Lets start things off...

When thinking about technology and integrating into the classroom, there are some ideas that we need to acknowledge before we do so. There are four that I will first look at:

• Safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology
• Digital etiquette and responsible social interactions
• Meeting diverse needs of learners through learner-centered strategies and equitable access
• Global awareness and digital-age communication
  The main reason I'm looking at these ideas is because they are necessary pieces of information that a teacher needs to help them combat issues that arise in a classroom: plagiarism, copyright, cyber bullying, ensure that everyone in the classroom has the tools to learn, understand how technology has changed, why technology has changed, and understand that the material you put online is there for the whole world to see.

The first is Safe, Legal, and Ethical use of digital information and techology. 

This is hugely important because it is so easy to use information found on the web and not give proper credit! I do it all the time by accident! I have to put so many reminders to copy websites and get the information to cite them in my work. Here is a good website that defines what each term means and how not to get in trouble! 
 Copyright Law and Fair Use

It is also very important to teach our students about this because they need to learn to respect other people's work, other people's time and effort. They need to know that using pictures and websites without giving proper credit is the same as stealing out of someone's backpack. This goes back to having high expectations and wanting our children to respect themselves, us and their classmates.

The next idea is Digital etiquette and responsible social interactions.

 I remember back to my days of AIM and you got done with homework by 7:30pm because that was when EVERYBODY was online chatting. If you didn't get on the next day, everybody was like "Hey! Where were you last night?! We had a really funny conversation about Mrs. Turner!" There was so many little nuances to what to type, how to type (font, bold, size) and when to type. When your friends were in a rant, you didn't post in between because they wouldn't read it and then you'd feel ignored because they didn't respond to your idea. Guy friends would send you inappropriate stuff and that equaled them being blocked on your AIM board. Oh yeah..and being blocked was like the worst consequence ever! When you found out someone got blocked it was hot gossip.

There was also the not so good things I remember, like when some random dude asked me to meet with him at his house. I was so freaked out I told my mom and she said to tell the guy my Dad is a cop. He signed off and I never saw his AIM name again. Children need to be aware of the dangers of online social interaction and who they can talk to if they end up in a situation like that. They need to know how to be safe, and that they have the power to keep themselves safe. With the rise of cyber-bullying and more students ending their lives because of it, we need to combat the issue by showing children the impact their "actions" can have on the internet.

As teachers we need to be aware of the social trends and how it is impacting our students. We can use that information to educate our students and let them know that there are boundaries to digital interactions and what to do when someone crosses that boundary.

Here is a Slideshare on digital etiquette and digital citizenship

Other resources for Netiquette --> check out BrainPop Spotlight: Digital Citizenship

Third idea is Meeting diverse needs of learners through learner-centered strategies and equitable access. For a definition of Equitable Access and Use. 

In our schools there are "inequities" based on location of the school, population of the school, and types of schools. There has been a lot of thinking on how do we "level" the playing field. Technology is a tool that many schools use to "level the playing field". They bring in many applications and new computers for students to use so that we can make sure that we can support a child at their level and help them be successful. Here is a good link to more indepth information NCREL.org website

Within our classroom we will have a broad spectrum of learning abilities and within specific content, skill levels. We need to know what tools are out there and use them effectively to teach our children. This is important because a school may have the best technology available but if they don't use it in a meaningful, effective way all of it is useless! There are new strategies coming out everyday that we can implement within our classroom to help a student when they need the help! We don't have to wait and leave the student to flounder.

The fourth idea, but not the last to explore on my own, is Global awareness and digital-age communication.  

This is the idea that as teachers we need to take student's awareness to the next level and show them how things are connected globally! We can have them discuss topics with a school in another country using skype! Student's need to learn that lots of issues don't only affect their schools but can also affect global issues that are under scrutiny. Students need to also be exposed to problems or issues in other countries. They need to know what is going in other places of the world. 

Below is a link where one school did a global awareness project! 
 Timber Lane Elementary School

Here is a guy who has done a whole overview on all of the information I just talked about! Check it out --> Promote and Model Responsibility