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Ethics in Practice

     It is important to be intentionally conscious of ethical concerns related to copyright, fair use, privacy, security, diversity, and inequality when developing and delivering online learning. It is also important to inform and train learners in ethical considerations as they create knowledge and interact with people and technologies. In the words of Randy Nichols, “I have an obligation to try to make ethics a more substantial part of my life and the lives of people associated with technology in general” (Nichols, 2002, p. 53).
 
References
Lin, H. (2007). The ethics of instructional technology: issues and coping strategies experienced by professional technologists in design and training situations in            higher education. Educational Technology Research and Development, 55, 411-437. doi:10.1007/s11423-006-9029-y
 
Nichols, R. G. (2002). Meeting our ethical obligations in educational technology.TechTrends, 46(1), 52-53.

Ethical Practices of Technology Usage

     An ethical awareness has always seemed to me the responsibility of the school administration. Every year or so they would remind us of copyright infringement laws. With the advent of classroom “life” on the internet, we were schooled in how to ensure our student’s privacy and security. We were also trained in HIPA laws in regards to the security and privacy of student records. I did not have my own ethical awareness about my professional practices related to the ethics of diversity, accessibility, privacy, security, copyright, and fair use beyond what came as a directive from the administration. Nichols admonishes that “ethics should play a greater role in our technology uses, development, assessment, and so on” (Nichols, 2002, p. 53). As classrooms expand into the digital space in virtual learning environments there are an increasing number of situations that require an awareness and adherence to ethical practices of use.
In a study by Lin on the ethics of instructional technology, he interviewed educational technologists that were instructional designers, educational technology supervisors, and online instructors. He asked them about how they viewed ethics in light of their technology use for educational purposes. Among the topics that ranged from copy right to confidentiality, accessibility, diversity, and inequality, one comment stuck out to me. One interviewee stated that “we end up just copying and pasting the how-to step by step from the HELP menus or from other materials” (Lin, 2007, p. 423). I know in my case, I copied and pasted from the HELP menu at Blackboard to use in my syllabus under student and technology support services because it was faster and easier than creating it myself. We have become so accustomed in our personal lives to gathering bits of information from the internet and copying, pasting, and capturing it for our personal use. It’s a habit; and apparently, it’s a bad habit.
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