ISTE Standard 4

ISTE Standard 4: Promote and Model Digital Age Citizenship and Responsibility

As our global and local world changes it our responsibility as a teacher to understand what is going on around us. We need to be aware of the issues that face our society. It is becoming necessary for everyone despite their socioeconomic status to have access to some type of digital technology. When gaining digital access it is important to portray and model using legal and moral behavior on the internet. This is necessary because of the digital changes happening in and out of schools.

All teachers, parents, and students need to practice good etiquette when communicating and working online. It is important for teachers to be the first role model when teaching students how to be safe online. It is important that teachers show respect online appropriately documenting any resources they may use, including respecting copyrights. This is critical to begin teaching these rules to students at a young age. This is the time to begin laying the foundation for how to practice legal and ethical behaviors online. Many young people act without thinking online because they naively think that the internet can make them anonymous. Sometimes they do not realize that the internet can be harmful to them if they are not careful.

Teachers should begin teaching students that the internet can be used to meaningfully integrate teaching and lessons that go on in the classrooms. Students are going to be introduced to the digital world rather we are ready or not so it is important that we model and teach them how to use online sources as safely and responsible as we can. Students look up to teachers to demonstrate the appropriate behavior we expect from them. We do not want to develop with our students the idea of “Do as I say not as I do.” Students feel betrayed and do not take a teacher serious if we show a lack of judgment when making choices on the internet.

Once we establish the rules and safety precautions of communicating online, we open the door to creating opportunities for other informal teachable moments.  These often involve matters of “ethical and legal behavior,” as the standard specifies, regarding media use and digital etiquette.  When my class did a class video for a project and we used music from YouTube and songs from outside resources, I was able to use it as a teaching lesson. I had to explain to the students how all the students had to have their parents sign a consent giving us permission to use their pictures. I also touched on the facts that the songs we used had copyrights and had to ask for permission to use them. I explained how that is very important because we do not want the owner of the songs to get upset and accuse us of stealing their work.
 As a teacher, I will be communicating with students, parents, school boards, principals, and other teachers all the time. Because of the technology available this day and age, much of my communication will be online. Therefore, I need to know how to write in a way that clearly demonstrates my profession status. Proper technological etiquette lets my receiver know that I am serious about what I am saying, and that I expect equal attitudes from them; it also conveys a sense of trust between correspondences due to the professional manner.