Cyberbullying Case Studies

Cyberbullying is a major problem in schools around the United States and the world. With the advent of technology and the eases of internet access via smartphones, students have found a new outlet to bully others. Below are some case studies from the Constitutional Rights Foundation and my reactions to them.

Case #2 - Marla is a new student at school. In the school computer lab, William sets up a page on MySpace called “Marla Go Home!” Several students post derogatory messages about Marla’s appearance, calling her a “slob” and a “loser.” Marla sees the page and leaves early. She stays at home for several days.
This instance that Marla has unfortunately had to deal with is, without a doubt, cyberbullying. William has created a web page in order to harm and harass Marla, and other students have joined in on the bullying. William has used a cyber outlet, the webpage MySpace, to intentionally hurt Marla. It is obvious that his actions and the following actions of others have harmed Marla since she leaves school early and does not come back for several days. This is also cyberbullying because students are continuously and repeatedly posting mean things about her. The school that these students attend should obviously take some sort of action to deal with the matter. First, they should make sure that the MySpace page is removed from the Internet. Second, they should make sure that William and all other students who posted on the page apologize to Marla for their harmful actions and words. In the least, William should be suspended from school in order to face the consequences of his actions. The school should also hold an assembly or student interaction day to discuss bullying and cyberbullying. Most states now have laws against this digital harassment. For example, if Marla lived in North Carolina, the harassers would be subject to N.C. Gen Stat. § 14-196.3, which "addresses cyberstalking by making it unlawful to use electronic mail or communication to inflict harm onto a person, electronically mail or communicate repeatedly for purposes of harassing or to make a false statement about another with intent to harass, knowingly allow this sort of electronic harassment happen" (NCSL).

Case #3 - One Saturday, Herman and Stevie create a Facebook page impersonating Alex, a student they dislike. At Herman’s home, the two use Alex’s name and a photo of Alex to set up the page. In Alex’s name, they post messages insulting other students. When Alex arrives at school on Monday, three students who believe they were insulted by Alex punch and kick him.
In the case of Herman, Stevie and Alex, Alex has also distinctly become a victim of Cyberbullying. Together, Herman and Stevie used Facebook, a digital resource, to harm Alex and his character. They repeatedly posted messages to other students pretending to be Alex in order to harm his reputation and likability in school. Because of this fake Facebook account, Alex becomes subject to harm when these students the fake account offended punch and kick Alex at school. Just as in Marla's case, the school that these boys attend needs to take action to deal with the matter. The Facebook account should be deleted immediately, as it is an impersonation of Alex and not actually him. Herman and Stevie should be punished with suspension or expulsion. The students who attacked Alex should be informed that it was not actually him but should also be suspended for their violent reactions. The school should also hold a conference among students and teachers to address the issue. If Alex lived in North Carolina, the actions of the perpetrators would be subject to Ch. SL 2009-551, which "adds a Cyberbullying penalty making it unlawful for any person with a computer to build a fake profile or website, pose as a minor in or follow a minor into a chat room, internet chat, etc, post sexual information pertaining to a minor, intimidate a minor or their guardian, or post any statement, whether true or false, with the intent to provoke a third party to harass a minor (NCSL). Herman and Stevie would be subject to the consequences of violating this state law.

Reflecting on What I Know - Chapter 12

What can I do to "get ready" for a lesson in which my students use computers?
In order to prepare for a lesson in which students use computers, a teacher should first make sure that they create a thorough and carefully prepared lesson plan. Of course, an NTeQ lesson plan is highly preferable in the case of a lesson that requires computer use. Besides a thorough lesson plan, the teacher should also prepare the necessary handouts for the lesson. Students are going to need some sort of guidance on their activities and handouts will help them along the way. One type of handouts that is useful is a step-by-step guide, which tells students exactly how to do the technical portion of a newer computer task. Other handouts that can be used in computer lessons are resource guides and assessment tools. Teachers must also make sure that they prepare the technology in order to ready themselves for a computer lesson. This may include creating digital folders, loading special software, or bookmarking specific websites.

Where does the "computer part" come when I am teaching a lesson?
The computer part of an NTeQ lesson comes into play during the "during computer use" step. In this step, students have access to the computers in order to complete tasks assigned by the teacher. For example, the teacher may have asked students to create a presentation on a specific animal and its attributes. Students may use the computer time to research the animal on the internet. They may also use the computer again, after synthesizing and organizing their research, to create a presentation on a program like PowerPoint.

How do you ensure equal access for all students with only three computers?
It is important that the teacher ensures that all students have some time to access the computers and put them to use. In a classroom with only three computers, this can often be a challenging task. Teachers should make sure that students have routine use of technology in lessons. Teachers should aim to create lessons that require a group product, where each student contributes a portion of the final outcome. This uses cooperative learning, which is extremely helpful to students. Teachers should also monitor the rotation of these groups, ensuring that they take turns using the computer among the group.

Reflecting on What I Know - Chapter 10

How do you know that students understand a concept?

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When teaching a new concept to students, it is important that students really understand and know what they are learning about. Oftentimes, students simply want to memorize what is being taught just to pass the next test. This rote memorization should definitely not be a goal for teachers. Teachers should want to deepen the understanding of their students in order to ensure complete learning. One way that teachers can help to ensure that students truly understand a concept is through the use of graphic organizers. Graphic organizers have so many purposes, as evidenced by the various types of graphic organizers. Some graphic organizers, like the circular type, can show a cycle, like photosynthesis. When students see all the steps of photosynthesis in order and all of the steps in relation to one another, it will help them deepen their understanding of the concept. Timelines are also an example of how a graphic organizer can help bring about understanding. Timelines showcase key events and the order in which they occurred. Graphic organizers are a wonderful tool in helping to determine if students understand a concept.

How can you depict student misconceptions of key information?

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When students do not fully understand a concept, they probably have misconceptions about key information. In this situation, like the one above, graphic organizers are a great solution to this problem. When students create their own graphic organizers, they can show teachers where their misconceptions lie. For example, a simple KWL chart can help a student show a teacher exactly what they already know, what they would like to know, and eventually what they learned. This is the most obviously helpful graphic organizer in determining student misconceptions.

How can students capture and transfer brainstorming ideas into written thoughts?

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It is often difficult for students to put the thoughts that are floating around in their brain into written words on paper. I have noticed this firsthand during practicum teaching of a second grade class. An extremely beneficial solution to this dilemma are, yet again, graphic organizers. Graphic organizers provide visual organization for students to quickly jot down their thoughts or ideas in phrases or key words. When writing students can look back at their graphic organizers and reference them in preparing their written documents. These graphic organizers can essentially act in the same manner as an outline would for a paper or written project.

Educational Technology Companies Succeeding in the Marketplace

I recently read an article on BostInno that caught my attention. The article, which can be found here, discussed how well education technology companies have been doing recently.

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What I found most interesting about this article was that much of the recent success of these companies can be attributed to the Common Core Initiative. Common Core has created, as its name suggests, a common standard for the majority of the country. Therefore, technology companies can make programs that they can sell all over the country, not just in specific states. 

I personally hope that the greater profitability of these education technology companies leads to greater research and development which in turn will lead to even better programs being developed. Technology is currently such an important part of education and hopefully it continues to improve.

Reflecting on What I Know - Chapter 11

What are the benefits of using problem-solving or educational software?

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There is obviously reasoning behind problem-solving software and educational software becoming more and more present in our classrooms. One major benefit of using problem-solving software is that it helps students exercise a wide range of skills needed by future employers. Educational games also require students to apply their current knowledge and skills to win the games. This leads to students actually wanting to learn the skill instead of just memorizing it to pass a test. Educational software has various learning benefits to include drill and practice, tutorials, and integrated learning systems. Drill and practice software provides immediate feedback when students are practicing their basic skills. Tutorial software has been shown to increase student learning and create more positive learning attitudes. ILS software is useful because it can be directly aligned to state standards and individual student needs. Research has shown that basic student achievement improves when educational software is used.

How do I choose the correct software?

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There are so many choices available for teachers when it comes to selecting software. It is critical that teachers select the best software for their needs and for the needs of the students. Teachers should try to evaluate the software and its usefulness before purchase. When evaluating the software, teachers should consider how and why the students are going to use the software and to achieve which learning objectives. It is recommended that teachers consider the following factors in evaluating software: content accuracy, ease of use, research-based instructional strategies, assessment of learning, and effective in meeting instructional objectives.
Software reviews also exist that can be extremely helpful to teachers when it comes to selecting what software to use in the classroom. The Educational Software Preview Guide (ESPG) has a list of over 1000 software programs that have gotten "favorable" reviews. There are also various websites that post reviews of educational websites. However, it is important that a teacher be careful and selective when choosing which review websites to trust.
Finally, after software us put into place, it is important that the teacher continue to assess it, especially after student use. The results are the most critical aspect in using the software. So it is necessary to monitor and track student's results and improvements with software use.

When I integrate problem-solving or educational software into a lesson, what changes will be needed?

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When using the NTeQ model, it should be relatively easy to integrate educational software into a lesson. However, there are six steps of the NTeQ model that need to be further examined when using educational software. The first of these steps is computer functions: the teacher needs to look at the functions of the software being used to see if they match the specified objectives. The three major functions of educational software are providing content, providing practice and feedback, and providing processing tools. The teacher must ensure that the content of the software works to achieve the objectives of the NTeQ lesson plan. The second NTeQ step that needs to be re-examined is research and analysis. The type of research and analysis done depends on the objectives and the software being used. The third NTeQ step that a teacher needs to consider is the results presentation. Results are normally generated by the software. The last three steps of the NTeQ model that a teacher needs to consider when integrating education software into a lesson involve planning computer activities. Overall, teachers need to ensure that they are meaningfully integrating educational and problem-solving software into a lesson. This can mainly be done by "reviewing the content and activities carefully to select the appropriate portions to support intended learning."

Reflecting on What I Know - Chapter 9

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How can my students use multimedia for their projects?
Multimedia projects are especially useful for students during the final stages of an integrated computer lesson. The last step in that lesson is to create a group or an individual presentation. Multimedia presentations are a way for students to use computers to synthesize their ideas into a final presentation. It also allows students to create their own meaning for lesson concepts. Students can also use multimedia in an NTeQ lesson plan during their research phase, by using digital video or audio to record their own information. Besides their ease of use in an integrated lesson plan, multimedia presentations fulfill three of the six ITSE NETS. First, multimedia presentations allow students to display their creativity and innovation, as multimedia projects require innovation and integration of information from various platforms. Multimedia presentations also give students the opportunity to research and create fluent information. Finally, multimedia projects fulfill the NETS of technology operations and concepts since presentation technology is used.

What applications are available for creating a multimedia presentation?
There are many applications that can be used to build and present a multimedia presentation. Two multimedia applications that are similar in use are iMovie and Windows Movie Maker. These are software, used on the Apple and Windows operating systems, respectively. Movies are a great form of multimedia presentations because they have a sequence and can be used to tell a story. PowerPoint ins another software that is available to create a multimedia presentation. PowerPoint can be used for almost any type of presentation and easily integrates text, images, video, sound, and hyperlinks.

Should I place limits on how my students use multimedia?
It is important that limitations are placed when students are using multimedia to keep students on task and make efficient use of their computer time. Students should be given knowledge of what they should be doing during their computer time BEFORE they start using the computers. The teacher should given students some sort of parameters to work within during their time on the computer. The teacher must also ensure that students have completed all of the necessary work that is needed to be done before computer use. This includes things like what exactly they are going to research, an outline of information if they are in the step where they are creating the presentation, and so on.

Delicious & Educational Websites

I though that using delicious to bookmark educational websites that we deemed to be "good" was a great exercise. When I started to look for websites through Google, I thought it would be relatively easy to find 15 acceptable educational websites. I naively assumed that it would only take me about five or ten minutes to find the websites. However, it took me well over forty-five minutes to find websites that really fit the standards that the evaluation links suggested they should have. It was not too difficult to evaluate the websites, but rather time consuming.

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I did run into a couple of websites that, at first glance, seem educational, but are really only trying to sell you a product. But I have noticed a good amount of websites like that when researching for past projects for this class and other classes. It is very frustrating to think you are finding an educational resource, while in reality a company is just trying to sell a product to you.

There were many websites that I found that I deemed to be not quite valuable of use in a classroom. For example, I found many websites with educational games, but little background information or referencing accompanied the games. This made me wonder whether the information on the games and websites was actually legitimate.

The Web 2.0 sites are a tool that I think I will have to get used to. I like the idea of the Web 2.0 websites and was actually asked to use them quite a few times during college. However, I would often get frustrated with learning to use a new website and wonder why we couldn't just complete the projects in a program that we already knew how to use, like Word or PowerPoint. I think that this is just me being stubborn about learning something new.

I actually did not choose many of the same websites as I have seen classmates choosing on Delicious, which kind of surprised me. I think it is good, though, that we have all been able to find different websites. It provides even more resources for us to share with each other!

I selected the fifteen sites that I did because they seemed relatively easy to use and navigate. I am obtaining my license in elementary education. I think that in order for younger children to be able to use these websites, the sites should not have a large learning curve.