Ryan Valentine

Summer Session 1, 2014

Educ. 200
Social, Legal and Ethical Issues in Educational Computing
odays classroom is an e!ol!ing place o" learning "or #oth students and teachers. $t the speed
%ith %hich today&s technology changes and impro!es, it is important to not only address the issues that
arri!e no% #ut to loo' to%ards the "uture %ith a %illingness to adapt. (nly %ith the students #est
interest in mind should technology #e implemented into the classroom and there are issues to consider
%hen doing so.
In terms o" the social impact o" technology in the classroom, one o" the most import issues is
ease o" accessi#ility "or all students. )epending on the school and the district in *uestion there can #e
any%here "rom a small to !ery %ide gap in the economic standing o" the students and their "amilies.
Students %ho may not #e a#le to a""ord the technology necessary to 'eep up %ith their peers %ill ris'
#eing le"t #ehind educationally as %ell as #eing ostraci+ed #y their peers. his is especially important
to consider %hen discussing a ,"lipped classroom-, %here much o" the learning process is dependent on
the student accessing their lessons remotely and outside o" school %here they might other%ise #e a#le
to use school o%ned "acilities and e*uipment. $nother issue to consider, and something that "aces our
entire culture as much as our schools, is the social disconnect #et%een student and their peers as %ell as
the teachers and their students. .hen dependence on a glo%ing screen #ecomes more appealing than
"ace to "ace interaction there is something lost. he human connection is /ust as important in teaching
student as speci"ic lessons and a healthy #alance must #e struc'.
echnology and a connection to the %orld %ide %e# opens up students, teachers and the school
itsel" to a range o" possi#ilities #ut also a signi"icant num#er o" pit"alls. Students are gi!en the 'eys to
e0plore a !ariety o" content %hile the school is #eing held accounta#le. .hile the school might ha!e
#uilt in protection against letting users %ander too "ar do%n dangerous paths, it is di""icult to
completely close all doors. Schools and school districts, #eing #igger targets, ha!e #een targets o" legal
in!estigations in the past "or copyright in"ringement and %rong"ul use on their campus. In Las Vegas,
1V a school administrator scanned a copyrighted educational pu#lication to their %e#site and presented
it "or anyone to !ie% and learn "rom. .hile the school %as not ma'ing any monetary gain "rom the
posted te0t, they %ere considered to ha!e #een in"ringing upon and distri#uting copyrighted material.
In terms o" ethical issues rele!ant to today&s educational computing, pri!acy is perhaps the most
important to consider. eachers and students #oth deser!e and need a pri!ate line o" distinction
#et%een their li!es inside the classroom and their li!es outside o" it. he internet is a place that "orgets
nothing and can allo% %indo%s into a persons li"e that they may not %ish to #e there. eachers in
.ashington state and (hio ha!e lost their /o#s "or ha!ing an online persona that depicts their
homose0uality. 2hotos, comments and shared lin's and any other online acti!ity are used to create an
online "ingerprint "or a person and the danger lies in the possi#ility o" that #eing used against them.
his leads to the issue o" ,cy#er #ullying- in today&s schools. Students can and %ill use in"ormation,
personal or other%ise against other students and #erate them in a pu#lic "orum %here there almost
seems to #e no escape.
he 3lipped Classroom4
he concept o" ,"lipping- the classroom is a promising idea that %ould not ha!e #een possi#le
to imagine 10 years ago. he age o" the internet and the a!aila#ility o" untold amounts o" in"ormation
and perspecti!es has opened the classroom up to this uni*ue style o" learning. In short, ,"lipping- a
classroom, sometimes called re!ersed learning, is an idea %here the students are themsel!es
responsi#le "or ta'ing in lectures and lessons at home or outside o" the classroom and then the time in
the classroom %ith the teacher i" "or learning and applying those lessons. In theory, the teachers spend
less time lecturing and regurgitating material and more time instructing the students in a more hands on
manner.
$n ad!antage to this style o" learning is that it allo%s students to internali+e in"ormation at their
o%n speed. he easily accessi#le material is online and a!aila#le any%here and anytime. his gi!es
students more or less time to tac'le concepts that might gi!e then trou#le #ut it also doesn&t "orce "aster
students to lag #ehind and hear lectures and lessons a#out ideas they ha!e already grasped. (n the "lip
side o" that argument, and a point that is made against techology in general, is that not e!eryone can
easily o#tain the e0pensi!e hard%are necessary to learn the material at home. E!eryone&s home li"e is
di""erent and it might not #e realistic or "air to an underpri!ileged and their "amily to pay large sums o"
money on technology that might only #e used "or a short time and that %ill li'ely #e out o" date e!en
sooner. 2erhaps in the "uture, as technology #ecomes more and more accessi#le, all students and
schools %ill #e a#le to a""ord and pro!ide e!eryone %ith an e*ual opportunity to e0perience the
o#!ious upsides o" a "lipped classroom.
,Clar' County School )istrict named in copyright in"ringement suit- 5illard, re!on. 1o!. 2016
http477%%%.re!ie%/ournal.com7ne%s7clar'8county8school8district8named8copyright8in"ringement8
la%suit
,echnology in Education4 he Legal, Social and Ethical Issues-
http477%%%.slideshare.net7sappington'r7028legal8ethical8and8social8issues8in8educational8computing
,Social, Legal and Ethical Issues4 $ computer Education Chapter-, 9aughton,
http477%%%.%cu.edu7ceap7houghton7edelcompeduc7Ch167Ch16SocialLegalEthical.html