TechnologyLegal, Ethical, and Social Issues of

Technology

Legal Issues

• Accessibility• Appropriate use• Piracy

Accessibility

• In a school setting, it is required that students with disabilities have equal access to technology.*

• Disabilities can include visual or auditory impairment, cognitive difficulties, neurological impairment, and disabilities related to age, among others.

• One example of a person with a severe disability who uses technology successfully is the physicist Stephen Hawking: http://www.hawking.org.uk/

Appropriate use

• The Internet is a rich resource for valuable information on every topic imaginable.

• Unfortunately, it is also a rich source of a great deal of garbage.

• In a classroom setting, it is important to have clear rules regarding what Internet usage is acceptable and what isn’t.

• Internet filters can by used in school settings to protect students from accessing harmful materials.

Piracy

• Technology has made it easier to copy and sell not only CDs, videos, etc., but also computer software.

• Computer software tends to be expensive, so it can be tempting to copy software or “borrow” and install someone else’s copy.

• Copying software is illegal, just like copying a DVD is illegal. Borrowing someone else’s legal copy and installing it is also illegal in many cases.

Ethical Issues

• Privacy• Plagiarism• Hate speech

Privacy

• The wide reach of the Internet and technology in general gives rise to concerns that people’s private behavior online could be monitored and invaded.*

• Sometimes people have been robbed, or worse, stalked, harassed, or even killed by criminals who were able to access their information online.

Plagiarism

• Having so much available information online can make it both easy and tempting for students to simply copy information for school papers or other assignments, rather than do their own research.* This can have enormous negative consequences, including failing a course or grade, or even expulsion from an educational institution.

• On the positive side, technology has also provided teachers with tools (such as antiplagiarism software) that help them detect when students are doing this.

Hate speech

• Freedom of speech is important; in this country, everyone has a right to his or her opinion and the right to express it, however unpleasant it may be.

• Some free expression is controversial, because it may incite violence. Also, it may cause long-term harm if it is libelous and damages someone’s reputation.*

• In a school setting, teachers and administrators can determine what the school’s policy will be on such speech, and what the consequences will be for those who engage in it. In the broader “real world,” it is much harder to legislate; so far, no satisfactory solution has been reached.

Social Issues

• Cyberbullying• Online interaction

Cyberbullying

• An unfortunate result of children and teenagers having so much online access is that now, children especially are vulnerable to harassment and bullying, not only on the playground or at school, but at home as well.

• Sometimes the rumors and images posted about people can cause serious harm to their reputations, whether true or not.

• Some young people have chosen to end their lives, feeling as though there is no escape from their tormentors. See, for example, the story of Megan Meier: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3882520&page=1#.UWt1lleGJec

Online interaction

• On the positive side, the ability to interact online has opened a vast world of opportunity for people everywhere to socialize with others, as far away as the other side of the world. This can be a very enlightening and enriching experience, especially for children.

• On the negative side, this same ability to interact with such a wide world has also opened up many more opportunities for online predators.*

• Sometimes people have been murdered by predators who have gained their trust online. See, for example, a brief article about Philip Markoff, a Craigslist killer: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/22/us/22indict.html?ref=philipmarkoff&_r=0

• Poor choices in online interaction can have long-term consequences, especially when trying to find a job.†

Sources• ABC News,

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3882520&page=1#.UWt1lleGJec

• New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/22/us/22indict.html?ref=philipmarkoff&_r=0

• Stephen Hawking, http://www.hawking.org.uk/• Teaching and Learning with Technology, by Judy Lever-

Duffy and Jean McDonald (Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2011)