CyberEthics: The New Frontier

By Baum, Janna J

Do students know what they can or cannot do with intellectual property on the internet? Many computer-savvy kids as well as educators, administrators and parents are unclear about what is and what is not ethical when dealing with the World Wide Web. The ethical issues that accompany educational technology have become more apparent as more educators have integrated technology into the classroom. However, despite the creation of acceptable use policies in K-12 schools, many students demonstrate poor judgment when using information and communication technology. Is this because students don’t know what’s acceptable on the internet or is it because they don’t care? Has the internet brought about a change in core values regarding cheating or is it simply easier for students who would have cheated anyway? As educators, we need to address these important issues as well as some basic questions, including a fundamental one: how, when and where do we teach CyberEthics within our curricula and is there a single answer to this ethical dilemma?

Alarming statistics: Digital plagiarism

An alarming statistic in a recent poll of 47,235 elementary and middle school students conducted by Scholastic, Inc. revealed that 48% of juveniles do not consider hacking to be a crime. The website claims that although most youth today are unlikely to commit serious crimes such as robbery, burglary or assault, they may not think twice about committing a cyber crime (Newman, para. 6). The Scholastic, Inc. website also explains that there is a rapidly expanding form of internet plagiarism on the rise. These so-called “paper mills” are websites providing term papers which students can download, usually for free, and submit as their own. These sites have been multiplying at an astounding rate. In March of 1999, about 35 such sites existed and by the end of 2003, there were more than 250 (Newman, para. 9). Steube (1996) claims, “As more and more schools venture onto the internet, incidents of plagiarism and copyright infringement that were once limited to classrooms are reaching an international audience” (para. 4).

Meanwhile, a national study reported in The Chronicle of Higher Education in 2002 claimed that 25 percent of post-secondary students surveyed said they had “cut and pasted” from online sources without a citation (cited in University of San Francisco, 2003, para. 6). Stephen Morris, a lecturer at the University of San Francisco School of Business and Management, subscribed to Turnitin.com, a website designed to detect plagiarized papers. He was suspicious that some of his students used secondary sources without documenting them. About one-third of his students’ papers were flagged for plagiarism. “Students are going to websites on their subject material or going to sites that sell papers,” Morris said. “My sense is that plagiarism has grown because of the ease of getting the information” (cited in University of San Francisco, para. 4).

Introducing a computer ethics curriculum

Schools across the nation are struggling with this widespread dilemma. As technology grows in school districts, so do the problems encountered. In 1994, the University Laboratory High School in Urbana, Illinois gave each student a computer account that included email privileges and access to the University of Illinois’ newsgroup. “Although we had a simple acceptable use policy, abuses, some of them serious, kept surfacing,” said Frances E Jacobson, the school’s librarian. We realized that we couldn’t teach ethics in a 50-minute class period. Instead, we’ve made it part of the fabric of our entire approach to teaching online skills. It took some bad experiences to show us the importance of a sustained approach. Three years ago, we instituted a required, twosemester sequence on standard software applications, web and desktop publishing, and information literacy. Teamtaught by four teachers, the course gives students a systematic introduction to internet services and culture. In devising the curriculum, we consciously included lectures on netiquette and other behavioral dos and don’ts. The key is that ethical behavior is not a one- or two-day lesson, but a theme we address throughout the course” (Jacobsen & Smith, 1998, paras. 5- 6).

The concept of instituting CyberEthics training as done at the Urbana school is gaining ground across the country. For example, the Alliance for Childhood Technology Literacy, an organization driven to improve how technology is taught in the classroom, claims that there is a need to “(i)nfuse the study of ethics and responsibility into every technology-training program offered in school” (Cordes, 2004, para. 16). Ultimately, “the goal of technology literacy is to enable young people to develop their own creative and critical capacities in relating to technology, not to train them to be machine operators. Then they will clearly see that their own choices are not limited to adjusting themselves to a 21st century determined by technology. Instead, this new generation will have the awareness, the moral and ethical sensibilities, and the will to adjust technology to fit into their 21st century” (Cordes, 2004, para. 32).

Although the challenges facing those who teach technology are great, educators remain hopeful. Tom Lickona, professor of education at the State University of New York at Cortland sums it up perfectly by saying, “Even in a rotten world, it’s possible to raise a moral child, if we make it a high priority” (Newman, para. 11). CyberEthics curricula, like the one at the University Laboratory High School in Urbana, Illinois, are beginning to appear within K- 12 school districts throughout the United States. This is but a start.

Five things educators can do

How can we teach the youth of today to be responsible members of the cyber world? Here are five steps an educator can take to teach the ethical uses of information and communication technologies.

1. Initiate a CyberEthics curriculum. Conduct research on CyberEthics courses taught at other school districts around the nation. (Visit iSafe at www.isafe. org, an organization dedicated to educating the youth of today about computer safety, to find a sample CyberEthics curriculum.) Impress the importance of this curricular innovation upon administrators and school boards. Talk to fellow technology educators. Get all core subject teachers involved. Invite parents to contribute.

2. Teach CyberEthics in the classroom. No matter what subject one teaches, include ethical case studies and scenarios involving the use of educational technology. see how students react. Solicit their opinions about ethical dilemmas. Have them surf the internet for case studies involving educational technology and report on them. (Purdue University, http://www. cerias.purdue.edu/, has put together a resource entitled, Your Guide to Safe Surfing, which provides ethical cases for classroom use.)

3. Use the internet as a tool to teach CyberEthics. Introduce students to significant cases of ethical issues involving educational technology. Find informational articles dealing with the latest technology issues. Locate sample lesson plans that address the ethical use of educational technology. (CyberSmart, a company focusing on teaching students to become responsible cybercitizens, offers CyberEthics lesson plans at http:// www.cybersmartcurriculum.org/.)

4.Create an acceptable use policy with students. Include ethical dos and don ts. Lead by example. Involve students and teachers in the process. (Sample Acceptable Use Policies and components for such policies can be found at security Software System’s website at http:/ /www.securitysoft.com/aup_components. html.)

5. Have students make a pledge to become responsible and honest web users. Involve the entire family. Have parents and other family members get involved in sharing the responsibility. (NetSmartz, a company whose primary goal is internet safety, at http://www. netsmartz.org, has safety pledges for students in grades K-12.)

Ultimately, whose responsibility is it to teach K-12 students the difference between right and wrong when it comes to the ethical and legal use of educational technology, especially information obtained from the World Wide Web? If we, as educators, don’t teach them the difference, then who will? By disseminating information and amending our curricula to address the ethical use of technology, schools can teach students how to become responsible cyber-citizens.

“Although most youth today are unlikely to commit serious crimes such as robbery, burglary or assault, they may not think twice about committing a cyber crime”

References

Center for Education and Research Information Assurance and Security, Purdue University, (n.d.). Your guide to safe surfing. Retrieved September 23, 2005, from http://www.cerias.purdue.edu/ education/ k-12/cerias_resources/files/questionnaire/ guide_to_safe_surfmg.pdf

Cordes, C., Monke, L., & Talbott, S. (2004). Technology literacy: Four guiding principles for educators and parents. Retrieved March 21, 2005, from http://www.allianceforchildhood.net/news/technology_ literacy.htm

CyberSmart Education Company. (2005). CyberSmart curriculum. Retrieved September 23, 2005, from http://www. cybersmartcurriculum.org/home/

Jacobson, F. E, & Smith, G. D. (1998). Teaching virtue in a virtual world: Internet ethics for students. Retrieved March 21, 2005, from http:// mte.anacortes.kl2.wa.us/library/sixth/ e\thics.htm

NetSmartz Workshop. (2004). Internet safety pledges. Retrieved September 23, 2005, from http://www.netsmartz.org/resources/ pledge.htm

Newman, A. M. (n.d.). 21a-century cheating. Retrieved March 21, 2005, from http://www.scholastic.com/schoolage/grade5/homework/ cheating.htm

security Software Systems. (2002). About acceptable use policies. Retrieved September 23, 2005, from http://www.securitysoft.com/ acceptable_use_policy.html

Stuebe, A. (1996). The struggle to teach ethics. Retrieved March 21, 2005, from http://mbhs.bergtraum.kl2.ny.us/cybereng/nyt/mbhs- nyt.html

University of San Francisco. (2003). University sets up defense against plagiarism. USF News Online. Retrieved March 21, 2005, from http://www.usfca.edu/usfnews/03/03.04.03/fp2.html

U.S. Department of Justice. (2005). iSafe. Retrieved September 23, 2005, from http://www.isafe.org/

Janna J. Baum, a public middle school teacher for the Pocono Mountain School District in Swifiwater, Pennsylvania, has taught over 5,000 seventh and eighth grade students since 1990. She has her Bachelor of Science degree from Colorado State University and her Masters in Business from Abilene Christian University. She recently completed a sabbatical in Honolulu, Hawaii, where she took graduate- level credits in educational technology and special education at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She is married and lives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Copyright Association for Educational Communications & Technology Nov/Dec 2005