Code of Technology Ethics
for Educators
EPS 304/399 Summer 2001 with Nick Burbules
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Authors: |
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 Preamble |
A printer friendly pdf version of
this code is available for download
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| Statement
of Intent |
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| Expectations |
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| Glossary
of Terms |
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| On-line
Resources |
Preamble
Since technology and
computers have become an important part of our daily lives, it is equally
important that technology be fused into the education process. Not only must
educators exhibit ethical excellence in how technology is used in their
profession, but educators must instill the same standards in their students.
Statement of Intent
This Code will serve to
guide educators in achieving ethical conduct while using computers in
education. This document will provide educators with standards of conduct that
govern their relationship with technology and their obligation to the
communities they serve.
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Standard 1. Educators shall use district technologies to improve
the overall quality of the education they provide.
Rationale: Educators strive to help students acquire, practice,
and use new information in the best possible learning environments and with
the best possible set of tools. Technology
is one of those tools. It should be
carefully infused to enhance and improve upon the current educational process.
Technology should not be used just because it is available, but rather
it should be woven into the curriculum to accomplish both new and existing
goals or when the technology itself helps motivate to the students.
Standard 2. Educators shall follow the national, state, and
district guidelines for infusing technology into their respective curriculum.
Rationale: The field of Education, takes its direction for
instructional practices, including the use of technology, from national, state,
and district guidelines. These
guidelines provide an outline of the general content areas and skills to be
taught and provide a general timeline for each. By acquiring the appropriate teacher certification and accepting
a job in a school district, educators have an obligation to follow the
guidelines that the district provides.
Standard 1: Educators shall provide equal access to technology
for all students.
Rationale: As educators we are obligated to provide equal access
to all of our students regardless of their personal characteristics, behavior,
intelligence, or success in school. In addition, the quantity (time/number
of computers) and quality (types of experiences) shall be considered. The
primary use of technology should not be as a tool to reward the students who
finish their class work the fastest, but as an opportunity for all students
to engage in interactive uses of the available technologies. Educators of
all students, including those with special needs should be supported and encouraged
to use technology in their teaching.
Technology
access in schools is important before and after the school day as well as
during class time. Equal access to these school resources should be provided
to all students.
Standard 2: Educators shall work to provide equitable technology
resources to all students.
Rationale: All students, regardless of where they live, should
have access to similar resources. Technology is expensive for many students
and their families, and many students do not have access to these resources
at home. Solving the inequities between student’s home lives and personal
finances is too big a job for schools, but schools can find ways to minimize
these differences. Keeping computer labs open before and after school gives
all students a chance to learn with technology outside of the classroom. Checking
technology tools out to students and working with other community groups,
through parternships, are other ways to provide access to all students. For example, old computers can be donated to
schools and students in need.
Standard 3: Educators shall use Internet filters and blocking
software in the least restrictive manner possible where the students’ rights
to access information without censorship are balanced with their safety and
compliance with the federal Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA).
Rationale: No filter is totally successful. Often relevant information is censored while
objectionable content may not be blocked. Filters may be helpful for protecting
young students in the elementary school setting, but use should be less
restrictive in middle and high schools. Having an educator available for
guiding students through the Internet, answering their questions and addressing
safety concerns is more meaningful than relying on a static software program.
Technology and Internet users, like users of traditional library material, are
responsible for their actions in accessing available resources. Educators
should be aware that the government has mandated filter use for schools, but
also that filters will not completely protect students and will infringe on
their rights to access. According to the CIPA, educators may disarm filters
when they are using a computer for educational use. Educators should also be
aware of procedures for disarming filters so that their own rights to access
are not diminished.
Standard 1: Educators shall provide an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)
to inform students of the appropriate use of district technologies.
Rationale: The smooth operation of technology use and the district
network relies upon the proper conduct of the end users who must adhere to
strict guidelines. These guidelines
should be provided so that one is aware of the responsibilities acquired through
use.
Standard 1 Educators shall respect the intellectual property
of their peers.
Rationale: Educators should follow fair use guidelines for
copyrighted material. Other people’s material should always be correctly cited
when used within one’s own work.
Standard 2: Educators have a responsibility
to teach their students about intellectual property.
Rationale: Educators should teach their students
how to use appropriate conventions for documentation in the text, notes and
bibliographies by adhering to those in requisite style manuals. The ease in
which present technology allows copying and pasting requires that plagiarism
be specifically addressed.
V. Privacy and Confidentiality
Standard 1: Educators shall monitor student computer use in the
least restrictive manner possible where the learners’ safety and privacy rights
are balanced.
Rationale: Using the computer to violate the law, the AUP, or
network etiquette hampers the integrity and/or security of the network.
In addition, the deliberate
creation and/or propagation of computer viruses, sending unsolicited junk mail
or chain letters, and any interference with the work of others, with or without
malicious intent, is viewed as mischief and harms the integrity of the
system. Consequently, the integrity of
the system must be maintained through the monitoring of student use.
Standard 2: Educators shall provide general notice of various
monitoring activities for all users.
Rationale: A general notice of remote monitoring or observing
screens respects user privacy rights since the notice alerts users to the fact
that files they create or receive are being monitored. The monitoring may
include personal e-mail accounts that are accessed at school. Monitoring is
done to address users' safety and the integrity of the network.
Standard 3: Educators shall provide general notice of accessing
and/or deleting of any users’ files.
Rationale: Users should not expect that electronic mail
(e-mail) or files stored on school-based computers would be private. Even
non-school related e-mail accounts, when accessed with school equipment, may be
monitored. Individuals responsible for administrating and operating the system
will have access to all mail and files stored on school-based computers, and
may review messages and files to maintain the integrity of the system and its
proper use. It is often necessary to
make room on the servers for various reasons.
Therefore, proper notification should be given prior to the removal of
any files from accounts to afford the user the opportunity to save any work
from their files and/or accounts.
Standard 4: Educators shall protect personal student information
and maintain confidentiality of student records.
Rationale: Technology provides an increased ease with which to
access personal information and records. As a result, there is an increased
potential for violating the privacy of the users. Educators and individuals
responsible for administering and operating the system must maintain the
confidentiality of data prescribing individuals. This would include the use of
ID numbers, the monitoring of information included in works published, ensuring
accuracy of information presented, and protection from accidental access by
unauthorized individuals.
Standard 1: Educators shall use only those password-protected
school accounts that have been assigned to them.
Rationale: Each owner of a password-protected account is
ultimately responsible for the contents within that account. Furthermore, sharing passwords increases the
potential for security breaches. Educators should take appropriate precautions
to prevent security breaches.
Standard 2: Educators shall respect the confidentiality of files
and resources on district networks.
Rationale: Educators working on LANs and WANs are assigned
certain rights to various resources on their respective networks. Some of these resources include network
printers, private directories, common or shared directories and often times
access to student directories. The
electronic files that are meant to be shared and distributed among colleagues
are those files stored in the common or shared directories. Attempts to access other’s private
directories, tamper with files in common or shared areas that are not directly
related to the user, or print to non-assigned printers is acting against the
users’ designated rights.
Standard 3: Educators shall have the responsibility of providing
secure controls for all technology resources.
Standard 4: Educators shall report any breach in security to the
director of technology, network manager, or other designated administrator.
Standard 1: Teachers shall be responsible for maintaining the
technology equipment that they use.
VIII.
Community Relations
Standard 1: Educators shall involve the community in establishing a technological vision for their school district.
Rationale: The community surrounding a school district will be
directly affected by the infusion of technology into the educational
practice. Students will want additional
access outside of the school building, which will impact their homes, other
public institutions, and some of the local businesses. In addition, the students attending school
will also become influential workers within the community both as part-time
employees and potential full-time employees.
Thus, the input from the community as to the needed technological
knowledge and skills will be invaluable.
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Expectations
All educators shall follow the standards set forth in this code. Educators shall not only maintain the integrity of the code by following its tenets, but also by helping others understand and follow them as well. This code should be used as a guideline from which to generate or review school Accepatable Use Policies and other technology related policies.
Educators
have a duty to report violations of this code to the proper authorities.
Violations of this code may incur serious consequences within a school or
district or fall under the jurisdiction of local, state or federal laws.
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Glossary of Terms
Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)
A contract provided by a school
district that outlines the proper use of the district's technology. The contract requires the signatures of the
student and parent.
Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA)
The Children’s Internet Protection Act went into action on April 20, 2001. This federal law states that schools and libraries must use filters Internet sites with information or images inappropriate for children in order to receive some types of federal funding.
Community
Families, businesses, organizations
and others interested in the local school system.
Digital Divide
The term digital divide refers to the differences between people with acess to technology and those without adequate access. These differences are usually a result of socio-economic factors.
Educator
Any person who teaches students
of any age, from preschool to adult or any person who is responsible for curriculum
or other aspects of the teaching process.
End User
The end user is the person for whom the software or hardware was designed.
E-Rate
A federal program to provide discounted
telecommunications and information resources for schools. The discount is
based on the number of students in the district eligible for the school lunch
program and differs slightly for urban and rural districts.
Educators
may use copyrighted works is they follow the fair use guidelines. Fair use
depends on how much of the work is used, what the purpose is for using it,
how the work will be used and whether the use could damage the market for
the original use.
A network of networks connecting
millions of computer users all over the world.
The Internet enables worldwide connection to electronic mail, discussion
groups, databases, software, and other information sources, such as libraries
and museums. The use of technology
and Internet access is provided to promote educational excellence in schools
by facilitating resource sharing, innovation, and communication.
Software programs designed to prevent
users from accessing webpages. These programs block pages with specific words
that the program administrators have deemed inappropriate for the user.
A local area network (LAN) is a
group of computers and associated devices that share a common communications
line and typically share the resources of a single processor or server within
a small geographic area (for example, within an office building). Usually,
the server has applications and data storage that are shared in common by
multiple computer users. A local area network may serve as few as two or three
users (for example, in a home network) or many as thousands of users (for
example, in an FDDI network). Definition from TechTarget.com
This is the interference with the
work of other users, with or without malicious intent. e.g. anonymous letters,
tampering with passwords, accessing accounts without permission.
This includes, but is not limited to, using the network for approved legal activities which have educational relevance, using appropriate language and avoiding offensive or inflammatory speech, no impersonation, refraining from giving out personal information, and being respectful in chats or on listservers.
Plagiarism
See the excellent definition provided
by Swarthmore
College
The ability for technology personnel
to view individual users' computer screens from a remote location.
An agreement between a software
company and its users. The license
allows the program to be run on a designated number of devices by a designated
number of users.
Technology
A tool that teachers use to enrich
learning. Technology is ever-changing. Most of the technology that today’s
educators’ use involves computers, but in the future this may include personal
digital assistants and other emerging technology.
Vandalism
This is any malicious attempt to
harm or destroy data of another user, the internet, or any network connected
to the internet
A WAN (wide area network) is a
geographically dispersed telecommunications network and the term distinguishes a
broader telecommunication structure from a local area network (LAN). A wide
area network may be privately owned or rented, but the term usually connotes
the inclusion of public (shared user) networks. An intermediate form of network
in terms of geography is a metropolitan area network (MAN). Definition from TechTarget.com
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On-Line Resources
10
Commandments of Computer Ethics
This site is a list of 10 basic codes for computer
use from the Computer Ethics Institute.
American
Federation of Teachers (AFT) Code of Ethics
This site contains a dated (1971) version of a code of
ethics for the
AFT.
The ALA has very strong opinions and articles about
filtering, censorship and intellectual property.
Code of
Ethics for the Education Profession
From the National Education Association.
This site provides information on a variety of topics
related to codes of ethics
such as authoring a code of ethics. It also includes
an index of codes
of ethics from a wide variety of organizations and other
resources to
use in creating a code of ethics.
From the U.S. Copyright Office, everything you ever needed
to know about copyright, including facts on whether Elvis sightings can be
copyrighted.
This site from the U.S. Department of Education provides
reports and statistics about the digital divide.
Guide to E-Mail &
the Internet in the Workplace
ISBE
Standards for Technology Educators
This page is in pdf format. Click on the Technology Educator
link on the first page or scroll to page 202 to view the Illinois State
Standards, Knowledge Indicators and Performance Indicators for technology
educators.
This site is especially useful for its legal
forms on topics such as software, hardware and intellectual property.
National
Educational Technology Standards for Students
The International Society for Technology in Education
(ISTE) has created a National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) project
to specify technology standards for teachers and students. This page links to
the learning standards for students.
National
Educational Technology Standards for Teachers
The International Society for Technology in Education
(ISTE) has created a National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) project
to specify technology standards for teachers and students. This page links to
the standards and performance indicators for teachers.
Professional Ethics &
Wrongful Discharge
Resolution to
Opposition to Federally Mandated Internet Filtering
The official policy statement from the American Library
Association opposing the Child Internet
Protection Act.
Technology and the
New Professional Teacher
Standards for teachers regarding technology.
Technology Standards
for School Administrators
Created by the Technology Standards for School
Administrators Collaborative (TSSA Collaborative), this site offers an evolving
set of standards. Scroll to the bottom of the View Standard link to see the
standards.
Technology terms are defined at the searchable site.
Particularly useful for this code was its information on software
licensing.