Digital Citizenship Audit and Interview of a School Administrator

Audit of Various Mare Island Technology Classroom Teachers An Interview with Mr. Alex Insaurralde, Assistant Director

Samantha N. Johnson ED 702 Dr. Beltramo June 19, 2013

Interview of a School Administrator Before the close of the 2012-2013 school year, I conducted an interview with Mare Island Technologys Assistant Director Mr. Alex Insaurralde. Below are the questions and his responses based on our schools Acceptable Use Policy, the use of social media in the classroom, and other students and technology related questions.
Samantha Johnson: State your opinion about MITs AUP? How do you feel about it? Is it too generic, detailed, or needs to be updated? Alex Insaurralde: I think that it is appropriately detailed. SJ: How do you feel about BYOD bring your own device where students can bring their devices from home to use in the classroom? AI: I am interested in moving in this direction down the line. I would proceed with caution in order to allow instructional practices to take advantage of students bringing their own devices. SJ: Are we preparing our students for a future with technology? AI: I think that we are, but we can do more. Although we have a lot of classical technology (computers), we dont make much use of cell phones or tablets. SJ: Do you feel MIT should provide technology access to students outside of school? AI: I think that we should make technology as accessible as possible at school. There are many issues related to providing students with technology outside of school. First, there is the cost. Second, what happens when the technology breaks down? Do we pay for the repairs? Are we responsible to provide a second computer? SJ: How do you feel about students being unable to complete class projects or research activities because of a lack of access to technology? AI: Although students may not have access to technology at home, we have sufficient access at school. Students may show up as early as 6:30am and may stay as late as 6:00pm to work on class assignments. We also have Academic Recovery on Saturdays. Libraries provide access to computers. If there is a will to complete class work or homework, there will be a way.

SJ: Cell phones, texting, and social networking; how do these communication methods fit in an educational setting? What positive outcomes do they enable? What potentially negative effects must be mitigated, and how? AI: There are potential positive outcomes in allowing students to express themselves in a new way through the use of texting and social networking sites. The potential negative effects include being off task or communicating inappropriately with others. In order to mitigate the negative effects, teachers must set clear expectations for use of cell phones and social networks. They must also monitor student activities closely. SJ: How can students use digital technologies to take best advantage of the educational opportunities available to them? AI: They should make use of the various resources that the teachers provide them: Study Island, Khan Academy, etc. If they have a smart phone, they can use their browser to look up information. Same for tablets. Many of our teachers use and encourage chatting online. Students can have access to their teachers using chat or email. SJ: Are MIT students using technology the way it was intended? AI: I think that most students are using technology the way it was attended. However, there are some who have, in the past, willingly tried to destroy other students work. There are also those who go on unapproved websites or use chat to converse with other students.

Implications of Interview Mr. Insaurralde feels that our AUP is appropriately detailed. If Mr. Insaurralde would like to someday move in the direction of allowing students to BYOD (bring your own device) and use them and social media in the class, would he feel the same about the AUP? This is an extension question I have for him. Mr. Insaurraldes responses lead me to believe he is aware of technology innovators and innovations being used in classrooms among MIT teachers. With half of the administration on board with MIT moving in the right direction, I am sure we will be

utilizing our technology much more often and expanding the technology that is currently allowed to be used in the classroom. Digital Citizenship Audit of MIT Classroom Teachers and Its Implications In total, seven teachers were given the Digital Citizenship audit form. Amongst these seven teachers, four were middle school teachers and three were high school teachers (MIT has two campuses on the same school site). The middle school teachers total scores were 19, 22, 27, and 37. The high school teachers total scores were 22, 24, and 27. All three high school teachers scored in the range which denotes the middle of the road. Either the school or district is not using a great deal of technology or educators are unaware of the issues related to digital citizenship. According to this audit, it suggests that these high school teachers do not use a great deal of technology which in fact is very contradictory being that we are a technology based school and these teachers were selected to complete this audit because of their technology use with students in the classroom. The audit also suggests that these educators are unaware of the issues of digital citizenship which is also contradictory to the fact that these teachers are indeed aware that are students are digital natives, incorporate technology into their daily lives, and learn quite well with the use of technology. Since technology is heavily used in their classrooms, all three high school teachers scored plagiarizing information obtained from the Internet as extremely important. The issue of plagiarism was very rampant throughout our high school students at the beginning of this school year and towards the end of the previous school year, particularly in our science classes. All three high school teachers scored going online to buy and sell items on auction sites during school and dropping out of school for lack of distance learning alternatives as extremely unimportant. This could be because MIT does in fact have distance learning in place at the high

school level. As far as I am aware there have been no instances of students using school technology equipment to buy and sell items during school hours. Students have been caught selling illegal substances this year but not online. These three high school teachers are very aware of what goes on in their classes as one of them has been the go to person for classroom management for the new teacher training for the past five years. The middle school teachers also scored very similar amongst each other when it came to being unable to complete class projects or research activities because of a lack of access to technology and plagiarizing information obtained from the Internet as extremely important. In the cases of students not being able to complete assignments because of a lack of access to technology, I agree with Mr. Insaurraldes response the students have ample opportunities to access technology before, during, and after school hours in order to complete their assignments. I feel it is safe to assume that the middle school teachers scored this issue as extremely important due to the fact that a large number of students were placed on our Academic Recovery pyramid of interventions this school year for not completing major projects and assignments where technology access was necessary. I can personally attest to this as many of my students turned in their major music project, which was technology based, either late or not at all. Students at the middle school level also have a hard time understanding the importance of not copying and pasting from the Internet for assignments. This too was a major issue this year especially in our seventh grade technology classes. With that said, I believe our students and staff/teachers would benefit from professional development or training of some sort on the dangers and severity of plagiarism and how it can be avoided.

Summary of Audit and Interview In conclusion, technology use at MIT is high with some misuse. We are also moving in the right direction in terms of incorporating new technologies to meet the needs and accessibilities of all learners. I am also confident that MIT will a school filled with technology leaders and innovators, knowing that our assistant director, who happens to be quite technology savvy himself, would like to see MIT move in the direction of using technology tools students already have access to (BYOD), using social media sites in the class as a means of expressing themselves, and taking advantage of the educational opportunities available to them.