Digital Citizenship: Addressing Appropriate Technology Behavior describes nine standards established by the Instructional Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), referred to as the National Education Technology Standards. Specifically designed to be exercised by students, they really are a set of common knowledge principles with which anyone having access to technology should be familiar. For those with particular curiosity, I’ll list them, though you’ll easily be able to assume the particulars embedded within them:
1. Etiquette: electronic standards of conduct or procedure
2. Communication: electronic exchange of information
3. Education: the process of teaching and learning about technology and the use of technology
4. Access: full electronic participation in society
5. Commerce: electronic buying and selling of goods
6. Responsibility: electronic responsibility for actions and deeds
7. Rights: those freedoms extended to everyone in a digital world
8. Safety: physical well-being in a digital technology world
9. Security (self-protection): electronic precautions to guarantee safety
I should note that modeling (the appropriate behaviors) was a recurrent theme among each of the standards, and rightfully so, was also a hot topic within our SPU online discussion.
Of particular interest to me, was the area of ‘Safety’, and its focus on ergonomics. For the purpose of my online discussion with classmates, I reviewed a few articles and found a bit of conflicting information. For example, according to the ISTE, ergonomics, such as carpal tunnel syndrome, eyestrain, and posture are major medical issues that can be linked to computer use. However, according to an article in Wired.com, “In addition to finding a relatively low rate of carpal tunnel syndrome in computer users,” J. Stevens, neurologist, said that there is “no significant differences between computer users who developed the syndrome and those who did not”.
I also explored UCLA’s ergonomics site, for information on general workplace (school place) ergonomics, and discovered on online self-assessment, for anyone who may be physically suffering from technology strains.
Of particular interest in my online conversations was the topic that school districts, (so it seems), are less interested in the issue of ergonomics, as they are with security (i.e.: antitheft). In other words, a hot topic on the discussion boards was the sentiment that school districts are quicker to purchase technology, than they are to fund the cabinets, tables, and chairs that will house the technology. Stationary pieces, such as furniture with anti-theft devices, tend to be more favorable to district personnel funding the decision-making.
Lastly, while it is obvious that varieties of forms of technology are still new, as is our ability to use it appropriately, many schools are finding themselves in the dilemma of the too-much-too-soon syndrome. They are simply unable to keep up with establishing the necessary barriers to make using technology safe.
