CURRICULUM UNIT – UBD: Stages 1 & 2

*Updated: Stage 2 - Performance Tasks (Situation)

Continuing the curriculum planning for my unit on Ethical, Legal and Social Issues for EME 2040 – Introduction to Educational Technology students using UBD, I’ve developed Stages 1 & 2. I welcome any suggestions for improvement, need for clarification, etc. This process of really thinking about Stages 1 & 2 was quite revealing. The big ideas I discovered were: balance, diversity and equity. This unit has always been last in the semester, and often due to time constraints, was not done well. Now, thinking about the importance of the big ideas, I'm thinking about introducing it at the beginning of the semester and infusing it throughout the semester...

Stage 1 – Desired Results
Established Goals:
ISTE’s National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for Teachers
VI – Teachers/Students understand the social, ethical, legal, and human issues surrounding the use of technology in PK-12 schools and apply that understanding in practice.
Understandings:
Students will understand that…

· Applying technology in the classroom requires broad perspectives, such as, balance of privacy and control.
· The inequity of technology access and application impacts the growing ubiquity.
· Appropriate use of technology is guided by both written laws and unspoken rules.
· Educational diversity issues transfer to technology.

Essential Questions:

· To what extent do legal issues relate to educational technology?
· How is the teacher role related to ethical standards?
· What are the pros and cons of technology ubiquity and how does that impact educational technology?
· How can we balance the rights of individuals with the goals of society?
· What are the connections between technology resources and diversity issues?

Students will know…
· Privacy and copyright laws as they relate to technology.
· Standards of acceptable and unacceptable guidelines for technology use.
· Technology resources that promote safe use of the Internet.

Students will be able to…
· Analyze technology resources for use with diverse student needs.
· Model and teach legal and ethical practice.
· Research and facilitate equitable access.

Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence
Performance Tasks: Problem Based Learning (PBL)
Goal – Develop a plan to help your disadvantaged students access the power of computer technology
Role – You and your colleagues are teachers on your school’s technology subcommittee
Audience – Both the school’s administrative team and the school advisory council (which includes teachers, students, parents, and community members)
Situation – You and your colleagues share a belief in technology’s potential in the classroom. However, you are concerned about the best way to help student access technology once leaving the classroom on a daily basis. An increasing number of school-oriented activities are accessed only (or preferably) from the web. In addition, your students will need the experience of integrating technology in their lives after they complete school. After discussions with your principal in which you stated your concerns, your principal has offered to set aside a portion of the school’s budget and/or help obtain funding through grants or community organizations to assist in the access issues. You and your subcommittee colleagues need to develop a plan, backed by your principal’s support and funding to help your disadvantaged students access the power of computer technology. What will you do?
Product/Performance Purpose – Your subcommittee needs to convince the audience of your plan via an oral presentation supplemented with written and visual materials, including some form of technology application (after all that will be an important point to model!)
Standards & Criteria for Success – The plan needs to articulate
-Ideas for increasing technology access
-Method for spending the allocated monies
-Method for utilizing other resources (fiscal and/or human – others?)
-Technologies that should be made available to students outside the classroom
See evaluative rubric for additional grading criteria.

Other Evidence:
· Quiz on laws and standards
· Work samples: 1)Design a handout for parents regarding Internet use and safety; 2)Develop an AUP for your future classroom
· Reflections on equity and diversity via blog
· Use of wiki for formative checks for understanding, scaffolding/collaborating PBL scenario