The use of technology and particularly the World Wide Web in educational settings has significantly increased over the last twenty years. With this increase has evolved inappropriate use of plagiarism and copyright violations as essays and information are becoming more easily assessable by all. This has created great concern for educators as is becomes a serious ethical concern. Baum states that twenty-five percent of post-secondary students cut-and-paste from internet sites without the use of citation.
As the use of technology in schools increases so will this ethical issue. The question that becomes more apparent now is “how do teachers inform students about the serious ness of this issue and what is the most efficient and effective way to implement awareness?” Many educators agree that informing students of these ethical issues would take far more than one school period. Rather, many schools are implementing technology ethics into their curriculum over a significant timeframe. The Urbana school has implemented a two semester course based on technology and internet do’s and don’ts.
So, the big question teachers are asking is how do we teach our students to be aware and responsible users of technology? Baum includes five steps of how to inform students: initiate a CyberEthics curriculum, teach CyberEthics in the classroom, use the internet as a tool to teach CyberEthics, create an acceptable use policy with students, and have students make a pledge to become responsible and honest web users.
My question to you is do you teach students the seriousness of this matter and what are some other ways to inform students of this issue?
Links to this issue:
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/technlgy/te400.htm
http://rhetoric.sdsu.edu/lore/2_2/ornat_internet.html
http://www.ubets.pdx.edu/Resources/ETHICS.HTM
Leslie
3 comments:
Teaching students about the seriousness of cyberethics is becoming increasingly important as students of all ages become more and more dependant on web based research. As you pointed out, it is easy for students to access exactly what they need, and without proper education in how to manage that incoming information, it is easy for students to simply call what they've found their own. Depending on the age of the students, the consequences of this can be taught in a variety of ways. It is becoming increasingly important for students to start getting this cyberethics education earlier in their education.
I completely agrsee with what you ladies are saying. Even from my own personal experience as a student it is easy to forget to sight a source which then becomes plagiarism. What seems to be a minor error at the time can lead to severe consequences in the long run. This is why it is crucial that we inform our students of the severity of such actions.
Leslie
Thanks for writing this.
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