Reflections on Oregon Technology Standard #5

Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to digital technology and practice legal, ethical, and responsible behavior. Even at the young ages of 6 to 8, children need to understand the responsibility they have when using technology. I think it is important that children learn what is legal and illegal, safe and unsafe, and appropriate and inappropriate when using computers and other tech devices. Cyber bullying, exposure to pornographic or disturbing images, plagiarizing are all real concerns affecting younger and younger children everyday. At the primary level, I try to teach kids about the need to treat computers carefully, only work on the assigned website (do not search the web without permission), and always work on the computer under the supervision of an adult.