2011+IT630+Module+3


 * Module 3/Week 5 **

** Reflect on what you plan to do to address the equity and ethics issues when applying technologies. You may share with us about what you have been doing by addressing these aspects and what you will change after learning in this module. **

1. **Description.** I did a little research, and I checked the U.S. Department of Commerce statistics for families who have broadband access and I found some surprising (to me) things. The number of families who have access to broadband has increased dramatically since our text was published. The statistic in our text is from 2003, and it states that 45% of families with an income of $75,000 have broadband access. That percentage, as of 2009, is 87.9% of families with an income of $75,000. We are two years out from that statistic, so the good news is that broadband access is gaining steam. I noticed also that in general, as of 2009, 65% of all families have broadband access. There is also a tremendous initiative by the President to connect our public with broadband access. This is a plan that will help teachers to bring about equity in access to the internet.

I noticed that in our discussions of equity in this course, we seem to be divided into two polarized groups; those who feel that it is not the teachers or the school's responsibility to see that our students have computers and internet access, and those who feel that we should not assign homework that includes computers and access if every student is not equipped to do the homework assigned. If you would have asked me how I felt about this before we started this graduate program, I would have sided with the group who would not assign online homework unless every student involved had internet access after school. But now that I am seeing the marked increase in broadband access nation wide, I am beginning to change my mind.

2. **Impact.** There is an initiative that has been issued by the Federal Government to assure that all citizens have access to broadband internet. The statistics and the plan are outlined and available in a document named and linked here: //Exploring the Digital Nation: Home Broadband Internet Adoption in the United States//. I am seeing that broadband internet is becoming commonplace at an alarming rate! Between 2007 and 2009 the number of homes that adopted the use of broadband internet increased by 13%. That is quite remarkable considering the current economic climate in the United States. If parents are making sure that their students have internet access, then it's important for us to expect our students to use that access for learning.

On another note, I study copyright and infringement issues a lot as a Media Specialist, and I have to say that they are changing every year. There are new and exciting ideas about copyright, including "the commons" and share and share alike designations for work. An artist doesn't have to pick between complete copyright and no copyright anymore. There are more designations established today, the most intriguing of which is the Creative Commons, which uses three layers of licensing, to address the lawyer, the human and the machine. Here is a little paragraph from the Creative Commons website, which can be found at: []

"Searching for open content is an important function enabled by our approach.. You can use [|Google] and [|Yahoo!] to search for Creative Commons content, look for pictures at [|Flickr], albums at [|Jamendo], and general media at [|spinxpress]. The [|Wikimedia Commons], which powers [|Wikipedia], is a core user of our licenses as well."

3. **Intent.** I will start with the first topic discussed above. Since it has been shown that the majority of our students are now equipped with broadband internet, I will begin to expect students to use the internet at home if needed for increased learning. I will not feel guilty about it, but I will also do everything in my power to make sure that students have access to sturdy, high performing computers during school and directly after school. I will create a lesson to present in a staff meeting that discusses copyright and creative commons. I will include a quick tutorial on using Google Advanced Image Search and point out that teachers can teach their students to use the "strict filtering" and Usage Rights can be changed to return only images that are "labeled for reuse".