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Educational Technology Bill of Rights for Students: Edited Version

Educational Technology Bill of Rights for Students

by Brad Flickinger

Edited Version: by Robyn Pasman

(Black writing is unchanged, red is changed, and purple is what I think should be taken out.)

The following are what I believe are the rights of all student to have with regards to using technology as an educational tool, written as a student to their teacher:



1) I have the right to use my own technology at school, as long as it isn’t disruptive to the class or the teacher. I should not be forced to leave my new technology at home to use (in most cases) out-of-date school technology. If I can afford it, let me use it -- you don’t need to buy me one. If I cannot afford it, please help me get one -- I don’t mind working for it.



2) I have the right to access the school’s Wi-Fi. Stop blaming bandwidth, security or whatever else -- if I can get on Wi-Fi at McDonalds, I think that I should be able to get online at school.



3) I have the right to submit digital artifacts that prove my understanding of a subject, regardless of whether or not my teacher knows what they are. Teachers should be trained on how to use technology, but if they make specifications on how they will accept an assignment I should follow these guidelines. Just because you have never heard of Prezi, Animoto, VoiceThread or Glogster, doesn’t mean that I should not be able to use these tools to prove to you that I understand what you are teaching me.



4) I have the right to cite Wikipedia as one of the sources that I use to research a subject. Just because you believe the hype that Wikipedia is full of incorrect information, doesn’t mean that it is true -- besides we all use it anyways (including you). I am smart enough to verify what I find online to be the truth. You should teach me which online sources are credible and which aren’t. I should be able to use Wikipedia as a general source of basic knowledge on my subject, because not everything on there is incorrect. 



5) I have the right to access social media at school, as long as it isn’t distracting to me, the class, or the teacher. It is where we all live, it is how we communicate -- we do not use email, or call each other. We use Facebook, Twitter and texting to talk to each other. Teachers and schools should take advantage of this and post announcements and assignments using social media -- you will get better results.



6) I have the right to be taught by teachers who know how to manage the use of technology in their classrooms. These teachers know when to use technology and when to put it away. They understand that I need to be taught how to balance my life between the online and offline worlds. They do not throw the techno-baby out with the bathwater.



7) I have the right to be taught by teachers who teach me and demand that I use 21st Century Skills. Someday I am going to need a job that is going to require 21^st century skills -- please help me be employable.



8) I have the right to be assessed with technology. I love the instant feedback of testing done with technology. I live in a world of instant feedback, so to find out a couple of weeks later that I didn’t understand your lesson, drives me crazy. If you were a video game, no one would play you -- feedback is too slow.

 Technology should not replace the teacher as an assessment tool; the teacher should always double check.

9) I have the right to be protected from technology. I don’t want to be cyber-bullied, hurt, scared or find crud online content that I would rather not find. Please help me use technology responsibly and safely. Please stay up-to-date with this kind of information, and teach me to make good choices. I am not you and we don’t see eye to eye about what to put online, but help me to meet you in the middle.



10) I have the right to be taught by teachers that know their trade. They are passionate about what they do and embrace the use of technology to help me learn. They attend trainings and practice what they learn. They are not afraid to ask for my help; they might know more than me about the Civil War, but I know Glogster like nobody’s business.



Robyn's Bubbl

Robyn's Wordle

Photo Story: My Trip to the Dominican

Self Directed Learning

I see self directed learning as the student producing their own knowledge instead of the teacher delivering the knowledge. In self directed learning the learner develops their own initiatives or goals, and reaches these goals through their own direction. I think that self directed learning can be an effective learning strategy. This learning strategy involves the student directing their own learning, which in turn means that there is motivation behind the learning. It also allows students to learn at their own pace, which I think can become a downfall of teacher directed learning. In teacher directed learning, the teacher mostly delivers the knowledge to the class a whole, and I don’t think that this strategy takes into consideration that some students fall behind, some work ahead, and the rest fall somewhere in the middle. Having said this, I think there is a place in the classroom for both self directed learning and teacher directed learning. Both have positive and negative outcomes.

            I think that the curriculum areas where self directed learning would be most effective would be areas like language arts, and social studies. These are subjects where the student can read and think about concepts or interpretations on their own. I don’t think it would be as effective in subjects like math and science because these subjects require a lot more demonstration by the teacher of concepts. I do think that self directed learning can play a part in every subject. This concept might be more applicable to students in middle school and above who possess the cognitive abilities to self direct and motivate their learning. A lot of the time younger kids require more guidance and motivation.

            I think that technology can play a part in self directed learning. Students can use resources like the computer and the internet to assist them in their learning. I don’t think that this approach would benefit every learner. I think that motivation is a key aspect of self directed learning, and if students lack that this strategy would not work well with them. I also think that there are some students who learn better through teacher directed learning, while there are others who learn better through self direction. There will always be students in your class who benefit from one method while others benefit from the other. It is important to have a balance in the classroom to meet the needs of all the students.

I chose this picture to demonstrate students using self directed learning. These students are working independently on the computers. I also chose it because I think computers can be a very useful tool when it comes to self directed learning.