1. What policies govern your uses of ICT in your school setting?

I copied the following directly from the student handbook for the 2013/2014 school year. It outlines the official policy on the student uses of ICT:

Technology Use and Policy

Students who wish to have access to technology resources in the school must complete with their parent/guardian the District Technology Access and Use Agreement form. Students using technology resources are expected to so responsibly and ethically.
Students are reminded that any activity that involves the use of school technology falls under the jurisdiction of the school and that all communication is subject to monitoring and is not considered being private. Thus students who use school computers must conduct themselves appropriately.

LA Matheson Secondary provides internet access and E-mail accounts for authorized users. School internet access is a privilege, not a right. School internet users must understand and agree to the District School Internet/Mail Use Policy; and have appropriate signatures on their Internet Registration Form. Only these students can access the Internet through school computers including Library computers. School accounts shall be used only by the authorized owner of the account. Account holders are responsible for all activity within their account. Students are therefore reminded to log off after each computer session.

Violations of District School Acceptable use Guidelines are serious transgressions of school rules. Consequences may include cancellation of internet use privileges, exclusion from certain courses, and suspension from school. Violations of Canadian law may be referred to the police. Users will be held legally and financially responsible for their actions.
Vandalism will not be tolerated. In addition to any malicious damage to school or private property, vandalism also includes, but is not limited to: attempts to harm or destroy data of another user, the internet, or other networks or agencies connected to any part of the internet; use of programs that harass users or infiltrate a computer system and/or damage the software components. Furthermore, without specific permission for each occasion, the school network cannot be used for personal E-mail, chat lines, games, downloading or installing of executable program files.

Inappropriate use of the internet includes, but is not limited to:

• Transmission of illegal materials including storage or duplication of pornographic material
• Transmission or posting of threatening, abusive or obscene material
• Harassment of others
• Use of abusive, vulgar, profane, obscene or other inappropriate language
• Attempts to vandalize or gain unauthorized access to data, servers or external services
• Use of another’s account or resources
• Sharing of passwords with others
• Revealing another person’s personal address, phone number, picture, or other data without personal or parental consent, as appropriate

These regulations are fair and do not do much to limit student ICT use. In terms of use by teachers, we follow a similar code of conduct. The major restriction on ICT use in our school is the unofficial policy that we should use and encourage the use of the district hub over other resources that are available. There are rumors that over the next few years we will be required to use the hub for all student posts.

2. What digital technological resources do you have available for teaching and learning in your school setting?

In terms of hardware, we have two computer labs available for booking during all blocks of the day in addition to a class set of computers in the school library. There are digital projectors and Smartboards as well as camcorders available as well. There are also two mobile laptop carts which are in a poor state of repair. These shared resources tend to be difficult to access because they are in such high demand.

Through any computer in the school, students can access a wide range of software, including video editing, video streaming, photo editing, animation, and other programs. The district hub is supposed to be updated this summer to allow any staff member or student to create and manage groups, blogs, and websites. Every student already has a district e-mail address.

3. Please provide an example of an exemplary use of digital technologies for teaching and learning that you have observed or experienced personally.

I have used online simulations to conduct labs that we were unable to execute in the classroom due to lack of equipment or space. I typically use the Moving Man simulation from PhET. The students like the ability to test different things out in a risk-free environment.

4. Please provide an example of a problematic use of digital technologies for teaching and learning that you have observed or experienced personally.

A class was asked to create their own blogs in response to a novel they were reading, and students were given time each day to comment on other posts. Unfortunately the project was set up in a way that students could anonymously post and resulted in some students getting negative, harassing comments on their pages.

5. Please provide a brief history of how you learned to use digital technologies (personally and professionally).

I have always taught myself how to use digital technologies. I typically hear about things from friends and colleagues, and if I’m interested enough will try it out on my own. When I struggle with something, I tend to turn to built-in help and support functions over seeking advice from a “real” person.

6. How would you rate your digital technological proficiency? 0 = low level of proficiency -> 10 = high level of proficiency? Why did you give yourself this rating?

I rate my proficiency at a six. I am comfortable with many technologies and learn new things quickly, but there are many things I have yet to experience. For example, I don’t know how to use an iPad or create a podcast, but I would like to learn!

7. What do you hope to accomplish in this course?

I hope that I learn to use some technologies that I am unfamiliar with and get some ideas from my classmates on how to make use of them in the classroom or library.