Technology Facilitator Standard VI: Social, Ethical, Legal, and Human Issues

From this reading, I gathered a more in-depth education related to the Technology Facilitation standard regarding social, ethical, legal and human issues. I also found, through analyzing the individual technology indicators, that in my position I have had the opportunity to model and teach legal and ethical practice related to technology use. I have also had the opportunity to promote safe and health use of technology resources.

In years past the Public Information Department director has led the session with Public Information Network Representatives at each of our district schools to give them pertinent instructions, arm them with the "manual" and send them on their way. In 2009 he charged me with re-writing the manual to update with modern technology resources and terminology. He also charged me with leading the sessions since I was the person with whom PIN reps most often communicated.

This PIN rep is tasked with collecting the week's news information from the school and emailing it to the Public Information Department. The meeting, accompanied by a manual that is written by department staff, highlights photo criteria, elements of a complete news article, and deadlines PIN reps need to submit information in order for it to appear in the next newsletter. Also covered in this session are the guidelines set forth in the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act related to publishing a student's name and likeness. PIN reps need to be fully briefed regarding the district's policy for maintaining students' privacy, and balancing that policy with sharing student's accomplishments at school.

Also involved for the first time in 2009 was the explanation of IISD Twitter use for news purposes and the encouragement for PIN reps to partner with school Instructional Technology Specialists to create a school Twitter account and also to follow Irving ISD on Twitter. Instructions given to PIN reps for establishing a Twitter account and following IISD can be found here. The district-level use of, and my encouragement of school-level use of Twitter gave me the opportunity to explore TV-VI.A.: Model and teach legal and ethical practice related to technology use (Williamson, 2009). I advised PIN reps to create an account. I also advised them to ensure they adhere to district Acceptable Use Policy when using Twitter.

The most relevant issues of future learning for me would be those of using school-owned technology to access social networking sites, then posting malicious or improper speech or photographs. My views from before the course and after have not changed. It is my opinion that by teaching students the proper way to use technology instead of simply denying them access, they will learn much more effectively. Furthermore, it is my opinion that by having staff and faculty model proper online behavior, students will see the standard acted out in front of them and will understand that what we teach them is relevant and practical.

As a technology leader, I will be better prepared to help staff model appropriate behavior, and to help administrators draft clear policies and curriculum for proper use. As Bissonette points out, schools should make clear in how they filter Internet sites, create written policy and provide classroom instruction that there is material on the Web that should not be accessed (2009). She goes on to point out that policies need to be written that encourage (instead of scare) students and staff into reporting access of such instances, whether or not they are intentional or accidental.

Cyberbullying could potentially affect me in the future as a school technology leader. As Hinduja and Patchin point out, approximately 20 percent of more than 4,400 randomly selected students between 11 and 18 indicated they had been cyberbullied at some point in this life. What's more, roughly this same number admitted to cyberbullying others (2010).

I have learned about the various efforts by local, state and federal governmental bodies to confront cyberbullying and education students on how to handle it. I've also learned about Standard 6 of the Educational Leadership Constituent Council standards, which were developed by the National Policy Board for Educational Administration(2002). When you couple an administrator's adherence to this standard, as well as the efforts of the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use, administrators can be well prepared to meet the challenges of cyberbullying by identifying the signs and providing education for students to alleviate or ignore it.

Bissonette, A. (2009). Cyberlaw: Maximizing Safety and Minimizing Risk in Classrooms. Corwin, Thousand Oaks. 2009.

Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J. (2010). Cyberbullying fact sheet: Identification, Prevention, and Response. Cyberbullying Research Center. http://www.cyberbullying.us/Cyberbullying_Identification_Prevention_Response_Fact_Sheet.pdf.

Information and Resources for Educators (n.d.). Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use. http://www.cyberbully.org/cyberbully/

Standards for Advanced Programs in Educational Leadership (January 2002). National Policy Board for Educational Administration.

http://www.npbea.org/ELCC/ELCCStandards%20_5-02.pdf.

Williamson, J. & Redish, T. (2009). ISTE’s technology facilitation and leadership standards: What every K-12 leader should know and be able to do. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.