Module 6: Internet Based Resources

From the five potential problems listed on pp 214-216 in Roblyer, which may have the most impact on your classroom and students and why? How will you ensure you address these concerns in your lesson planning in your assignment and in the future?

Whilst inappropriate material and privacy are major issues I think making student’s aware of copyright issues is vital to their future academic success and is something that is under-addressed at a secondary level. Ethical use of ICT and plagiarism (not necessarily text) becomes even more of an issue with the increasing amount of easily accessed, hard to trace and often multi-modal material. The sheer wealth of online resources will undoubtedly continue to impact classrooms in the future.

In terms of the assignment I would make students aware of the importance of copyright and the risks of breaking it. Having students write a research journal or blog, where they note down websites and material, might be a good way of ensuring they are employing good research practices whilst developing their awareness of what is appropriate use.

What are you able to access at your school or institution – or not? Does this work? What does this mean for an educational institution where many students have internet capable smart phones? Does this mean restrictions should be relaxed and better supervision should be utilised?

At the school I taught at, all email servers were blocked which hindered my ability to transfer work between colleagues, home and the school. Most educational flash games were also inaccessible. The firewall certainly works in blocking recreational games, private emails and most inappropriate content but ends up ‘throwing the baby out with the bathwater.’ Furthermore, despite the amount of government censorship and the school’s firewalls, google image search will still find occasional inappropriate material.

Teachers should have more control of what is and isn’t accessible on an individual classroom basis. Blanket firewalls can’t possibly cater to schools with kids of varying ages and educational needs. It also is ineffective as students will be able to access inappropriate content and SNS apps through their smart phones. Better supervision is probably the best approach to limiting inappropriate smart phone use, as I think a complete ban would negate the potential benefits of the devices in the classroom.


Roblyer, M., &  Doering, A.  (2014). Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching: International Edition. 6th Edition, Pearson.


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