The rise of digital and collaborative learning in New Zealand schools brings the possibility of digital dilemmas and the need for ethical decision making. Commonsense Media states that “navigating cyberbullying, privacy, safety, and other digital dilemmas are a real challenge for schools. But technology also provides incredible opportunities for students to learn, connect, create, and collaborate in ways never before imagined.”
As a teaching profession in New Zealand, teachers are enveloped by the Code of Ethics, but teachers are only one of the interests groups that the Code of Ethics serves.
With the rise of digital and collaborative teaching and learning, teachers need to explicitly teach learners how to by Cybersmart by giving them clear guidelines and practices that will enable them to make smart choices online.
An actual situation that I have knowledge of in regards to online activity is sharing by learners of inappropriate material on a class bulletin board. Learners are struggling to understand what’s appropriate because they are accessing material at home that has been created for much older audiences. Learners are not understanding messages they are getting from Youtube clips. These clips are then being shared with the class on Padlet.
From my knowledge, this situation has not yet been resolved. But it opens up further dilemmas involving parents/caregivers/whanau allowing their children to access 13+ sites. It must be confusing for the learners to be allowed to watch or access these sites at home, but not be allowed to at school.
How can this issue be addressed?
Open dialogue is needed between parents/caregivers/whanau, staff and students about being safe online.
Each interest group must be involved in conversations about the need for young people to be successful and safe digital citizens. NetSafe’s Responsible Use Agreement is written for students and reflects a change from protection to preparation for online access. I am not sure what my school has in place in regards to a responsible use agreement or digital citizenship policies.
A dilemma in my own practice is that I have been hesitant to allow my learners much online access as I am not confident in how to keep them safe online. In doing so, I have been trying to protect them. But on reflection, I realise I am limiting their learning opportunities and am not preparing them for the times they will access the Internet when not at school. It is my responsibility to firstly understand what it means to be a digital citizen and to be Cybersmart, then modelling and teaching this to my learners. I would rather be proactive in teaching my learners how to become successful digital citizens and be safe online than be reactive and the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff if they got into an ethical dilemma themselves.
References
NetSafe. Retrieved 29 March, 2016 from https://www.netsafe.org.nz/responsible-use-agreements-and-digital-citizenship-policy/.
Commonsense Media. Retrieved 29 March 2016 from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/digital-citizenship
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