With the proliferation of technology throughout the school culture, teachers have gained instructional responsibility for many new competencies. Along with the teaching of computing skills comes the need for changes in instructional focus to include ethical dimensions of these new technologies. Teachers must address these issues with students to encourage safe, lawful and morally correct use.

The following recommendations detail teacher responsibilities and curricular content that we feel are an important compliment to the actual code of ethics. We specify particulars for teachers to incorporate into their instructional repertoire to help insure that we as teachers not only abide by and demonstrate ethical principles as professionals but begin to instill these principles in our students as well.

Identify the social, ethical, legal and human issues surrounding the use of technology and apply and model those principles in practice.

If we model the ethical use of technology both in and outside the classroom, we demonstrate an understanding of and respect for current copyright laws, rights, and responsibilities. Our students learn by our example.

We need to design student learning activities that promote ethical, equitable and legal use of technology-based resources so that our students will be aware of these issues and follow acceptable use practices. If we verbalize aloud while contemplating ethical decisions, we can communicate our own reasoning which will help inform students.

Teachers should articulate values by clearly displaying lists and creating documents for students that specify conduct, reinforce ethical behaviors and clarify non-ethical behaviors. However, it is important not to overreact to incidents of technological misuse.

We should encourage a discussion of ethical issues with our students. For example, teachers can set up scenarios for role-playing how to handle ambiguous ethical dilemmas. These can be examples of actual news or school events and should spark debate that apply to activities in which the students are actively engaged (i.e. discussing how and why to cite online resources when completing a research project). Students need practice in creating meaningful analogies between the virtual world and the physical world (i.e. how is reading another person's email without their permission similar to or different from reading their traditional paper mail?). If we stress the consideration of broad principles rather than relying on a detailed set of rules, students are engaged in higher level thinking processes and learn behaviors that will benefit them in their next classroom, home and adult lives.

Identify and employ technology resources that enable and empower learners from diverse backgrounds, characteristics, and abilities.

We must consider our students and the inherent skills, experiences and backgrounds they bring with them into our classrooms. By recognizing the diversity of our student population, we gain insight about how best to address their individual understanding of ethical concerns and encourage their ethical behavior. We must also insure that we facilitate equitable access to technology resources and equipment despite our students' different socioeconomic or intellectual status.

Organize technology environments to help students avoid temptation and to minimize the opportunities for technology misuse in the classroom.

Computer screens should be arranged so they can be easily monitored. Sensitive and potentially inappropriate sites should be password protected. Internet surfing by younger students should be limited to teacher selected and bookmarked sites. Teachers should take care to log out of secure networks. Students and/or parents should be required to sign Internet agreements. These recommendations support our efforts to provide a safe and productive technology environment that encourages exploration without sacrificing safe, ethical use.

Integrate technology throughout the curriculum to support content learning and the acquisition of computing skills while demonstrating the ethical principles described throughout this document.

This integration should facilitate project-based inquiry while requiring students to practice using innovative technologies. Learning tasks should be structured so that students rely on higher order thinking skills of application, analysis and synthesis while using advanced technologies for research and presentation. Care should be taken to insure that the use of technology is not the focus but rather that the technology is used to compliment the instructional process. If our students apply ethical practice to real applications of technology use within the context of the classroom, they will be better able to continue in unstructured and/or unsupervised arenas.

Keep abreast of the changes in the world of technology.

There is a need to participate in continuing education opportunities. Teachers must be informed and up-to-date on current trends and developments. If we don't keep pace with the changes, we can't help our students face the difficult moral issues that accompany each new technological development.

Support colleagues in their efforts to expand personal and classroom use of available technologies.

Obviously, individual efforts are less effective than those of a group. Less adventurous and experienced colleagues need the guidance and support of those with greater expertise in both computing proficiency and dealing with the ethical boundaries of that guide that use.

Insure the privacy of their students while using available technologies.

The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, enforced by the Federal Trade Commission, requires commercial web site operators to get parental consent before collecting any personal information from kids under the age of 13. CHOP allows teachers to act on behalf of a parent during school activities online, but does not require them to do so. That is, the law does not require teachers to make decisions about the collection of their students' personal information. Check to see whether your school district has a policy about disclosing student information.