·
Online Professionalism
Professional behaviour is necessary for the
long-term success of an online student. The basis of this chapter will be
learning the fundamental behaviours in an online environment. Moreover, you’ll
learn how to exhibit respect in your online lectures, and maintain academic
integrity. Following this chapter, you will be confident, prepared, and excited
about your online journey. Professional online behaviour includes using the
proper tools (i.e. headphones, microphones, camera) to interact with others.
This can also include ensuring that you use the “raise your hand” feature and
allowing the professor to call on you before speaking. It is common courtesy
when in your online lectures to mute yourself until it is your turn to speak. Communication
skills play a vital role in an online environment. The most efficient way of
communicating with your professors and Teaching Assistants/Graduate Assistants
(TA/GA) is by email. Some tips which can help you build a formal relationship
include:
1.
Using an appropriate subject line to summarize
your email
2.
Using the proper salutation when addressing your
professors
3.
Briefly explain your question/inquiry in the
body paragraphs
4.
Include a proper closing statement (Regards,
Sincerely, etc.)
One of the biggest concerns in the online environment is
academic integrity. Academic integrity is the commitment to honesty while
exemplifying moral behaviour in your studies. Universities have a very strict
policy regarding plagiarism and failure to obey these policies could result in
expulsion from your institution
·
Online Safety
Online safety refers to the act of staying
safe online. It is also commonly known as internet safety, e-safety and cyber
safety. It encompasses all technological devices which have access to the
internet from PCs and laptops to smartphones and tablets. Being safe online
means individuals are protecting themselves and others from online harms and
risks which may jeopardise their personal information, lead to unsafe
communications or even effect their mental health and wellbeing. It goes
without saying that the internet can be an unforgiving place. Aside from the
more obvious risks such as online bullying, grooming or device addiction, the
way children are engaging with the online world means that we have to take
stock of their mental health and wellbeing, the type of content they are
viewing and what they are posting online. This includes the heightened concern around
fake news and what impact social media influencers may be having on our
children’s behaviour. It also includes the ongoing debate as to whether online
gaming and certain features of online gaming, such as loot boxes and skins, are
categorised as gambling and are encouraging gambling habits in children. The
number of varying social media applications continues to grow too. Previously,
if you educated yourself on the mechanics of Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram,
you’d pretty much be covered. However, we’re now in an age where a multitude of
‘apps’ exist, and they’re more complex than ever before. Whilst the above
remain popular, how many of us have heard of TikTok, YOLO, FaceApp or LIKEE.
All of these are all free to download and available at the touch of a button.
Such are the range of risks we now need to be aware of and the different
platforms that children can access, it’s not easy to keep up to date
Example:
Child pornography
any pornographic or illicit depiction of a
child; viewing, sharing, or owning child pornography
is a felony in the United States
Cyberbullying
a form of bullying that uses internet and
other technologies as a means for perpetrating
bullying behaviors
Hacking
when a person or program bypasses or tricks
normal security procedures in order to gain
access to a site or service
Malware
malicious software or any software or app
that is designed to steal your personal information
or cause your electronic devices to behave
improperly
Phishing
an attempt to maliciously exploit sensitive
personal information online; a play on the word
"fishing," because it implies the
use of bait to trap a victim
Personal Security
In this section we will explore three ways
that those with malicious intent may seek to make your personal online experience
less secure and less safe through malware, hacking, and phishing. As we explore
each, we will provide examples of how the threat might impact lay internet
users and also provide guidelines for simple threat reduction or prevention.
·
Universal Design for Learning
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an
educational framework based on research in the learning sciences, including
cognitive neuroscience, that guides the development of flexible learning
environments and learning spaces that can accommodate individual learning
differences. Universal Design for learning is a set of principles that allow
teachers with a structure to develop instructions to meet the diverse needs of
all learners.
The UDL framework, first defined by David
H. Rose, Ed.D. of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Center for
Applied Special Technology (CAST) in the 1990s,[2] calls for creating
curriculum from the outset that provides:
Multiple means of representation to give
learners various ways of acquiring information and knowledge,
Multiple means of expression to provide
learners alternatives for demonstrating what they know.
Multiple means of engagement to tap into
learners' interests, challenge them appropriately, and motivate them to
learn.[3][4]
Curriculum, as defined in the UDL literature,
has four parts: instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments.[1]
UDL is intended to increase access to learning by reducing physical, cognitive,
intellectual, and organizational barriers to learning, as well as other
obstacles. UDL principles also lend themselves to implementing inclusionary
practices in the classroom
