Teaching Responsible Technology Use

I think that one of the most important things that we can do as educators who plan on utilizing technology in the classroom is to educate our students about how to use it properly. This education could cover a multitude of different ideas and topics. It could discuss maintaining a positive online reputation. This could assist students in avoiding finding inappropriate things about themselves on the internet. In doing so, our students could avoid possibly losing a job or not being accepted by a university due to something as silly as an inappropriate picture on the internet. A second thing that teachers should discuss with students when it comes to using technology properly would be cyber bullying. This type of bullying has become more prominent during the digital era and because of this teachers should really explain to their students how harmful this can be. One final thing that I think would be vital for teachers to discuss with their students while utilizing technology in the classroom is how to avoid releasing too much personal information. If students aren't careful, it is possible that they may release their addresses, friends and family names, and so much more to the online world. This can make students more at risk to be susceptible to dangers of online predators and stalkers. This type of danger has very clear and frightening implications. These are only three of many topics that children should understand so that they can use technology safely and responsibly. Since technology is so large in student's lives in and out of the classroom, it is extremely important that teachers help to protect their students by proving them with strategies to protect themselves online.

Why do you want to be an educator?

I honestly had never considered the idea of being an educator until I was 19 years old. I first started college at the University of Pittsburgh and was majoring in pharmacy. After my freshman year, I started to realize that pharmacy wasn't something that I wanted to do. When I first decided to change my major, I chose to stick with the sciences and to try out majoring in occupational therapy and rehabilitation. However, while doing this my sophomore year at Pitt, I was still unhappy. Luckily, it was also my sophomore year that I also first started to realize that I had a passion for education. It started when I got a job working with an organization called Jumpstart. This was an organization made up of college students who would go into low-income pre-k classrooms and work with the children on their literacy skills. I loved the program. I really enjoyed working with all of the kids and seeing how they would grow over the course of the year. So at that time, I started to see myself having a career that involved working with children. I thought that I could do something in the medical field that also involved working with kids. Once I finished my first two semesters with Jumpstart, I was devastated to hear that I had lost my work study and would no longer be able to work in the classrooms with jumpstart. I couldn't imagine not working in the classroom and it was in that moment that I decided that I wanted to go to school for Early Childhood Education. I got a job working as a classroom aide in a children's center and started talking to my adviser about what I needed to do. My adviser informed me that my only option at Pitt (unless I wanted to completely restart my entire education over) was to virtually any major, complete education electives, and then apply to go to graduate school for ece at Pitt. Since I really didn't want to transfer and leave the friends I had at the University behind, I decided that I would get my degree in social sciences. I spent one semester attempting that major when I finally made the choice that I should transfer. This led me to the education program at SNHU.