Technology in Education:
The Legal, Social and
Ethical Issues
Julie Lewis
EDUC 318
May 20, 2010
Ethical Issues
For Safety and Security
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Social networking
Acceptable Use Policies
Netiquette
Cyber Bullying
Student Data
Internet Privacy
Social Networking
• “Social Networking” = MySpace,
Facebook, etc.
• Concerns for parents and educators:
narcissism, gossip, wasted time,
“friending”, hurt feelings, ruined
reputations, and even dangerous
activities
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What Can Teachers Do?
• Allowing students to utilize academic social
networking websites teaches digital
citizenship to students
• Teachers can develop social networking
contracts for students, if the school or
school district does not have one.
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Acceptable Use Policies
• What constitutes acceptable use?
Includes not giving out personal information, not
participating in off-line meetings or activities, and privacy
expectations
• What should Acceptable Use Policies
Include?
Risks associated with computer communication;
rules for efficient, ethical and legal computer/
network usage; safe/appropriate computer social
behavior; use of available and unavailable services
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What Can Teachers Do?
• If your school or school district does not
have an Acceptable Use Policy, then write
your own
• Teachers need to enforce Acceptable Use
Policies
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Netiquette
• Netiquette is defined as “courtesy in
information processing” or “etiquette on the
Internet”
• Responding promptly to email messages
• Not using school systems for personal
use
• Not sending flame mail
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What Can Teachers Do?
• Teachers should model ethical online
behavior for students
• Conduct training sessions for students and
hold classroom discussions
• Participate in role playing, games and
simulations with students
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Cyber Bullying
• Cyber Bullying is “the act of sending or
posting harmful or cruel text or images
using the Internet or other communication
devices”
• Children who are victims portray low selfesteem, depression, anxiety and anger
• Some students do not perceive cyber
bullying as a form of bullying behavior
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What Can Teachers Do?
• Promote cyber-ethics in the classroom as
students do online research
• Assign news articles related to cyber
bullying incidents for student reading and
class discussion
• Have students write in response
journals as part of a classroom
discussion
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Student Data
• The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA)
“mandates the development of an Internet
safety plan that addresses the unauthorized
disclosure, use and dissemination of personal
identification information regarding minors”
• Parents are uncomfortable with the amount
of personal info that is collected about
their children.
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What Can Teachers Do?
• Be knowledgeable of the laws and policies
associated with student data confidentiality on
the federal, state, and district level
• Teachers should exercise caution when
student information is transmitted via email,
which forms a permanent record
• Educate their students regarding
respecting the privacy of other students
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Internet Privacy
• Privacy is defined as “the right to be left
alone”. However, the technology and the
infrastructure of the Internet do not give users
that choice.
• Criminal predators use very creative
techniques, including online observation, to
find out about children.
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What Can Teachers Do?
• Educate students about Internet privacy,
especially the use and abuse of personal
information
• Teach students how to recognize, avoid and
handle situations where their privacy will be
compromised and their lives put in danger
• Create safe, monitored learning
environments
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Digital Divide
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Gender
Socio-economic
Race
Resource Equity
Teacher bias
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Gender
• Females and minorities that are not
encouraged to use technology are more
likely than others to perform poorly
• Information technology is often perceived
as a male subject
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What Can Teachers Do?
• Ensure that technology is taught in a manner
that encourages and engages all students
• Be a proponent for equal opportunity and
treatment, providing instruction and guidance
that crosses gender barriers
• Be supportive, especially for female
students, in their pursuits into the
information technology field
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Socio-Economic
• Minority groups face multiple barriers to
information technology use, including lack of
role models, unconscious stereotyping, false
perceptions of interest, and limited access to
computers
• 2001 Census Bureau Report revealed that
computer usage among students, ages
6-17, is nearly equal across differences
in income, race and ethnic groups
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What Can Teachers Do?
• Challenge students with higher-level
technology activities
• Offer additional assistance to those students
that are not as familiar with technology and
the use of the Internet
• Incorporate technology into their lesson
plans
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Race
• Computer and Internet usage is higher among
Whites than Blacks and Hispanics, and higher
among Asians and American Indians than
among Hispanics
• The digital divide among racial lines may be
closing, according to the National Center
for Education Statistics
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What Can Teachers Do?
• Provide equitable access to computers and
the Internet to all students
• Advocate for computers in their classrooms
and the school, looking for grant
opportunities, donations, etc.
• Allow additional time for students to utilize
computers at school and incorporate
technology into assignments.
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Resource Equity
• 2001 Census Bureau Report Findings
White Households
57.7% Own a Computer
39.5% Have Internet
Access
African American
Households
37% Own a Computer
20.5% Have Internet
Access
• Many students only access the Internet
at school
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What Can Teachers Do?
• Play a key role in providing equitable access
to all student groups in learning computer
skills
• Make computers and the Internet accessible
outside of normal school hours
• Model technology use in the classroom
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Teacher Bias
• Many teachers
assume that girls
are not interested
in information
technology
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What Can Teachers Do?
• Teachers can be influential in shaping female
students interest in technology
• Be fair and equitable to all students when
considering technology, regardless of gender,
race or socio-economic status
• Be supportive of all students with regard to
technology
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Legal Use of Digital Media
• Copyright
• Fair Use
• Creative
Commons
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Copyright
• Copyright is “the legal right of
authors to prohibit others from
copying their work”
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What Can Teachers Do?
• Set an example for their students and be a
role model by following the laws themselves
• Educate students on giving proper credit to
the author/owner when using information
prepared by them and also how to
paraphrase
• Educate students on how to correctly cite an
author’s work
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Fair Use
• A “doctrine in copyright law that allows limited
use of copyrighted material without requiring
permission from the rights-holder. It provides
for the legal incorporation of copyrighted
material into another work under limited
conditions”
• Incorporates four factors: the purpose of
use, the nature of the work, the portion
used, and the effect on the market
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What Can Teachers Do?
• Create a Fair Use handout for students,
including instructions on portion limitations
• Educate students on the importance of giving
credit for the materials used and how to
correctly cite the source
• Educate students on following Fair Use
guidelines when using quotations in
their writings
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Creative Commons
• Is “a set of licensing tools that stands
between the All Rights Reserved of traditional
copyright and No Rights Reserved that is the
public domain”
• Applies to text, blogs, music, audio,
recordings, podcasts, photographs, videos,
songs, websites, and films found on the
Internet
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What Can Teachers Do?
• Refer students to the Flickr Creative
Commons search page
(www.flickr.com/creativecommons/)
• Use the search portal on Creative Commons
(http://creativecommons.org/education/)
for lesson plans freely shared by other
educators
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