more to it than that. Technology brings with it an environmental and societal impact, including issues like e-waste, techno trash, poor working conditions, and a technology gap between socio-economic classes (Digital Responsibility). It's important to me to bring these topics to my students' attention, to help them see the world is all connected and understand how their choices effect others. I also want to model informed and conscious purchasing habits for my students and have these discussions with them to help them think critically about what it means to be technologically literate and ethically responsible.
References
Digital Responsibility. (n.d.). Digital Responsibility: Taking control of your digital life. Retrieved from http://www.digitalresponsibility.org/.
Standard 1: Articulates a robust definition for technological literacy.
Standard 5: Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal and/or ethical use of digital information and technology, including, but not limited to, respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.
Before starting this class, I thought that technological literacy merely consisted of knowing what technologies are available and how to use them. After our readings for the week, I realize that was an overly simplistic view of all that it encompasses. One aspect of technological literacy that stood out to me, specifically from the Koehler and Mishra article, was the extent to which technology is in a constant state of flux, and what that means for a teacher implementing something in the classroom. What's available one day can be out-of-date or updated the next, requiring the user to stay well-informed in order to make the best use of the platform. They write that there is not "an end state, but rather sees it developmentally, as evolving over a lifetime of generative, open-ended interaction with technology" (Koehler and Mishra, 2009). As a future educator, I can see this being a challenge when you've incorporated a certain technology into a lesson and then it changes or becomes obsolete. Software and apps are constantly being updated and new ones created. A teacher would need to stay vigilant to ensure that their required resources were available and, in fact, the most suitable and current for students' needs. I can see a challenge in selecting the right technology for the students. You want to pick tech that is truly adding value to the student experience, not just using something for the sake of using it.
In addition to the issue of ever-changing technology, a quote from the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA) caught my attention. They write, "A characteristic of a technologically literate person is that they are comfortable with and objective about the use of technology, neither scared of it nor infatuated with it." This is an excellent point; to be technologically literate, one needs to find that delicate balance. I suspect that many young students are not afraid of technology in today's society, but I think many people can agree that there are hazards of being consumed by it, which may be even more harmful for adolescents' developing brains. I'd be interested to research this topic more. ITEEA and the International Technology Education Association (ITEA) created the Standards for Technological Literacy, and to be honest, I hadn't even thought about having standards for technology in education, like we do for content areas. I look forward to digging into these tech standards more. I think finding the perfect point where we control our technology use, not technology controlling us, is a very important issue in society today.
This leads me to how I could teach students about ethical issues related to technology. Primarily, I plan to do this through modeling ethical behaviors and encouraging conversations about why/why not I am doing things. I want to keep this at the top of mind throughout any lesson with my students. To me, this isn't a one-time discussion, but more of an ongoing issue that we consistently talk about and is woven throughout our days. Initially, when I thought of ethics and technology, issues like cyber-bullying, privacy, the effect of technology on relationships, and the responsible use of social media came to mind. I think these conversations are imperative to have with our young people today. However, after our readings, I see that there is more to it than that. Technology brings with it an environmental and societal impact, including issues like e-waste, techno trash, poor working conditions, and a technology gap between socio-economic classes (Digital Responsibility). It's important to me to bring these topics to my students' attention, to help them see the world is all connected and understand how their choices effect others. I also want to model informed and conscious purchasing habits for my students and have these discussions with them to help them think critically about what it means to be technologically literate and ethically responsible.
References
Digital Responsibility. (n.d.). Digital Responsibility: Taking control of your digital life. Retrieved from http://www.digitalresponsibility.org/.
ITEEA. (n.d.). Technological Literacy Standards. Retrieved from https://www.iteea.org/48897.aspx.
Koehler, M. J. and Mishra, P. (2009). What is technological pedagogical content knowledge? Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 9(1), 64-66.
Koehler, M. J. and Mishra, P. (2009). What is technological pedagogical content knowledge? Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 9(1), 64-66.
I like the quote you chose from the ITEEA and that teachers should be comfortable with the technology they use in their classroom. I also agree with what you said about making sure technology is in our control and that it's not controlling us (or our students).
ReplyDeleteKaty, I like that you pull in the quote from Koehler and Mishra as that was something that stuck out to me too. But my question is when and how will we do that? I know that keeping up with technology is imperative because our students will be immersed in tech all the time, but I have no idea how to actually keep abreast of all the options and opportunities to enhance my classroom practice.
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