Issues when Implementing Technology in Schools

As a student, I use MS Word regularly and for many academic purposes. I primarily use it to write papers and prepare my discussion boards. I have had to use MS word for other many other educational assignments. For instance, I’ve had to create quiz templates, pamphlets, and now I, along with my classmates, am creating a newsletter. When it comes to how teachers use MS Word, I’ve seen them use it for many purposes, like: creating syllabi, assignment instructions, and modules check lists.  Some teachers have used MS Word to create worksheets to go along with the lesson notes they’ve created.

I have decent understanding of what copyright entails and now fair use, after reading Chapter 9. I know that taking someone else’s creative work like: music, text, or multimedia clips, without the holder’s permission can be in violation of copyright law and can lead to legal issues. That’s why I’ve always cited any creative work that I incorporate into my academic work. Educational arenas are often given slack from the fair use doctrine, which allows educators and students to use copyrighted material as long as they don’t overdo it. However, I’m more than happy to accept documents and work created through notable open-source programs, as well as to use them as tools myself. Some things on the other hand, may have to be paid for and funded by the school/grant or myself to use.

The three main implementations issues are legal, social, and ethical. These three issues have created a negative effect on the implementation of education technology. Such legal issues would be copyright, piracy, and acceptable use. On the other side, social issues have caused a major concern resulting in cyber bullying, cyber stalking, and Web 2.0. Lastly, ethical issues such as freedom of speech, academic honesty, and hacking/malware have become a growing concern. With that being said, the three solutions that I would propose would be having more awareness and training to help prevent computer security problems. Current training these days are too simple, and if the training is not enough, the security team needs to lock down the users more.  It would also be nice to have a better means to handling cyber bulling than being reported and should have real school related consequences. I think there should be a better penalty than just being blocked from a certain social media platform. Students should be able to report, with proof, to a faculty member that is allowed to punish the bully properly. Lastly, piracy has become a big issue for many people. A lot of products are being pirated the day they come out, if not beforehand, which causes serious economic problems for the creators. Schools should further attempt to receive the proper funding to give kids and teachers what they need so they do not resort to piracy.