Week 28 Ethical and legal contexts in my digital Practice.

As I journey into using digital technology more in my classroom I am aware that this means I need to knowledgable around the ethics of students using digital technology. Learning how to be ethical and consistent in my application of ethics in teaching is not like learning to teach reading and writing. In my training I was made aware of New Zealand Codes of Practice, however in your training you rarely experience situations where you have to consider these. As you teach you begin to develop a toolkit in how to ensure your practice is ethical.

At my school we have just begun the journey into students having their own blogs and their own devices in school. Students have only just begun to learn what is safe to share online and what is appropriate to share.

What?
In my classroom as we began to blog students wanted to share a quick bio about themselves, however some students did not check these with me before posting and this required me removing the posts from their blogs. Students have been taught about what is personal and private and were given guidelines about what to post, however they were excited to use their blog and wanted to make multiple personal posts. This is problematic as the students' blogs are public so that their learning can be shared more widely and they connect with other learners. The iPads students were using were owned by the school but are assigned to individual students in the classroom.

So what? 
I will be using Ehrich's model to consider the ethics of the situation.

Professional: As a teacher and as a school we have a commitment to our learners and parents, to ensure their safety and their wellbeing, and engaging with their parents about their learning (Education council, p 12-14).  This means it is my responsibility as a teacher to ensure that the students know what is appropriate to post and what needs to be kept private, that they know why they are sharing their learning and who can see it. Students need to have an understanding of what makes a quality blog post - I plan to use the Manaiakalani rubric on quality blog posts, starting with the beginner criteria as students are just learning to write posts about their learning.

Legal Issues: students are able to have their own google account as this does not have a restriction unlike other social media (instagram), therefore it is appropriate to use this medium to share students learning. However knowing that what we put online becomes permanent and public knowledge is important for students to grasp. Teaching students to that they cannot share others work and claim it as their own and to not use pictures from online that are not public domain is new learning and will require explicit teaching.

Society and Community: it is important to consider how our students will be affected by sharing their learning and what others comment on in regards to the learning they share. Teaching students to comment something, positive, helpful and thoughtful is important way to ensure commenting on blogs is encouraging and helps the students to improve their learning. How will sharing their learning with whanau overseas and within New Zealand help students to improve their wellbeing (emotional, social and spiritual)? How will sharing their learning help them to connect what they are learning with other learners within New Zealand and the world? Considering these I can see that it is important to have strong relationships with students, parents and the wider community, so that the students' blogs can reflect their own personal ethics as well as that of our schools.

Now what?
In my teaching I need to ensure students know what makes a quality blogpost, how to comment on each others blog posts so that it is constructive. Students will need education on how to engage with people online so that it is positive, helpful and thoughtful.
Ensuring that I follow the Code of Practice and educate my students on how to navigate online learning is imperative in order to work through ethical dilemmas I may face in my future teaching practice.

Ehrich, L. C. , Kimber M., Millwater, J. & Cranston, N. (2011). Ethical dilemmas: a model to understand teacher practice, Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice, 17:2, 173-185, DOI: 10.1080/13540602.2011.539794

Education Council. (2017). Our Code Our Standards. Retrieved from: https://educationcouncil.org.nz/sites/default/files/Our%20Code%20Our%20Standards%20web%20booklet%20FINAL.pdf

Ministry of Education. (2015). DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY Safe and responsible use in schools. Wellington: New Zealand: Author. Retrieved from https://www.education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/School/Managing-and-supporting-students/DigitalTechnologySafeAndResponsibleUseInSchs.pdf