Existing Technology Standards
Currently, sixth grade Language Arts standards in Indiana deal little with technology and technology integration in the classroom. In fact, only two sub-standards address technology and language arts together at all. These are Standards 6.4.6 and 6.4.7. which state, respectively, that "Students can use organizational features of electronic text (on computers) such as bulletin boards, databases, keyword searches, and email addresses, to locate information" and "Students can use a computer to compose documents with appropriate formatting by using word-processing skills and principles of design, including margins, tabs, spacing, columns, and page orientation". While these standards express that students should be able to use basic production and search features of computers and of the Internet, they completely exclude the idea that students should learn to discern and make critical decisions about what they read on the Internet, that students should know the basic criteria for producing work for an online audience, and that students know how to look within and interact with preformed knowledge communities to solve real life problems.
In a world where students are so completely connected to the world via technology on an everyday basis, it is crucial that we as an educational body address the importance of discernment and social responsibility when it comes to interacting on the web via social media. Students consume and produce via the Internet and other technologies every single day, and we would be amiss as teachers to not address this crucial aspect of their lives. Language Arts teachers need to address topics such as:
*The ability to discern what is true and what is false on the Internet and what sources are appropriate and reliable to cite in school papers
*Plagiarism, how it occurs often on the Internet and how students must work even harder than before to combat accidental plagiarism in their own works
*Cyber bullying, including occurrences on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and email, and how these instances must be combatted
* The status update or tweet, what purpose it serves and how to use language to convey feelings and ideas in 160 characters or less.
In a world where students are so completely connected to the world via technology on an everyday basis, it is crucial that we as an educational body address the importance of discernment and social responsibility when it comes to interacting on the web via social media. Students consume and produce via the Internet and other technologies every single day, and we would be amiss as teachers to not address this crucial aspect of their lives. Language Arts teachers need to address topics such as:
*The ability to discern what is true and what is false on the Internet and what sources are appropriate and reliable to cite in school papers
*Plagiarism, how it occurs often on the Internet and how students must work even harder than before to combat accidental plagiarism in their own works
*Cyber bullying, including occurrences on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and email, and how these instances must be combatted
* The status update or tweet, what purpose it serves and how to use language to convey feelings and ideas in 160 characters or less.