EDUC 639

  There is a great importance when it comes to protecting student privacy and rights when using technology. As there has been an increase in the amount of technology that is used in the classroom in the last five years, student data must be kept private. Luckily, some acts and laws protect students and people from the misuse of digital information. FERPA is one act that is enacted in schools that protects students' and families' privacy and the spreading of information. Outside of education, various acts like the California Consumer Privacy Act protect our data from being leaked or shared (Zwier, 2020). All of these acts and laws safeguard students and their information from being stolen and shared. Additionally, schools must take necessary steps, such as encryption and limited viewing access, to ensure that student information is protected to the highest extent. However, even with these steps, educational technology is ever-growing through AI and the use of data analytics. Due...

  Digital citizenship is of the utmost importance in the modern classroom and has gained attention in the last few years ( Öztürk, 2021 ). Digital citizenship can be defined as being aware of the dangers that can occur during online use while also being aware of one's digital footprint and how to be a responsible citizen online. As teachers, teachers must prepare students to be responsible citizens when using online platforms. Knowing that students are participating as opposed to just consuming information online helps to prepare them to be digital citizens. When we break down digital citizenship, Mike Ribble describes nine different elements as a framework for the makeup of a good digital citizen, which include the following: “digital access, digital commerce, digital communication, digital literacy, digital etiquette, digital law, digital rights and responsibilities, digital health and wellness, digital security” (2015). Ultimately, focusing on ethical behavior, safe actions, res...

       As we continue to live in a world that is centered around technology, consumers, educators, and students must know their digital rights. This is especially important in the classroom, as many teachers and students frequently use technology; thus, it is even more important that those individuals know their digital rights. Digital rights are certain rights that an individual has when it comes to accessing technology and information that may exist in the technological world (Mulder, 2023). However, digital rights also include the protection of personal information and privacy that occur when one participates in the digital world.       When we look at digital rights from the educational perspective, students and teachers must be aware of the privacy that they are mandated to have. Teachers and the school district contain massive amounts of information that they store digitally, unlike 40 years ago when that information would be stored in a fil...

 

Media has become a staple in our lives and seems to be present in all aspects of life which is why media fluency is of such importance. Media fluency can be defined as, “ interpret[ing] and make[ing] informed judgments as users of information and media, as well as to become skillful creators and producers of information ” (Hardin, 2024). Media fluency is important because it teaches students how to analyze, interpret, and understand various sources of media to make sense of the world around them.  Media fluency includes analyzing sources to identify if sources are reputable, accurate, show bias, or are up-to-date. It also includes identifying media and understanding its purpose of creation and the information that it conveys. Media fluency allows students to be able to identify reliable sources that can back up their writing or research. Additionally, media fluency gives students the skills needed to ethically review sources before using them to support research or before sharing t...