EdTech

  Rubric 90-100 80-90 79-80 0-69 Completion All segments are complete  Most segments are complete Some segments are complete No segments are complete Comprehension All answers are accurate: main ideas captured fully  Most answers are accurate: some partial main ideas/ details captured Some answers are accurate: some details captured rather than main ideas No answers are accurate Presentation All font size and formatting are uniform and images are neat and centered Most font size and formatting are uniform and images are neat and centered Some font size and formatting are uniform and images are neat and centered No font size and formatting are uniform and images are neat and centered Effort Student tried their best for the duration of the assignment Student tried their best for most of the assignment Student needed more prompting than usual to try their best Student did not try/ refused Independence Student needed level of prompting that IEP goal states Student needed 2 mo...

Technology Tool My lesson plan is a district-provided language arts curriculum for special education. The standard I am addressing is the Core Content Connector of 9-10.RL.10: “Use strategies to derive meaning from a variety of texts and mediums”. Students are reading “The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie. They recently completed a sorting activity for metaphors and similies found in the text. I plan to use the Artificial Intelligence image creator called Midjourney to incorporate a visual component to a discussion about the visuals metaphors and similies try to convey. Midjourney takes text prompts and generates beautiful and complex visual representations. Visual aids are a component of the Universal Design for Learning theory, and students with autism particularly benefit from concrete visuals (Boutot, 2017). One of my students with autism has had a hard time understanding what similies and metaphors are. I think the Midjourney tool will be effective in...

  Social Responsibility and Biblical Worldview First John 4:19 instructs “Those who love God must love their brothers and sisters” (New International Version, 1989). Christian educators are called to implement this teaching in both their interactions with students and in the topics they teach about. Catholic social teaching calls followers of Christ to participate in society, to support the institution of marriage and family, and the right to life, as well as the dignity of workers, and offer charity to the poor and vulnerable (“Call to Family Community and Participation”, n.d.; Christie et al., 2019). As educators, we have an opportunity to instruct students in these areas. It is our highest calling as Christians to live up to God’s plan for us, influence others toward Him, and love those around us.  Though educational settings have varying rules of conduct regarding the expression of religious views, any educator can model the values of love and charity, and discuss the impo...

Security of Data in the Future Digital rights are an increasingly important topic in our rapidly advancing technological world. Data security is an essential component of the digital right to privacy (Taylor, 2017). The same fundamental right we have as individuals to personal privacy extends to the digital world. While data on internet activity, demographic, and consumer profiles are very valuable to many companies, it is not ethical for them to have access to this information without consumer consent. The reality of users' experience makes “opting in” to cookies a requirement for accessing many needed resources. The steps to limit access to data are often lengthy and tedious, requiring a level of technological savvy that many lack. This puts the average internet user in a vulnerable position. Traditional privacy is easy to recognize, while one’s degree of digital privacy is virtually undetectable to most. Komljenovic takes the concern of digital privacy even further, arguing tha...

       Digital Citizenship is an aspect of education that has gained importance since the introduction of technology to societies and classrooms decades ago. As new tools have permeated the learning space, the  International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has adjusted teaching standards to reflect new possibilities, from an original focus in 2008 on using technology to teach, to a revamp in 2017 focusing on “collaboration, advocacy, digital literacy, media literacy, computational thinking, privacy and student data, student empowerment, data-based decision making, feedback, and teaching colleagues” (Trust, 2017, para. 2). For example, the teaching standard 3 is “Model digital age work and learning. Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society” ( ISTE , n.d.).           Teachers today are asked not only to be content area experts but to ...

  Digital Rights The original basis of determining digital rights was to extend physical rights, arguing that the same rights should exist in both domains (Calzada et al., 2021). Today this discussion is becoming more nuanced as more technologies develop and access to tools impact equity of opportunity. New prototype rights presented by Calzada et al. include “the right to Internet access and the right not to be subject to automated decision” (2021, abstract section). In my opinion, internet access should be viewed as an important privilege, not a right, with the responsibility of gaining access falling to individuals and voluntary groups who care about the cause, rather than government agencies.  Taylor proposes a framework of “data justice” which is measured based upon three pillars of (in)visibility, (dis)engagement, and antidiscrimination (2017, A proposed framework section, para. 2). Digital visibility is related to the right of privacy. Citizens should be entitled to vir...