The scenario I chose goes as follows: Sarah received a smartphone for her birthday. As with most smartphones, hers has the ability to take photos and video. During algebra class, she decides to take a picture of MS. Everett, the substitute, while her back is turned to the whiteboard. She uploads it to her Facebook account and talks about how boring class was. What are the issues?
In this scenario, Sarah is using technology inappropriately. Firstly, during an algebra lesson is not the appropriate time to be using your cell phone as most schools have policies on this. I know this from being a student in such a school. Secondly, taking pictures of people and posting them online without their consent violates their rights and freedoms (to learn more about these rules, click HERE). Thirdly, insulting someone or posting an image of someone on-line and adding inappropriate comments is not only negative use of technology but inappropriate use and could be considered "defamation of character" which can actually lead to legal trouble for the person doing the posting (to learn more about character defamation and the cyberbullying of teachers, click HERE).
Although Sarah's use of her phone in class is inappropriate, I would have to argue that Sarah taking pictures and speaking inappropriately about the substitute teacher are much more inappropriate and hold greater repercussions. After reading an article on teacher's dealing with cyberbullying from students (read the article by clicking HERE), I learned a lot more about how common the bullying of teacher's on behalf of students is. I also learned that typically, students do not get into much trouble for doing this unless what is posted has been considered "defamation of character". In many cases, mere insults are not considered defamation of character. However, most teachers are protected under policies regarding use of information technology by students which impact teachers. It's good that teachers are protected by inappropriate, insulting and sometimes untrue comments and photos that are posted by students. Additionally, teachers (and anyone else for that matter!) are also protected by privacy laws when it comes to photos being taken of them and posted online without their consent. This is another area where Sarah inappropriately used her technology. If Sarah wanted to take a photo of her substitute teacher and post it on-line with comments, the correct way to go about this would've been to ask her substitute teacher for permission. Given the teacher had her back turned, Sarah likely would not have taken the picture to begin with if her teacher had been informed of the photo being posted, and her teacher likely would've said "no" to Sarah's request.
So what could Sarah have done differently? Sarah could have left the cell phone in her backpack or bag where it belongs during a classroom lesson. If she had done so, no picture would have ever been taken in the first place. Also, if she has an issue with algebra and how boring it is, Sarah could have easily discussed this with classmates outside of school without bringing the substitute teacher into it in an inappropriate way.
What are your thoughts? Please comment below! Thanks!
Scarlet
Hey Scarlet!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that taking pictures of teachers and posting them online or to any form of social media is not something that youth and young adults should be using their smartphones for especially during class. I am not saying that people are not going to use them at all during those times but using them in an appropriate way. Personally even now with all of the different Facebook groups or Snapchat accounts that are around, people are posting things that maybe not everyone wants to see and that maybe they should have thought twice about adding that picture. I think that this is a great example of the inappropriate us of technology and I think that you did an awesome job of explaining it!
- Amanda
Hey Scarlet,
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post! I think you address all the major issues associated with the inappropriate use of technology. I've never realized that there is an issue with teachers facing cyber bullying just like students do, this was enlightening for me. I think Sarah definitely abused her access to technology in her academic setting and never should have been using her phone in the first place!
Thanks for the great comments guys! I appreciate you reading my blog post!
ReplyDeleteScarlet, i believe that the issue of students cyberbullying teachers is much worse than students cyberbullying each other. Teachers cannot engage in responses online or defend themselves and most often when a teacher is cyberbullied, they are without knowledge of it. Digital responsibilities is a major issue here for students to use their cellphones appropriately and not to cyberbully. Great post
ReplyDeleteThanks Brett! I totally agree with you! Teachers are often defenseless and end up being the grunt of a students bad day or a students inability to understand the content a teacher is trying to convey. I had no idea of this issue until my exploration! Thanks for commenting!
ReplyDeleteAs always a very well crafted product. I really like the different sources you supplied for supporting your different claims. I was curious what your opinion would be when some of the tables had turned. As I know many times students are published in different school papers or yearbooks without themselves knowing it. Many times a form is signed at the beginning of each academic year releasing any photos, but many times students don't realize this (and lets be honest many times we believe institutions have our best interest in mind). How do you think this could skew people opinions about consent when posting photos?
ReplyDeleteHey Scarlet,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, that Sarah is using technology in an inappropriately. This is a very inappropriate situation because a student should never be posting anyone’s picture (let alone a teacher’s picture) on social media without the person’s consent. She is not being a good digital citizen. It is also very inappropriate that she took her phone out during class. Class time is to learn, it is not time for playing with their phones.
Hey Scarlet, I agree that this is an inappropriate use of technology. The teacher did not give consent to use her photo. I believe this is a violation of right of content ownership. Although, right of content ownership may be thought as stealing someone else's work, taking photos of someone else is also a violation of content ownership. Unless the student received consent from the teacher to take the photo, she violated the teacher's of content ownership. This student is not acting as a good digital citizen and should be informed on her digital rights and responsibilities.
ReplyDeleteHey Scarlet,
ReplyDeleteAs many others have commented, I also agree that Sarah misused her smartphone (technology) in an inappropriate way. Unless Sarah has permission from the teacher to take pictures of her, than this is definitely an example where technology is used inappropriately. Fortunately, most students these days have a cell phone making this scenario far too come in today's society.
Hi Scarlet,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your response to the appropriateness of the scenario, inappropriate! Having experienced such actions throughout grade school myself, it definitely saddens me when poor teachers who have no clue as to what is happening, are victimized by such cyber bullying. I am also saddened to learn from your post, students are not held responsible for cyber bullying unless their actions are deemed as "defamation of character." I hope there is a permanent solution to this in future to avoid such scenarios in real life.
- Ravneet G.