Issue: Illegal Downloads and Software Piracy

Choose one of these issues, relevant to the level you will be teaching, to investigate further. While you will have already investigated acceptable use policies there may be other issues related to safety you wish to explore further.

Use the links listed in the text as a starting point for your research.

Post a brief summary of your findings to your blog.

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As an educational institution, our schools are responsible for leading the way as digital citizens. This includes providing staff and students with legal software. Piracy and illegal downloads are not uncommon. According to one article, 1 in 10 Europeans admit to illegally downloading, with the number likely to have been higher (Debating Europe). 

Image from: http://www.debatingeurope.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/15-Illegal-downloading-3.png

There are two organisations whose roll is to police the illegal downloads of music and video. These organisations are: Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Doug Chappell said that people need to "understand that digital theft does not only hurt the artist or the record label but also every one who works for them or is a supplier to them ie: couriers, recording studios, graphic artists, office workers, accountants, press and promotion people. The list goes very deep of those that will lose jobs or income due to the theft" (Wolfe-Wylie, 2012).

It is also important to know that copyright laws vary from country to country. While living in China, the copyright laws were very loose and didn't really exist. One of the main search sites in China, Baidu, actually supported and to some extent encouraged illegal downloading. It always boggled my mind that Google was blocked, VPNs were blocked but yet downloading music was so easily accessible in such a country. 

Nowadays, options such as Netflix and Spotify provide users with a wide range of songs and videos for a minimal monthly fee for unlimited views. Using these options also moves people toward a legal option of paid streaming with Spotify paying royalties (Spotify Artists, 2015). This ensures that these industries are properly being supported. 

We should continue to educate our students about illegal downloads, the impacts on industries and the impact on us if it is continued. Our students need to know that while one song downloaded may not seem to be an issue, one song multiplied by many times and many individuals definitely does add up. As educators, we should be the role models for our students and teach the alternatives to illegally downloading with legal options. 

References 

Debating Europe (2015). What would save the music industry from piracy? http://www.debatingeurope.eu/2015/06/26/what-would-save-the-music-industry-from-digital-piracy/#.Vp4LcVN97RQ

Spotify Artists. (2015). How spotify is contributing to the music industry. http://www.spotifyartists.com/spotify-explained/

Wolfe-Wylie, W. (2012). Music piracy hurts. Toronto Sun. http://www.torontosun.com/2012/05/12/music-piracy-hurts

Risks of Online Social Networking

As students become more technologically savvy, the more they want to communicate via social networking. Social networking for students has become an integral part of their daily lives. Whether it is Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter or Instagram, students want to share aspects of life with others quickly and publicly. Roblyer & Doering (2014) state that social networking is a distraction and often increases cyberbullying. However, students have a lot to learn from using social networking if teachers use it as an educational tool and resource.

Many schools have acceptable use policies that will discourage cyberbullying and even the use of social networking on the school campus. Some schools have sites such as Facebook blocked on school networks but this doesn’t eliminate the usage of these social networking sites outside of the school boundaries. Many students still also have personal devices (ie: cell phones) which they can access the social networking sites on campus. So is it really the best solution to ban them?

Perhaps the better method of dealing with the risks of online social networking is educating our students on how to be positive digital citizens and leaders. One of the things teachers can do is educator students with a proactive stance. By teaching students how to create strong passwords, not to share passwords and report to adults when someone they don’t know contacts them or someone is acting inappropriately online. Students need to understand how digital literacy is applicable to them and use online etiquette when communicating with others.

In addition, students need to be educated about how to deal with cyberbullying. Thus, they need to learn how to become more resilient and act responsibly. Again, by taking a proactive approach to this issue, students will have the required skills and strategies to help them successfully navigate a situation when an issue does arise.

As a teacher, I also feel it is important to model appropriate online behaviour. This past year, we used Edmodo which mimics Facebook for students in a more private setting. The students learnt about creating online profiles that were appropriate for their grandmas to see and learnt how to communicate effectively and appropriately with others online. Google Classroom can be used in a similar fashion. My students know that I have a Twitter account and that I use it for a specific purpose - education. This social media network to me isn’t for my friends and family. We talk about setting clear boundaries of who you will ‘friend’ and who you will not. In addition, I have had a weekly Gmail Home Writing programme for the last two years with my Year 5 students. This has helped them grow in their understanding of proper email etiquette and online communication. These skills can be transferred to other areas of online communication as well.

There are a number of great resources to help educate students as digital citizens:

Common Sense Media
Digizen.org
Graphite
Digital Bytes
Digital Passport
Digital Compass
Media Smarts

Ribble (2009) outlines the nine elements of being a digital citizen. If teachers adequately taught the necessary skills to be a good digital citizen, it is the hope that there would be a decrease in cyberbullying.

We will never be able to stop our students from participating in online social networking sites. However, it is our job to educate them so they may make choices they can be proud of and communicate in a safe manner with others.

References

Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. H. (2014). Integrating educational technology into teaching [Sixth Edition].

Ribble, M. (2009). Passport to digital citizenship: journey toward appropriate technology use at school and at home. Leading and Learning with Technology, 36(4), p. 14-17.