The Lessen Plan
Is This Digital Citizenship Lesson Plan Effective?
When first reading the standards and objectives for this lesson, I came to the conclusion that they sounded reasonable and valuable to discuss in a classroom with 1:1 access to iPads. The standards advocate safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology, having positive attitudes towards using technology for collaboration, learning, and productivity, exhibiting leadership for digital citizenship, and so on. These elements seem like solid areas of discussion and exploration, as being a safe and responsible digital citizen in and out of school is essential to be successful in this modern world. The standards for the lesson also sought to create responsible digital citizens by teaching students to connect the Responsible and Acceptable Use Policy (RAUP) to broader community norms, again asking students to be responsible "users" in and out of the classroom.
While reading these standards, I began to wonder if this 30-60 minute lesson would effectively deliver these results. I observed this through the lens of a special education teacher, as I will be teaching in a 3rd-5th grade mild/moderate SDC this coming school year. The lesson does provide modifications and accommodations, asking students in special education to complete graphic organizers (G.O.'s) and write less details than in a general education classroom.
In my opinion, the lesson would need to be modified further for students with special needs. First, the lesson asks students to read the abridged RAUP. The jargon may be a bit advanced for my prospective students, so this element would need to be modified. Second, there are not any visuals included, suggesting this lesson could use some more differentiation to accommodate to the various learning types present in the special education classroom. Third, students are asked to perform various scenarios that describe digital citizen DOs and DON'Ts. Depending on the disability, students with special needs may feel overwhelmed from the pressure to perform in front of their peers. The lesson provides an option to accomplish this in small groups, which helps take off the pressure, but I would also suggest taking volunteers to perform. This is so students with speech impediments or other impairments are not pressured when they are feeling overwhelmed, because learning does not occur if students are uncomfortable. An element of the lesson that I like is the inclusion of G.O.'s, which are great for assisting students with comprehending information.
In my opinion, the lesson would need to be modified further for students with special needs. First, the lesson asks students to read the abridged RAUP. The jargon may be a bit advanced for my prospective students, so this element would need to be modified. Second, there are not any visuals included, suggesting this lesson could use some more differentiation to accommodate to the various learning types present in the special education classroom. Third, students are asked to perform various scenarios that describe digital citizen DOs and DON'Ts. Depending on the disability, students with special needs may feel overwhelmed from the pressure to perform in front of their peers. The lesson provides an option to accomplish this in small groups, which helps take off the pressure, but I would also suggest taking volunteers to perform. This is so students with speech impediments or other impairments are not pressured when they are feeling overwhelmed, because learning does not occur if students are uncomfortable. An element of the lesson that I like is the inclusion of G.O.'s, which are great for assisting students with comprehending information.
Overall, I think that the scenarios provide opportunities to explore various outcomes of using technology, if students feel comfortable. These outcomes address the standards and learning objectives, as they ask students to contemplate scenarios that could occur both in and out of the classroom. However, more time than 30-60 minutes would need to be spent exploring the topic.
How to Prepare Students for 1:1 iPads
An activity like this could be usable for preparing students to be safe and responsible digital citizens. It would need to be used in conjunction with visuals, such as digital citizenship infographics (which will be discussed in my next blog post). I also think that more than 30-60 minutes would need to be spent discussing these important topics, at least a week. The best way to prepare students for personal iPads is to be honest about the dangers of the Internet and explain the ripple effect that their internet presences can cause.
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