Week+Five+5344

Law, Ethics, and Leadership

The final chapter, chapter 9, in the Cyber Law discusses the concept of being proactive in terms of potential legislation concerning K-12 schools and in the area of educational technology. Determine if your school district or organization has an active effort to monitor proposed legislation and discuss this process or the lack of one.

“Teachers, staff, and school administrators witness firsthand the effects of technology in the classroom.They are the ones in the trenches.” (Bissonette, 2009) In researching the question of whether or not my organization has an active effort to monitor proposed legislation in the area of educational technology, I discovered that Lamar University has an Academic Information Technology Committee made up of 25 faculty and staff members from the various departments on campus. From reading the online minutes of this committee, it would seem that this committee would most naturally serve the purpose of monitoring proposed legislation.It was stated in the February 2010 minutes that the committee had redefined its mission and is now more of a working committee with various subcommittees.If it was my responsibility to implement the monitoring of proposed educational technology legislation, I would ask for a subcommittee of this committee to accomplish this task, make sure they had the tools and resources they needed, and ask them to bring recommendations before the committee for action.     Bissonette, Aimee M. (2009) //Cyber law: maximizing safety and minimizing risk in classrooms//, p.88    This week’s lecture included a discussion about two competing viewpoints on education. Those who support the “marketplace of ideas” view believe that school is a place where students are exposed to free and open discourse. Those who support “value inculcation” feel that public education should stress the values of the community. Which of these view do you feel best represents your view of education’s role in society? How will you balance these differing views as a school leader?   I think it is important that students have the opportunity to freely express their ideas but I also feel that public schools should stress the values of the community. In my opinion, even though these two viewpoints of education’s role in society are diametrically opposed, they can exist concurrently in a school setting. As a school leader I would strive to balance these differing views by working closely with the school board in order to be sympathetic to the values of the community while at the same time ensuring that students retain freedom of expression rights granted under the First Amendment. I agree that it is hard to make every education program fit each learner. In working with college students I find that many times the only reason they are there is because their parents want them to be. Many still have not learned to think for themselves and they still haven’t figured out what their academic or occupational goals are. As advisors we try to help them find their best fit and sometimes that means that they need to pursue another direction. In my opinion, even as adults, students need the benefit of someone to inform them of what their various options are and direct them to the right paths that will help them be successful in life. ** Week 5 Assignment - Reflection ** 