This assignment demonstrates PLO 5 Exemplify ethical practices of technology usage
Ethical Practices of
Technology Use
Ethics is more than just choosing between right and
wrong. Most people confuse what is ethical with what is legal. These are
similar terms, however; they are different. An action may be legal but unethical, or illegal but ethical.
Many people use the internet for research and in doing so they violate ethical
and legal practices. It is important that before students do internet research
that they are aware of plagiarism and copyright laws. Before classroom teachers
allow students to use the internet for research or any other type of work, they
must equip students with knowledge concerning ethics and the use of the
internet so that they exemplify ethical practices of technology usage.
Principles and Theories
The Constructivist theory states that learning
is an active process of constructing rather than acquiring knowledge. The
lesson used in this assignment asks students to do research using the internet.
The teacher serves as a guide who facilitates the lesson through mentoring. The
purpose of the lesson used in this paper is to link information
that is already known by gathering data, drawing conclusions and answering
questions from research information. In the Constructivist view this type of
learning allows learners to practice reflective and high-order thinking skills
in order to answer questions or form solutions (Dabbagh, 2006).
The use of the internet in this
lesson allows students to actively research information and apply skills and
knowledge. In doing so, the student must remember the ethical rules of
conducting internet research in order not to violate copyright or plagiarism
laws. In redesigning this lesson the instructor prepares the learners not just
for the task, but for using the tool in the real world (Dabbagh, 2006).
The students are also allowed to conduct interviews in the lesson. Students will have to recall and reflect upon
prior knowledge in order to adequately and properly record the details for this
assignment.
Challenges
Redesigning the lesson required changing the
instruction so that the students could conduct research and formulate their own
questions. The greatest challenge in redesigning this activity was how to
decide if students were using ethical practices in recording their research
findings. It is often difficult to prevent plagiarism and copyright
infringements not because students are dishonest, but because they do not know
the rules concerning the two. In redesigning this lesson, the instructor must
review and remind the students of internet protocol when it comes to conducting
research.
The Lesson
CONNECT ACTIVITY AND NEEDS ASSESSMENT
- What do you know?
The students have chosen
professions and careers that they would like to pursue as adults.
- What do you want to know?
I want to know why the
students chose their specific profession or career. In addition, I want to know if the students
are aware of the job responsibilities, skills and requirements for the profession
or career they chose.
- What are you trying to measure,
determine, or define?
I am trying to determine
whether or not the students know how to evaluate, select and organize
information. I want to determine whether or not the students can draw
conclusions from research and set realistic and appropriate goals. In addition,
I want to determine whether or not the students can search various sources to
find answers to questions.
- How will you collect and record
information.
The students will use
the internet and other classroom resources such as books or magazines to
research their chosen profession. I will
also allow the students to conduct interviews with people who work in their
chosen professions. The students will answer questions pertaining to their
research and record them in their student journals. The journals will be
submitted for grading.
- How will you report the
information you collect?
I will inform the students about their scores
through one-on-one discussions. I will also report the information on the
student’s progress reports. In addition, I will use this information in
planning to discuss with other teachers so that we can access what we as
teachers need to add, improve or delete from this lesson series in order to
further student learning and comprehension and meet the course objectives.
- Are all interested groups
included in planning and conducting the needs assessment?
The groups included in the planning
are the grade level planning staff, students, professionals being interviewed and
the teacher.
CONNECT ACTIVITY
Instruction:
Objective:
Using resources selected by both the students and the teacher, the students
will
research their future careers/professions and
summarize their findings with no errors in spelling and grammar.
Purpose:
The purpose of this lesson is to link information that is already known by
gathering data, drawing conclusions and answering questions from research
information.
Prior to beginning this assignment
the students chose a career or profession they would like to pursue after high
school. The lesson will begin with the
teacher explaining the purpose of the lesson. The teacher will explain to the
students that the lesson is about locating sources of information and gathering
conclusions. Whereas, the information being gathered is important; the teacher
will emphasize to the students the importance of knowing how to analyze and
summarize the information.
Next, the teacher will present the
students with the following list of questions. The teacher will explain each
question in detail and allow the students to ask questions.
1.
What are the educational or technical skills
and requirements for your chosen career?
2.
What is the average salary/wage in your
state for the career or profession chosen?
3.
What are the job responsibilities or
requirements for your profession?
4.
What is the current employment rate for
this profession?
5.
Discuss the available job markets for
this profession.
6. Based
on your research, why do you think this is the appropriate profession for you?
The students have reference books and
magazines available for use in this assignment. Some students have also
conducted personal interviews with professionals. In addition, the teacher will provide the
students with the following web resource:
The
teacher will inform the students that the source of the information for each
question needs to be recorded.
EDU 697 REVISION:
Prior to beginning the lesson the teacher will review and discuss with the
students the rules for citing and using information gathered from the internet.
The students will review the information about their chosen profession and
formulate their own list of questions. The students will use classroom
resources and conduct their own internet searches to find information. The
teacher will answer questions pertaining to the lesson and assist students who
need help in their internet search.
Research activities can be extremely
frustrating, especially if students do not know how to make connections between
what they already know and their lives. It can also be unethical if students do
not know how to cite and properly use the information they find. The internet can be a valuable tool for
conducting research if the users adhere to certain ethical practices.
Information obtained must be properly cited so that the owner of the
information is given credit. Classroom teachers must teach and equip students
with internet ethics and fair practice rules before they allow them to conduct
research online.
References:
Dabbagh, N. (2006). Instructional
design knowledge base. Retrieved
from http://cehdclass.gmu.edu/ndabbagh/Resources/IDKB/models_theories.htm
May 2013 Occupation
Profiles. (n.d.). U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics. Retrieved July 2, 2014, from
http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_stru.htm
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