Amanda Marez’s Blog

I feel that educators have a duty to teach our students social responsibility. Shared values and social responsibility are what keeps society running. The goal is education is to prepare students to be successful in the future. Today that means making them successful in a 21^st-century learning environment. According to Gulec & Yalcin (2020), when it comes to responsibility, “in order to create a healthy social structure, there should exist common values, and these values need to be transferred to next generations.” Students need to understand that they are a small part of a much larger picture, and social responsibility is taught. Once they understand digital citizenship and how to be a good citizen, social responsibility is next. According to MacBury (2017), “Our students are connected personally, globally, and digitally. The greatest positive benefits of cultivating our students’ awareness of their larger responsibility have been the ripple effect in identifying new ways to take action as a school community — a global digital school community.” Students who are good citizens and possess the characteristics of good citizens can easily translate that into being responsible citizens; they need to be taught. In the future social responsibility may change as more and more people are having a hard time finding common values.

Gulec, S., & Yalcin, A. (2020). The value of responsibility in the point of view of the 5th grade students. International Journal of Educational Methodology, 6(1), 123-133. https://doi.org/10.12973/ijem.6.1.123

MacBury, K. (2020, February 11). How to Teach Kids Social Responsibility in a Connected World. https://www.commonsense.org/education/articles/how-to-teach-kids-social-responsibility-in-a-connected-world.

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act or COPPA puts specific requirements on websites or internet services offered to children under 13 years of age. The primary goal of the act is to put parents in control over what information is collected from their children online (Federal Trade Commission, 2020). The Children’s Online Privacy Policy Protection Act requires schools to have policies describing their information practices, obtain parental consent before collecting personal information online from children, and access to platforms for parents to access their child’s personal information to review. School districts have the responsibility to maintain the confidentiality, security, and integrity of data we collect from our students. Districts would also be responsible for keeping personal information obtained from a child for as long as it is necessary and delete the information using measures to protect their data from unauthorized access or use. How we keep and share information now that we have a significant virtual component will be more difficult moving forward. With more applications and websites that students can access, only approved sites must be utilized. According to Schukei (2020), “be careful when using non-educational tools as they may not have the necessary privacy settings to protect student data.” Being aware of COPPA and making your students aware of how to keep their information private will be critical to protecting our students.

Federal Trade Commission (2020). Complying with COPPA: Frequently Asked Questions.

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/complying-coppa-frequently-asked-questions.

Schukei, A. (2020, May 4). How to Keep Students Safe When Learning Online.

https://theartofeducation.edu/2020/05/06/how-to-keep-students-safe-when-learning-online/.

Digital citizenship is an integral part of any 21^st-century curriculum. Just like students are taught proper behavior in the classroom setting, they must also be taught appropriate etiquette in online environments. Some think that technology is just about teaching students to create digital projects and utilize technology to aid in learning, but is it so much more. According to Goren (2018), helping students become good digital citizens “…does not only mean giving them the tools to create or use technology, but it also means educating them on the rules for existing in that digital world.” How you conduct yourself online can determine your success later in life. Just like when students are not mastering any standard or concept in class, digital citizenship must be remediated and retaught until students learn the concepts. According to Erdem & Kocyigit (2019), “Identifying  individuals’ digital  citizenship levels and designing interventions for their inadequate aspects based on this identification are quite significant in the context of education policies which aim to raise students that are equipped with 21st century skills” (p.1). Digital citizenship is crucial for students to be successful in today’s digital world.

Erdem, C., & Koçyiğit, M. (2019). Exploring Undergraduates’ Digital Citizenship Levels:Adaptation of the Digital Citizenship Scale to Turkish. Malaysian Online Journal of Educational Technology, 7(3), 22–38. https://doi.org/10.17220/mojet.2019.03.003

Goren, J. (2018). What Is Digital Citizenship? Why Is It Important? Avenues Open.https://open.avenues.org/new-york/ny-single-blog-detail/~board/open-new-york-learning/post/what-is-digital-citizenship-why-is-it-important.

Digital rights have been compared to human rights but on the internet. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights lays out specific rights that are to be granted to every person. Digital rights are extensions of those fair inalienable rights (Hutt, 2015). Digital rights matter because so many of the things we do now are online. We have a right to privacy, freedom of expression, and the right to know how our information is being used. This information online can be used to cause harm against you in the real world if this information is not protected. Due to the volume of published work and information shared on the internet, many people are looking into new ways to protect themselves. Digital Rights management takes control of digital content away from the creator give that control to the computer program. These programs can be seen in the music and movie world. According to Layton (2006), “while many consumers see DRM methods as overly restrictive — especially those methods employed by the movie and music industries — digital rights management is nonetheless trying to solve a legitimate problem.” Creators need to be protected, so they receive the compensation they deserve.

Hutt, R. What are your digital rights? World Economic Forum.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/11/what-are-your-digital-rights-explainer/.

Layton, J. (2006). How Digital Rights Management Works.

https://computer.howstuffworks.com/drm1.htm

Media Fluency is critical to teach our students as they establish themselves as 21^st-century learners. According to Watanabe-Crockett (2020), “teaching media fluency skills is crucial to the educational environment as technology continues to reshape how students think and react to digital media and the messages they receive.” Media fluency is communicating by technological formats, just as we were taught to do with written formats. By developing a media, fluency students are learning to think more critically, identify critical information, recognize bias and misinformation, and can send person media messages (Watanabe-Crockett, 2020). There are many ways that students can work to develop media fluency. Hunter (2019), shares that student needs to be able to deconstruct familiar media, and analyze what these platforms do for us, and how they work. Students also need to be able to learn skill and languages of media just like they do when learn the English language to become fluent. Finally, students need to shift from a consumer to a creator. By engaging in discussing and making original products, students can make that shift to get the most they can out of technology.

Hunter, H. (2019). Digital Media Fluency. Retrieved from https://www.haroldhunter.org/digital-media-fluency.html

Watanabe-Crockett, L. (2020). How to Teach Media Fluency Skills: 6 Cool Concepts to Try. Retrieved from https://wabisabilearning.com/blogs/future-fluencies/oncepts-teaching-media-fluency-skills

A learning culture is set up to support those who continually want to improve their skills and knowledge in their field. According to Gross (2015), he describes those in a supportive learning culture are “people not only want to learn and apply what they’ve learned to help their organization, but they also feel compelled to share their knowledge with others.” In a learning culture, it can be dangerous for those who have a little bit of knowledge in a subject area to pretend that they do. The saying “a little bit of learning is a dangerous thing,” warns about the dangers of limited experience trying to persuade others. Learning cultures are collaborative, and all stakeholders are held to high expectations. According to Chamorro-Premuzic & Bersin (2018), there are four ways to support a positive learning culture in your organization. The first way is to reward continuous learning. The second strategy is to provide constructive feed, making people away from what they do not know or may need more information about. The third strategy for leaders, managers, and educators is leading by example. People will be much more likely to mimic what they see, and if they see high-quality leadership, that is what they will imitate. The final strategy is to hire curious people. In a classroom, of course, you are not hiring anyone, but you can support students and foster a curiosity that will benefit everyone.

Chamorro-Premuzic, T., & Bersin, J. (2018, September 17). 4 Ways to Create a Learning Culture on Your Team. Retrieved July 08, 2020, from https://hbr.org/2018/07/4-ways-to-create-a-learning-culture-on-your-team

Grossman, R. (2019, August 16). How to Create a Learning Culture. Retrieved July 08, 2020, from https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/pages/0515-learning-culture.aspx

When one thinks of Social Responsibility in the classroom, the first thing thought of is the information being presented to the students and how it is being offered. It is a teacher’s job to make an environment where all students feel safe and secure while accommodating to the best of their abilities to reach all students. In addition to educating students on the curriculum, teachers must also inform students how to be responsible themselves. According to Sihem (n.d.) “Social responsibility demands that a teacher not only cares about actual students; but also must understand and prepare them and show them how to fit into the future community.” Teaching is one of those professions that is never done. According to Sorenson (n.d.), “social responsibility demands that a teacher not only cares about her students; she must understand how she fits into her community.” When you go home to your family, in your community, you are still regarded in a specific manner. With these expectations come a variety of Social Responsibilities. First, the teacher must act professionally and responsibly both inside and outside of the classroom. When there is a news story about an educator, the title teacher usually comes first, followed by the remainder of the heading. Besides being set to high behavioral standards outside the classroom, many Social Responsibilities must be maintained in the classroom.

Sorenson, L. (2020, June 05). Social Responsibility of Teachers. Retrieved from https://classroom.synonym.com/social-responsibility-teachers-8410211.html

Sihem, B. (n.d.). The Social Responsibility of Teaching. SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.2180026