Week 13 Reflection

Week 13: Chapter 11 and 12. What are the legal, social, and ethical issues arising in the Digital Age?

With the increased reliance on technology in and outside the classroom, other issues have also increased during this digital age. Legal, social, and ethical issues have all arose over the past decade and can not be easily ignored. Legal issues are surfaced around copyright laws. Copyright laws do not imply however within the classroom. These rules are called fair use rules. It is always important to ask yourself what is the intended use of the material? What type of work is it? The amount of the work which you will use, and finally, what type of impact does this kind of use have on the market of the work? (Table 11.1). Another issue is privacy. Privacy comes in many different aspects. This most common involves online privacy. Parents must give permission to a school district to use the name or picture of their child. The final aspect of the legal issues in the digital age is acceptable use. According to Lever-Duffy and McDonald the most common area of acceptable use has to do with the internet (404). Each student should be familiar with the acceptable use of the school district. The school district normally issues an acceptable use policy for the entire district (404). Overall, legal issues while may be complicated must be followed in order to make sure that the school and students are within compliance of the rule of law.

The second set of issues is social issues. While not as extensive as legal issues, they are still extremely important. The one major issue pointed out by Lever-Duffy and McDonald is the access which students have to computers. Many times poorer school districts might not have as many computers of that of wealthier districts. Along with this, a study by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration showed that only 46% of households that make between $35,000 and $49,000 own a computer (407). While some suggest that students are at a disadvantage because of their economic status. Generally school districts are well stocked with computers, and if a student does not have a computer at home they do have the opportunity to use one at their local library. There have been steps taken to make sure local communities can be afforded by public organizations, such as schools and libraries at a reduced price (408).

The final and most prevalent issues surrounding the digital age is that of the ethical issues. Ethical issues include freedom of speech, and academic dishonesty. Freedom of Speech is a highly debatable issue. While the internet is without question a “forum for sharing ideas and opinions” (409), many believe censorship should be enforced when pertaining to people placing their own opinions on the internet for all to see. It is important for teachers and students to understand that all information should be access from educational websites. Therefore they will not have to worry about delivering misinformed information to their audience. The final issue is that of academic dishonesty. Academic dishonesty is running ramped through American schools by way of plagiarism. While many times plagiarism is completely involuntary it is still a major issue which must be faced. There must be more efficient education of students to allow them to learn exactly what plagiarism is, and how to avoid it. One step which has been taken to avoid academic dishonestly is by way of the creation of websites such as turnitin.com which monitors and analyzes papers for plagiarism. Overall while there are many issues that face teachers and students in the technological age, but none compare to the benefits which it gives.