Global awareness and digital-age communication

Every human has four endowments - self awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom... The power to choose, to respond, to change.
Stephen Covey 
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/awareness.html#fgmzfdO0sPkx8CEP.99

The quote above stood out to me one day as I was trying to refresh my memory of what it meant to be globally aware. As a teacher it is important to think of technology as a new way to make connections with different people and cultures. Technology and digital-age communication makes it easier than ever before to connect with people who may not live near us. With social media and communication sites like Oovoo or Skype people can explore other cultures and customs of people whose paths may never have been able to cross before now. Students are no longer restricted to having to learn about other cultures through books or to having friends that live close to them so that they can keep communication with one another. Now we can keep in contact with friends who live in distant places in real time without having to sit and wait for the mail to arrive hoping that a letter would be addressed with your name on it. That is if the other person didn't forget to write you back. Technology acts as a bridge between two friends and allows for instant communication. Teachers should keep this in mind and not only use this for personal use but it should be incorporated within the learning environment at school.

The following are some examples of communication technologies:

Digital etiquette and responsible social interactions

The internet is a great place to communicate with other people from all over the world or in different countries. Places like email, instant messaging and various social media sites allow people to share life moments, pictures of their day, funny videos that made them smile or just to catch up with an old friend that they haven't seen in awhile. Unfortunately, not everyone uses this technology for social interaction in a positive manner. Some people use these opportunities to bully other people through mean messages, fake pages, rude posts, and many other forms of harassment. Cyber bullying doesn't happen to any specific age group; in fact, it happens to people of all ages and it could happen at any time. However, you can prevent bullying through the internet by following a few simple tips.

1. Never post something mean about someone else even if you are joking around because other people may not see it as a joke. 
2. Do not put things online that you do not want others to see because once you have uploaded something to the internet it is there permanently. 
3. When you see someone getting bullied online stand up for them by defending them and tell someone. Most social media websites have a "report abuse" button that you can use to combat bullying. 
4. Never post something out of anger because it is often the time when you say the things that you don't mean the most.
5. Remember that the other person is more than just a screen and that your actions can hurt just as bad as if you were to say those things to someone in person.

Students need to know that these 5 things are important to keep in mind. They need to be taught the rules of how to communicate with others from behind a screen. Children need to understand that communicating with the use of technology is no different than communicating face to face with someone. Teachers should be teaching self-acceptance along with these guidelines because students need to know that they are worth something. Most of the time bullying occurs because one is insecure about themselves or their life situation and they feel the need to bring others down with them. If all children are taught how to accept themselves and those around them we might be able to lower the amount of children who would rather take their life than hate themselves.

Here is a website with information for everyone on how the topic of digital etiquette and responsible social interactions. Cyberbullying

Safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology

   Over the years, society has seen technology become more integrated within the classroom. Schools are using technology to enhance student learning and to provide more meaning to the topics being discussed. Although, technology is a useful tool there are things to keep in mind when using it in an educational setting. The internet is used to search topics that are of interest to many people. Because of this, there is content that may not be suitable for children of a specific grade level. Students need to be aware of the ways in which to use technology appropriately in their classroom. This could mean that the school chooses to put blocks on certain websites or content during school hours, sends home a form to be filled out by the child and the parent or discusses with the students what the appropriate use of technology means. Teachers also need to make sure that students know how to use the information that is located on the internet legally. When children are researching for a project it is easy to find themselves using information that they have found within their final project. However, most children, depending on their age, may not be aware that the research they are using has been written by someone else. Plagiarism is easy for people to do without knowing because they feel that the information found is what they need to use. Teachers must remember to educate the students and parents on the legality of plagiarism. When children become aware of plagiarism and of how to use the internet appropriately the technology becomes a tool to enhance the things that children can learn. If used without these safety precautions, children can end up abusing the uses of technology and could end up in trouble with the school. It is important to educate today's children with the knowledge on how to use this as a resource to expand their knowledge of the world.

   In my classroom I will make sure that every student and parent is aware of these things. I want technology to be a resource that can be freely used in my classroom to expand on the topics being discussed or the things that students are interested in. Students should be able to use these resources in order to explore the world in ways that were not possible several hundred years ago. As a teacher I will place restrictions on things that are not appropriate for the children that I am teaching. I have to be aware before integrating technology into my lessons, how readily available the technology is to my students. The lessons have to account for how many technology resources are available for use, how long it will take the students and how many of them have those resources at home if they needed to use them. These are all things that I will have to consider before integrating technology into certain lesson plans. As a class, we will talk about the dangers of plagiarism and what it feels like for someone else to take credit for another person's work. Since technology is so relevant in the lives of children today, I want to make sure that I can tie it in to my lessons in order to help engage the curiosity of the students. However, I need to make sure that they understand how to use technology as a resource and not abuse it otherwise it is a waste of a valuable resource.