Running head: OTL504 PORTFOLIO PROJECT ANALYSIS

OTL504 Portfolio Project Analysis

Caroline A. Triggs
Colorado State University Global Campus
OTL:504 Social, Ethical, and Legal Issues in 21st Century Learning
Dr. Brenda Bagwell
May 29th, 2016

OTL504 PORTFOLIO PROJECT ANALYSIS

Portfolio Project Analysis

This course examined numerous complex issues facing educators, administrators, and
students in todays 21st century classrooms. Throughout this course, we discussed topics
including internet safety, social media, cyberbullying, determining credibility, and copyright
and fair use. While tasked with confronting these issues, I discovered the importance of
implementing this content across grade levels and subject areas. In my opinion, it is the
responsibility of schools to properly prepare students for life beyond the classroom and a
failure to do so means failure as an educator. I believe that preparing students for the realworld means integrating well-rounded technology education in every aspect of curriculum.
Setting Clear Rules and Expectations: Lets Stay Safe Infographic
The first step at integrating technology in the classroom should include clear rules and
expectations. These rules and expectations should be aligned to school and district policies
and procedures. To assist my elementary English language learners (ELL), I created a basic
infographic outlining my classrooms rules and expectations in regards to technology usage.
The infographic not only addresses policies and procedures, but also internet safety, social
media, and cyberbullying. While my students do not use internet or social media in my
classroom, I still feel these topics are important in creating strong morally-minded
individuals.
The infographic I created begins with a few rules and policies I would like my
students to remember. It also includes several tips on how to stay safe on the internet. The
thing I value the most about my infographic is that it bridges moral considerations between
the real world and the virtual world my students inhabit. For example, I included a T-H-I-NK acronym that encourages students to be aware of what they say to people. The T-H-I-NK acronym addresses cyberbullying by teaching students to be aware of how they affect
others, not only in face-to-face interactions, but also on the internet. Another component of

OTL504 PORTFOLIO PROJECT ANALYSIS

the infographic asks students to remember our class lesson on tolerance, in which we
examined how our words can impact others. It is my hope that by asking thought-provoking
questions and having a visual reminder of these considerations, students will think before
they act in any realm, whether virtual or otherwise.
Safe and Effective Web Searching: Recipe for a Credible Website
The second just-in-time lesson I created was the Recipe for a Credible Website,
which focuses on teaching students how to safely and effectively search the web. Safe and
effective web searching means students are able to discern between credible and non-credible
sources by learning the identifying characteristics of both. It was important for me to teach
discernment by allowing my students to investigate both credible and non-credible websites.
By showing examples of many different websites and using the worksheet to discuss our
findings, my students were able to decipher credible from non-credible sites.
The development of this just-in-time lesson was rather complicated, as not only did I
need to address issues not commonly discussed in Korea, but also do it using language that
would be easily comprehended by my high-level ELL students. I taught this lesson in
Module Seven and will discuss it in more depth further in the analysis.
Copyright and Fair Use: Group Project
The next just-in-time lesson I created was the Copyright and Fair Use Group Project
activity. This project focused on teaching students what the terms copyright and fair use
mean and why these terms are important to understand. To teach my students about these
terms, I first used Cyberbees question and answer site. This website has thorough content
and is formatted in such a way that it is clear and easy for students to follow. Upon review of
the website, students participated in a group project assignment related to copy right and fair
use.

OTL504 PORTFOLIO PROJECT ANALYSIS

The group project I created for students asks them to first answer several questions
concerning copyright, fair use, materials they commonly use, how they keep track of
materials used, and how to give credit to materials used. Once students have answered
questions that demonstrate their overall understanding of the topic, I asked groups to apply
that knowledge by conducting a research presentation. The research presentation portion of
this assignment asked students to put their knowledge to practice as they navigated websites
to find credible research and collected and cited material. Finally, students were required to
complete a self-assessment detailing how they abided by copyright and fair use rules. While
these concepts are challenging for young students to grasp, introducing the concepts early in
their educational careers will assist them as they progress.
Analysis of Module Seven Just-In-Time Lesson Implementation
While all three of the just-in-time lessons created for this course are valuable for
students, I chose to implement the Recipe for a Credible Website lesson during module
seven. The recipe format worked well for my students, as it piqued their interest. The
students were also very entertained by the various website examples I used in the lesson.
They were excited to be able to naturally recognize many characteristics that made a website
non-credible, for example, banners of advertisements, blog URLs, etc.
While it was easy for students to recognize a non-credible website, the lines began to
blur when they were trying to determine credible websites. It seems acknowledgement of
non-credible websites made my students weary to classify any website as overtly credible. I
am happy that their discernment skills were activated, but I think in future lessons, I would
first introduce credible websites in abundance and then show non-credible website examples
and characteristics.
In the future, I would love to incorporate more just-in-time lessons centered around
technology. I think the concept of mini-lessons addressing these issues serves as a great way

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to break down the complexities pertaining to technology integration. While it is difficult to

routinely incorporate these lessons in a specifically ELL environment, I look forward to
working them in to my future teaching opportunities.
Conclusion
This course required examination of many of the complex issues facing technology
integration in todays 21st century classrooms. Within this course, we examined topics such
as internet safety, social media, cyberbullying, determining credibility, and copyright and fair
use. The development and implementation of mini just-in-time lessons focused on these
topics is a good way not only for educators to examine their understanding of the issues, but
also for students to learn about safe and responsible technology usage. The responsible
educator should have a firm grasp on these topics and should make technology integration a
priority in their classrooms.