Artifact # 13
Competency 14.3 : Social, legal, and ethical issues related to technology use.
Context
These documents were accessed and created in the Technology in the
Classroom class in the fall of 2001.
Document one is a Valley Crucis Elementary School Policy on Acceptable
use of Computers. It provides rules and the consequences of breaking
those rules. It also has a contract that requires the signature of
both the parent and the student.
Document two is a general Internet etiquette sheet for email. These rules will help insure considerate and effective email messages. Some of the rules include spell checking, respecting other people’s privacy, and no chain mail.
Document three is a link to the Classroom Connect’s Connected Teacher. (http://www.connectedteacher.com/tips/aup.asp ) This page is a template that allows you the teacher to develop an Acceptable Use Policy for your school. It provides generalities for all schools but it allows you to modify the template to fit your school’s specific needs. At the end it provides a place for the parent and the student to sign, acknowledging they have read and agree to these policies.
Also in class we were divided into groups to act out different ethical issues. My group had the issue of finding a disk with someone else’s research paper and claiming it as our own. One student pretended to leave their disk in the computer when they left. Then three of us came up talking about going out to party that night. I said I could not go because I needed to work on my research paper. When I looked at the computer there was someone else’s disk with their research paper on it. My friends convinced me to just take the disk and claim the paper as my own. I did so that we could go out and party. Another issue that was acted out was software piracy. That group had one girl playing a computer game, when her friend comes up and ask to play. Girl one said that she did not have time to let girl two stay in her room but that girl two could copy the disk and use it on girl two’s own computer. Girl two asked if the copied disk would work the same as the originally. And girl one assured girl two that it would and it was ok to do. So girl number two copied the program onto her own disk and used it. We discussed in class how each one of these issues was illegal and not acceptable computer usage.
Impact
These documents are a good starting point to discuss acceptable computer
policies in the classroom. The template will allow me to create my
own computer policies for the school computer lab quickly and efficiently.
Many people especially students think that it is ok to copy software and
send chain mail. These sheets will help to cut down on how much this
is done, and hopefully discourage them from continuing to do this.
Alignment
These documents align with Competency Goal 14.3
. As a future NC public school teacher, I will be able to influence
students in what they do. It is the responsibility of the teacher
to teach those students the correct use of computers and to show them what
is legal or illegal.