Over the past few years, we have seen a major growth in
technology, meaning that it is now even more present in everyday life; in the
classroom and at home. With this growth
in technology comes added pressure to educate student about using ICT safely,
responsibly and ethically. When you think of being safe and responsible on the
internet, the first thing that comes to mind is usually cyber safety. Whilst
this is a very important part of internet use, there is so much more that we
need to be aware of, including ethics (copyright) and Digital Information security.
These along with Cyber safety make up the top three aspects to be aware of when
using the internet.
Within the classroom, the safe responsible and ethical use
of ICT is an important part of teachers work for student learning. It is
identified in the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers in the focus
area 4.5, which can be found on page 15 at http://www.aitsl.edu.au/verve/_resources/AITSL_National_Professional_Standards_for_Teachers.pdf.
This will ensure that
students meet the needs of the Australian Curriculum under the ICT General
Capabilities, ‘Applying Social and Ethical Practices and Protocols’. This means
that students are required to learn about how to use ICT effectively and
appropriately to access, create and communicate information and ideas, solve
problems and work collaboratively in all learning areas at school, and in their
lives beyond school (Australian
Curriculum). As part of this students are required to learn about making
the most of the digital technologies available to them, adapting to new ways of
doing things as technologies evolve and very importantly limiting the risks
to themselves and others in a digital environment. (ICT
Capability).
“The Melbourne Declaration on the Educational Goals for Young Australians
(MCEETYA 2008) recognises that in a digital age, and with rapid and continuing
changes in the ways that people share, use, develop and communicate with ICT,
young people need to be highly skilled in its use. To participate in a
knowledge-based economy and to be empowered within a technologically
sophisticated society now and into the future, students need the knowledge,
skills and confidence to make ICT work for them at school, at home, at work and
in their communities.” (ICT Capability).
Whilst this is an
important part of the curriculum that students will be learning in the
classroom, it is also important for you as parents to understand how to keep
your children safe on the internet and ensure responsible and
ethical use to support their learning at school. However, this can be quite
daunting. With the rapid increase in technologies it can be difficult to know
where to start.
Below are some resources
on the top three aspects to be aware of when using ICT as mentioned earlier
(Cyber safety, digital information security and ethics), that you might find
useful for your own information and activities that you can do with your child.
Cyber Safety / Digital Information Security
According to DECD Cyber-Safety Guidelines “it is important to
protect and teach children about the use of ICTs and how to become a
responsible digital citizen. This includes thinking ahead of new risks and
teaching children about how to avoid exposure to inappropriate material or
activities, and protecting themselves when they are online. They need to learn
how to use ICTs, including mobile technologies and social networking sites, in
responsible and ethical ways. In addition, they need to feel confident about
alerting the adults in their lives when they are feeling unsafe, threatened,
bullied or exposed to inappropriate events.” (DECD Cyber-Safety Guidelines
2009)
Activitys
for children:
Information:
Ethics
A large part of displaying ethics
when using ICTs is about understanding and respecting copyright. This means
that if you use someone else’s idea or work that you acknowledge them. However,
the copyright may differ for different things depending on the authors wishes.
Some authors will allow you to use their work for commercialisation or allow
you to make changes or modifications to the original work as long as you
acknowledge them, while other authors may prefer you to not make changes to
their work or to even re-use it.
Below is a website that will explain
the different types of licences that can appear on work and what they mean, as
well as offering a search engine the will provide you with sources that you are
free to use.
Overall, ICT plays a major part in
education and in everyday life and it is important that teachers, along with
parents create a society of safe, responsible and ethical children.
This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
