Ethical Issues

When I think of the words Ethic and Technology together I immediately think of illegal downloading and copyright infringement. Technology has given us the ability to get any software program, DVD, or music files we want. It is imperative that students and our colleagues know what is acceptable to copy and what is not. Now that I’m writing this the two of these are not all that different, they encompass each other, and yet are different just the same.

Illegal downloading obviously is the distribution of most typically copyrighted material. Although the act of illegal downloading can be an ethical conflict one has with one’s self. I’m sure most people think of saving money when they illegally download or burn a copy of software or music. I know that’s what has been an ethical bridge I’ve crossed many times, and imagine will only be crossing it more and more often as technology advances. This must hold true for our students and children. If I have these same debates with myself, some of them may be as well. Again this is why it is imperative that this discussion come be introduced; otherwise it’s easy for them to say, “Oh, we didn’t know that.” After all, knowledge is power. I thought this site was cute, it lists the ten commandments for computer ethics, http://web.archive.org/web/20001017184124/wise.fau.edu/netiquette/net/ten.html . This would be easy to turn into a lesson with students, and have them come up with the commandments, or guidelines. Another site that has a vast amount of information on computers and ethics is http://web.archive.org/web/20021001132342/www.ciolek.com/WWWVLPages/QltyPages/QltyEtiq.html.

Copyright infringement happens all the time. Some individuals don’t even think twice about copying a picture from Google Images or another search engine. I’ll admit I’m guilty of it. I believe many are ill informed, and don’t really understand the consequences of these actions. Copyright and plagiarism is one of the most likely crimes to be overlooked. It’s not overlooked because no one cares, but technology has brought so much information to our fingertips, it is often difficult to know if what someone wrote is original or based of another individuals work. Students and educators alike need to be taught and reminded of the ethical issue plagiarism and copyright infringement can produce. Here are some sites that delve into copyright and fair use in more detail, Copyright Bay and Digital Citizenship.

Copyright Bay uses a watery bay to describe different aspects of copyright law and fair use. The bay is divided into lagoons, inlets and reefs. The participant visits each of these locations and moves through the slides to get a better understanding of that areas particular content. There are also six separate multiple choice quizzes that can be taken to help reinforce the concepts and give you feedback on which ideas you may need to work a little harder at understanding. The target group for this resource is educators, and I chose this resource because it was slightly more interactive then the other sights I found.

Digital Citizenship is a website for students that a classmate in another course had shared. I liked this site because it is a site that helps educators and parents understand how to teach children to use technology appropriately. I really enjoyed the Nine Themes of Digital Citizenship that lists the correct behaviors that help us all enjoy and use technology.