Technology is a very powerful tool that enables effective teaching and learning. If not used safely, it can prove to be highly destructive.
Student A was caught watching inappropriate content online. He was watching cheating hacks and shared them with his friends. Soon, the video went viral and students were caught trying these hacks in their tests.
Student B became depressed and tried to harm herself because some students in her class body-shamed her on social media. Student B stopped going to school and often started falling ill. Her performance went down considerably.
Student C made a friend in a random chat room. This ‘friend’ turned out to be an online predator. This predator hacked his system and tried to intimidate him into doing things that student C did not want to do.
Student D went on a holiday and posted live videos and pictures on social media, tagging every place they visited. As a result, their house was robbed while they were away. Also, a stalker followed them throughout their trip, clicking pictures and finally making them viral on social media. It was a nightmare for the family.
Student E referred to a random blog to collect information on an assignment he was supposed to submit for an assessment. The student took about a week to complete the assignment, which was rejected because the source was not credible.
In order to avoid the risks that these five students faced because of the irresponsible use of technology, we should be sensitive towards the students and must know about cyber space professionally. Here’s what should happen if we want to avoid the repercussions of unsafe use of technology.
After listening to the stories of students A, B, C, D and E in a ‘Safety of CyberSpace’, Ms T, their teacher, gave all the students a flyer with the following information.
You MUST be aware of cyber laws
You MUST talk to parents/carers/teachers
You MUST be careful of making friends online
You MUST protect your privacy
Do not share the following information online:
You MUST protect your reputation
You MUST question what you read
You MUST report cyber-bullying
You MUST be careful when creating online accounts
You MUST follow Internet Etiquette at all times
You MUST keep a check on screen time
It is imperative for us, as educators, to fulfil the responsibility of ensuring the safety of our learners in every way possible.
If you want to dive deeper into this area of teaching and learning, please feel free to check out our course on Ethics and Values.
We hear all the time, be accountable towards your learners, ‘go the extra mile’, ‘bend over backwards’ for them, ‘go above and beyond’. Accountability towards learners may sometimes seem like going the extra mile, but it is not.
Think about everything you need to be, do and know as a teacher. If you are committed to being, doing and knowing the things that you should, you are an accountable teacher.
According to any ethical code for the teaching profession ever made, teachers are obligated to conduct themselves based on the ideals of their profession.
