By
Jason Bates, Brian Engle, Gretchen Halasi-Kun, Jenny Kiaschko,
Todd Mickley, Josh Norman, and Linda Norman
This project was completed as an assignment for
the EPS 304 course
Ethical and Policy Issues in Information Technologies as part
of the CTER Masters degree
program at the University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign. Nicholas
C. Burbules, Instructor
Introduction
Respect for Privacy Respect
for Ownership Respect for
the Network
Duty to Educate
Acceptable Use Policy Conclusion
View frames version
In this exciting age of rapid technological change,
the communication and computing developments that unfold each day
in the classroom can be awesome and sometimes even very confusing.
With the increasing presence of technology in our classrooms, professional
computer ethics should be included as a topic in any professional
development workshop or at the beginning of any given school year.
The new role of teachers as 'computer professionals' can present
us with some very unique ethical choices. With that said, there
is a definite need to establish a set of guidelines, a code, that
we must adhere to and model for our students. Educators should be
held responsible for the ethical use of technology. To this end,
we have developed this code of computer ethics for educators.
Back to top
Code of Ethics:
Rationale:
The fundamental right to privacy of an individual was first
publicly argued and published back in 1890 when two lawyers from
Harvard, by the name of Louis D. Brandels and Samuel D. Warren,
introduced their paper The Harvard Law Review. In the review,
the two lawyers argued that the right of privacy formed the basis
for tort liability. Since then, the right of privacy became an acknowledged
right both across our nation and in the Supreme Court.
Privacy rights were again debated with the rise of electronic surveillance
in the 1970's. Once again the courts, as well as society, supported
the principle of an individual's right to privacy. In dealing with
privacy in schools, many educators have chosen to incorporate it
into their acceptable use policy (AUP) to inform their staff and
students about their privacy rights related to the use of the school's
computer network.
There are many reasons why educators feel so strongly about this
ethical code and therefore choose to incorporate it into school
and district AUPs. One reason is due to the amount of information
that schools possess about their students that could leave their
students vulnerable if the information was to fall into the hands
of the wrong person. Another issue is the liability of the school
district's own staff. Just like the corporate world, schools deal
with information that should only be seen by certain personnel.
Steps must be taken to insure that this type of information is only
made accessible to those individuals. Computer hacking is
another key issue. Hackers don't usually hack just for the fun of
it, most have more devious motives. With the sensitive nature of
school records and the advances in technology, the threat of computer
hacking has become a concern. The privacy of students and faculty
must be protected against this threat.
No matter what the argument may be, the right of privacy for students
and staff is a right that should be guaranteed. It is a right that
is not only supported by the highest court in the land, but also
practiced in any civilized society in the world. The right of privacy
should not be lost when you enter the realm of education.
Educators should not post information about students or colleagues
without explicit permission.
As mentioned in the rationale for this section, individuals have
a right to privacy. To maintain this right, educators should
refrain from the online posting of any information gathered during
their professional service without the consent of the individual,
or with the student's case, the consent of the parents. The
posting of such information without consent could have unforeseen
negative consequences.
To help clarify the importance of this code, we offer one example
in which the disclosure of information may inadvertently cause harm
to a colleague:
A teacher decides to put together a web site for his department.
Included in the site is a page that lists all the teachers in
the department, their contact information, and a small paragraph
about the teacher's private life: hobbies, interests, if he's
married, has children, etc. The teacher creating the site
has included this information to present the teachers in the department
as "normal" people, trying to decrease the separation
that occurs between student and teacher, or teacher and parent.
However, a former student from the school who is upset about receiving
a failing grade, accesses the site, sees that the teacher that
failed him has children, and starts making phone calls to
the teacher threatening his family's safety.
What seemed like a good way to increase the communication between
the teachers and the community, has turned into a unwelcome source
of information that could be used against the teacher. Since the
teacher was not aware of the information on the web site and was
careful not to disclose such personal information in his class,
he could not be certain if these calls were a prank or if the individual
making the calls was serious in his intent.
Suggestions for maintaining privacy:
- Do not reveal the personal addresses or telephone numbers of
students or colleagues.
- Recognize that e-mail is not private.
- Do not use other users' accounts or passwords.
- Don't post information that is untrue about others individuals.
Educators should not allow students access to
cumulative records or private information.
A teacher should not allow students access to cumulative records
or private information. Furthermore, a teacher should take all necessary
precautions to prevent students from tampering with student records.
It is the responsibility of educators to make the online records
impenetrable by addressing the issue of security.
Kizza (p 52) breaks security into three elements:
confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Confidentiality is
the idea that information is accessible only to those parties that
ought to have such access. Integrity refers to the prevention of
tampering with records by a third party. Availability is the idea
of making sure information is available to authorized parties when
they need to gain access. Educators must ensure that records are
confidential by not allowing unauthorized parties to peruse records
online. The integrity of school records (grades, attendance, discipline)
must be maintained through the use of authentication methods such
as user names, passwords, and verification of IP address (Kizza,
p 56). Finally, online records must be easily available to parties
to whom such availability has been promised.
Suggestions for Maintaining Security:
As a teacher, student records, cumulative folders, and student grades
should be protected in your classroom and online.
-
Make sure that all private records are password
protected and that you give out your personal
password to no one.
-
Make sure that when accessing private records
that no students are in the vicinity to see the
records.
-
When showing student grades, make sure that they
are posted by private ID numbers.
-
When showing private information to students on
your computer, make sure that no other student's
information is also showing.
-
When posting information on the internet, be certain
that the information is stored on a secure server which employs
encryption technology to decrease the possibility of interception
of the private data.
Exceptions:
In most situations, it is best to maintain the privacy of the
individual. However, if an individual's actions are carefully
determined to be in direct violation of this code or compromises
the safety of the school, the information should be divulged to
the appropriate individuals or agencies for the purpose of improving
the profession and/or preserving the safety of the school and community.
Back to top
Rationale:
Another controversial topic of the technology revolution is
the right of ownership. The right of ownership was recently brought
to public attention in the summer of 2000. In the case of A&M
Records vs. Napster, a District Court ruled that Napster, a MP3
downloading company, had "knowingly encouraged and assisted
users in copyright infringement by allowing Internet users to search
for, and download, copyrighted music files". Naspter on the
other hand, argued that they had not broken any copyright laws due
to the fact that their so-called music sharing was protected by
the "fair use" doctrine. The courts replied to Naspter's
claim by pointing out that the file-sharing activities of Napster
users were "commercial" in nature because their repeated
use of the service offered potential harm to the market for copyrighted
music by causing record companies to lose CD sales they would otherwise
make. This case set precedence for ownership issues dealing with
technology.
Many schools' AUPs have clauses written in them that prohibit the
use of software without the consent of the copywriter. This is not
just included with technology but also with books and videos. Copyright
laws were established to protect the rights of the authors/seller
of the material. Educators need to inform students and colleagues
of the difference between sharing material and stealing material
that is copyrighted.
Educators should not post material authored or created by
another without his/her permission.
Copyrighted works on the net covers a wideband of material that
includes news stories, software, novels, screenplays, graphics,
pictures, Usenet messages and email. The reality is that some form
of copyright law protects almost everything on the Internet.
An individual's possessions must never be taken without his/her
consent. When one posts material that is not rightfully authored
or created by him/her, he or she is plagiarizing. Computer ethics
must model what we believe and live by in other aspects of our lives.
As Lee states in "The Need for Ethics in Education in Computer
Curriculum," teenagers witness behavior in which if we don't
get caught, it is acceptable. Educators must always cite or get
permission to post anything that is created by another. If we want
students to always give credit, then so must educators.
The copyright law states that with permission we may use other's
work. It is not difficult to contact the author to get this permission.
The Internet allows individuals to more freely communicate with
authors. Most authors include their e-mail address on their web
pages. If the educator views the author's work significant
enough to use, the educator should take the time to obtain the necessary
permission to use that information. As with any form of copyright,
it is the individual responsibility of each user
to determine that his/her use of copyrighted materials, including
computer software, is in accord with this code.
Suggestions for upholding copyright laws:
- Make teachers aware of copyright laws including the appropriate
use of shareware, government documents, html, java code, freeware,
and links to other sites.
Exceptions: Section 107.
Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair Use.
There are a few exception to the copyright law found in Section
107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair Use. As stated
in the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of
a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies
or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section,
for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching
(including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship,
or research, is not an infringement of copyright. A teacher
should determine on their own whether the use made of a work
in any particular case is a fair use meets the needs of the
following factors-
- The purpose and character of the use, including whether such
use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational
purposes;
- The nature of the copyrighted work;
- The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation
to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
- The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value
of the copyrighted work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a
finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration
of all the above factors.
Back to top
Rationale:
The New Webster's Dictionary defines share as "a portion
or part allotted." When sharing network resources each educator
is allotted a portion of the server that is available. However,
server space is at a premium when accommodating large numbers of
people's resources. In order to accomplish a fair share of resources
for all, each individual must respect that code of ethics. Limited
resources in budgets do not allow for expansion of servers as the
need continues to grow.
All educators must respect the limited space given by only utilizing
what is necessary to keep within the guidelines. This allows all
the same privilege to be able to have space to store important files.
The privilege will only be available if each person takes the responsibility
for protecting this space for others. This is no different than
protecting space for desks for all students. One would not set up
an aquarium in the middle of the room if it detracted from space
for each of his/her students to have a space to place a desk. As
educators we must always be thinking about the welfare of the whole
learning community.
The primary reason that educators incorporate this ethical code
in their AUPs is to insure that the limited server space is equally
accessible by all. The amount of information that the server must
maintain is extremely large and important to its users. Another
reason is to insure that the server will be available when needed.
Server space is utilized for more than storing files of teachers.
It is also the hardware that maintains the networked educational
software, network systems, and record keeping databases.
Equal space on the district server should be guaranteed for all
if it is granted for one. To make this possible, it is the responsibility
of each individual that uses the networked server to conscientiously
follow this ethical code. Refraining from storing excessive amounts
of data, especially non-job related data would help achieve staying
within the portion allotted on the server.
Educators should refrain from using network resources to
store excessive amounts of data, especially non-job related data.
A district's server has very limited space in relationship to the
amount of people accessing and utilizing the server. Each teacher
should have personal, secure space to use on the server for items
related to class work. Students also have access to a certain amount
of server space in order to safely store projects while they are
in the working process. As students finish these projects, their
work must be saved on a disk and erased from the server in order
to preserve the work and free up file space for other classes and
projects.
Unfortunately, there is not enough room on the servers to store
all documents created by students and teachers. We must conserve
the space and limit our file space to works in progress. The rules
that apply to students also apply to teachers' personal server space.
When your projects are completed for your classes, please save the
documents to a hard copy in order to clear the server and to preserve
the work completed.
We must also realize that file space should not be used for non-educational
purposes. Although it is acceptable to use the district computer
for personal work outside of the school hours, the district file
space is not at your disposal. Saving MP3 files, scanned items,
or any type of personal documents on the server is not allowed.
These items use a great amount of valuable, workable space. This,
in turn, makes it unable for students or other teachers to use the
server space for educational purposes.
Suggestions for maintaining network integrity:
- Establish and maintain storage limits for individuals on the
network.
- Establish a system for colleagues to monitor space usage
Back to top
Rationale:
An educator's first obligation is to the safety and well being
of the students in his/her care. We need to consider children's
interests, needs and abilities and utilize them to help each child
fulfill his/her potential as an effective member of society, and
develop an environment which helps stimulate the spirit of inquiry,
acquisition of knowledge and understanding, and the thoughtful formulation
of worthy goals. This should enable students to develop self-confidence;
trust in themselves and others; and encourages development of the
whole self.
Educators should discuss with students ethical standards
expected for a particular course and curriculum.
As a teacher, it is not only your responsibility to follow a detailed
code of ethics, but you must also present your students with their
code of ethics for the use of technology. This code should be presented
to them by one individual at the beginning of the school year to
ensure consistency. At this initial explanation of the student code,
role playing activities and real life situations should be integrated
into the presentation to give the students a better concept of how
and why these codes should be applied.
Throughout the school year it is your responsibility to periodically
readdress the code before every technology-based projects and activities.
This is to ensure that the students are continually reminded of
the principals of the code. This is also to ensure that transfer
students and students that have missed the previous informational
session will be informed of the code.
Educators should make all reasonable efforts to insure that
students will not be exposed to any defamatory, abusive, obscene,
profane, sexually oriented, threatening, racially offensive, harassing,
or illegal material while using the Internet.
First, it is the responsibility of an educator to present accurate
information to students. Teachers rely on the publisher to verify
the facts presented in a textbook. There is no such verification
process for online materials. Therefore it is the responsibility
of the teacher to check the validity of information in online sources.
Second, it is the right of parents to decide if their children
may be exposed to questionable materials. Just as a teacher ought
not to show a video that contains inappropriate material, so must
a teacher refrain from displaying any material from the Internet
that contains obscene or offensive material. A fundamental belief
in our society is the idea that parents have the right to determine
the kind of material to which their children are exposed. Movies
receive a rating and parents can decide whether or not to allow
their child to see that movie. Television shows also have ratings
and parents can use the V-chip or similar technology to block access
to inappropriate programs. The challenge for teachers is to sift
through the unrated material available online and make ethical decisions
regarding the use of the material. As educators, we are told to
consider whether or not a reasonable person would consider a particular
book, song, or piece of artwork to be appropriate. This "reasonable
person" principle ought to likewise be applied when considering
the use of content from the Internet in the classroom.
Third, it is the right of students to learn in a safe environment.
When threatening, racially offensive or harassing material is introduced
into a classroom, a hostile environment is created and students'
rights are violated. Students have the right to learn in a safe
environment, free from insult, humiliation, oppression, and cruelty.
A professor's use of off-color jokes in a lecture might entertain
some students but at the same time might make some students feel
harassed. Similarly, the use of a website that conveys a racist
message is inappropriate. Students may feel oppressed or uncomfortable
with the presentation of such a site. A teacher must monitor the
materials brought into the classroom, either physically or virtually,
in order to ensure a safe environment for all learner
Suggestions to limit student exposure to inappropriate material:
- Establish a schedule to periodically check the external links
on school websites
- Limit student's ability to edit browser history and and delete
temporary internet files
Back to top
One means of enforcing a code of ethics is to employ an acceptable
use policy for all users of the district's computers. Such
a policy specifies the appropriate use of the computer network and
the consequences that may be involved if an individual is found
to be using the network inappropriately. We offer the following
as an example of such a policy.
The policy:
Our School provides computers and Internet service for the use
of students, teachers, staff, and administration. The computers
provide access to local, national, and international sources of
information.
All users must act in a responsible, ethical, and legal manner
in accordance with the educational objectives and the Honor Code
of the school. Computer use and access to the Internet is a privilege,
not a right. This privilege entails responsibility.
All faculty is asked to read, discuss, and sign the Acceptable
Use Policy, to indicate their full cooperation with our computer
and Internet use policy.
Responsibilities:
- The technology department will supervise and provide appropriate
guidance and instruction to faculty in the use of our computer
resources
- Faculty members are expected to demonstrate ethical behavior
when using computers and network resources
- Educational value of faculty computer use is the joint responsibility
of administration, department heads, and members of the school
board.
Restrictions: The following are NOT permitted:
- Accessing, uploading, downloading, transmitting, displaying,
or distributing obscene, profane, lewd, vulgar, rude, inflammatory,
threatening or disrespectful language at any time on any computer
in the school
- Damaging computers, computer systems, networks, spreading of
computer ãvirusesä
- Posting personal information on the Internet
- Violating copyrights, plagiarism, trespassing in another personâs
folders, work, or files on all computers
- Violating local, state, or federal statute
Consequences: Consequences for violating these rules will include,
but not necessarily be limited to the suspension of all technology/computer
privileges.
Disclaimer: School is not responsible for any loss of data due
to faulty connections or equipment failure.
I UNDERSTAND AND AGREE to abide by the guidelines set above in
the schoolâs Acceptable Use Policy:
Name (print): ___________________________________
Signature: ________________________________________
Date: ___________
Back to top
Professional ethics in the field of technology education is a topic
that demands discussion and training. The ever-increasing role of
technology in our society demands that educators address the ethical
issues embedded in computing. Any educational institution that has
invited technology into its classrooms has an obligation to train
its faculty in the ethical use of computers. A school or district
code of computer ethics, along with an Acceptable Use Policy, are
integral components of such in-service training. It is the responsibility
of the school to not only instruct teachers how to integrate the
technology into the curriculum, but also how to do so in an ethical
manner.
Educators are presented with unique ethical choices. We have been
entrusted to make the right decisions for the education and care
of young people. A code of computer ethics for educators can guide
us toward honorable, professional behavior, as we continue to earn
that trust.
Back to top
References:
The Association for Educational Communications & Technology
http://www.aect.org/
Bulion, Leslie. EXCEL-lent Middle School Math Lessons! Education
World
http://www.education-world.com/a_tech/tech079.shtml
Centre for Computing and Social Responsiblity (CCSR)
http://www.ccsr.cse.dmu.ac.uk/
Foster, James C., Leeson, Susan M. "Constitutional Law". Upper
Saddler River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1998.
Hopkins, Gary. Training Teachers Who Are Terrorized by Technology!
Education World. http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr176.shtml
Kizza, Joseph Migga. "Ethical and social issues in the information
age". New York : Springer, 1998.
NEA Code of Ethics for the Education Profession
http://www.nea.org/aboutnea/code.html
NEA Focus on Technology
http://www.nea.org/cet/
Post, David. Napster Ruling: The Legal Issues. BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/newsid_1167000/1167483.stm
Starr, Linda. Teacher-Created Web Sites Link Home and School
-- Virtually! Education World.
http://www.education-world.com/a_tech/tech008.shtml
Volkman, Richard. Software Ownership and Natural Rights.
The Research Center on Computing and Software http://www.southernct.edu/organizations/rccs/resources/research/intellectual_property/volkman_nat-rights.html
|
jrn
