What are the main issues with regards to ethics and cyber safety that are relevant to your organisation?

Whenever the internet is discussed, the one topic that is always raised is cyber safety and ethics used online. In regards to a student environment, some institutions take certain information into account such as:

• blocking inappropriate sites
• students having their own email account (usually set up by the school)
• bullying/harassment (cyber bullying)

These are just some of the issues when studying online. Being able to block inappropriate sites should be compulsory for all K - 12 schools. Having a computer lab supervisor should be able to block unwanted sites from the school's browser and the teachers should be able to 'understand any potential risks that a session may present'.

Having the school set up a student email account is useful for students and teachers. This allows student and teachers to be able to email each other within a secured network as well as the school being able to monitor the students accounts if need be. The school I attended, Cranebrook High School, introduced this system and the students found it to be particularly helpful; especially with the submission of assessments.

Cyber bullying is another issue that teachers must monitor. With instant messaging programs now available online such as ‘e – messenger’, cyber bullying is a new way for student to get harassed. Although this can be done through email and websites too. Gone are the days where bullies would pick on kids on the playground, instead they just do it by electronic means. Statistics show that ‘58 percent of kids admit someone has said mean or hurtful things to them online. More than four out of ten say it has happened more than once.’ This number can easily be reduced if teachers and schools monitored their student’s activities online, blocked unwanted sites and trained their teachers to be a little more tech – savvy.

These are only a few of the issues concerning the student environment (particularly K – 12) however does apply to all educational institutions. To a safer learning environment, teachers must be trained and given the tools to be able to monitor the student’s whereabouts online, what they choose to do and who they contact.

References

• Cyber Safety & Ethics, A Cyber Safe Classroom; viewed 19th August 2008. http://www.education.vic.gov.au/management/elearningsupportservices/www/classroom/cybersafety.htm
• Cranebrook High School; Viewed 19th August 2008. http://www.cranebrook-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/index.htm
• Cyber Bullying, Wikipedia, viewed 19th August, 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber-bullying

What Are The Barriers of E - Learning?

Barriers of E – learning can affect a student’s study to an extent.
One problem faced by e – learning is the in-ability to have the teacher in the room on the spot as well as other students. Students grow up in traditional classroom environments, and it’s basically the same when attending university. In both situations, the teacher and lecturer are present in the room. However when in an e – learning environment, there is no ‘teacher’ present therefore any questions that are usually answered on the spot has to be emailed. The process of emailing the question and waiting for a response is time consuming thus, the work being worked on has to be put on hold until the question is answered.

The other side is that ‘was a lack of social interaction’ between other students. Students learn off of each other as well as off of the teacher. Having other students presenting ideas spark new ideas and discussions throughout the room.

Another problem faced by students is the technological side of things. A lot of the older age bracket of students is not computer or internet savvy, therefore the structure of the e – course can fail. This is where technical support needs to addressed. If the student dosen’t know why something online is not working, naturally the student will email the teacher. The teacher will then either address the issue and then it will be solved. However if the teacher is not technologically knowledgeable themselves, they will then forward your email to a technician. This is time consuming again which could easily cause the student a loss of marks just because their teacher couldn’t give them an answer straight away.
The problem seems to lie within the training of the teacher for the course. As ‘many instructors lack the knowledge and skills to design and teach distance learning courses, their organisations lack support staff to assist with technical problems’ therefore a contradictory cycle appears where the teacher shouldn’t be teaching the student because the teacher doesn’t really know what they’re doing.

References

• Muilenburg, L.Y., & Berge, Z.L. (2005). Student Barriers to Online Learning: A Factor Analytic Study Distance Education: An International Journal, 26(1): pp. 29-48. http://www.emoderators.com/barriers/stbarr_final_may05.pdf
• Cho, S.K. & Berge, Z.L. (2002). Overcoming Barriers to Distance Training and Education. Education at a Distance [USDLA Journal] (16)1. http://www.emoderators.com/barriers/cho.html