Digital Technology: Social, Moral, and Ethical Implications - Essay Sample

Introduction

Educational fields can reap so many benefits from the effective usage of digital technology. Currently, a vast number of educators and students are tapping into the power of digital media and technology to teach and learn. Undoubtedly, digital technology has the capability of changing how teachers teach and students learn. However, digital technology has various social, moral, and ethical implications for both teachers and students. This paper will be discussing the social, moral, and ethical implications in students accessing the Internet outside the school to complete schoolwork.

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The Current Digital Technology

Students' ability to access the Internet while away from school to complete school works is a current digital technology that has been embraced in many educational institutions. The technology relies on computer and internet connection to complete course work instead of the traditional means when students needed only a paper, pencils, and time to get their schoolwork done. It is a form of digital learning that Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) defines as “any instructional practice that effectively uses technology to strengthen a student's learning experience and encompasses a wide spectrum of tools and practices” (NCES, 2018).

Digital textbooks, multimedia resources, internet accessibility, and computer permeability in homes are the main prerequisites for the effectiveness of this digital technology. The diversity in this technology consents students in connecting as well as in collaborating with the global audience, which thus results in social, moral, and ethical implications. It is, therefore, imperative for students to exercise apt and professional behavior as they actively participate in authentic learning experiences through the Internet while outside the schools.

Firstly, confidentiality and privacy are among the major social as well as ethical challenges that students and teachers face. As the Internet gets cheaper and affordable, the majority of the students using it lacks enough awareness that it is probable that their personal information can be exposed when they go online. It is a digital concern that anonymous information about student’s web-surfing habits may be combined with individual personal information. Secondly, there is an ethical concern regarding hacking and spamming. Students will always be sending large files, which can result in the crushing of the school system, and external threats of hackers.

The Internet is a storehouse of knowledge and information that is informative, thus helping students to learn and grow. However, there is still harmful information that students may access, which raises concerns about its moral implication. There are cases when students may come across inappropriate content on a website like the pornographic graphics. Cyberbullying is another emerging concern where inappropriate content results from individuals who are virtually making hateful as well as hurtful comments to other students. These hateful and hurtful remarks continuously become hostile after being repeated, which translates to serious moral and social concerns to the affected student.

Copyright infringement applying to both students and teachers is still yet another emerging ethical concern. The majority of students find themselves breaking the copyright laws, which is neither legal or ethical. The Internet has been providing many websites to students who access various materials illegally. Despite different laws of protecting property rights, digital technology and the Internet have continuously been providing illegal access to people’s information. There are still critical debates on who is the owner of online educational materials. Is it for the professors or the university? It is imperative that all the educational materials are stored on the school’s database; thus, the copyright could be belonging to the school.

Additionally, there is an emerging concern of violation of equality brought about by the usage of the Internet by students in the online classes (Sawahel, 2020). The reason behind this challenge is the limitations that are in some communities which are not able to access internet facilities and electricity, especially in different rural areas due to low incomes (Sawahel, 2020). The current pandemic of Covid-19 has revealed this challenge as in some countries; students are not able to access uploaded materials on the web or even participate in ICT-aided teaching and learning due to unstable internet connections (Sawahel, 2020). It is thus imperative that when students in some places are able to access fast speed that in other areas, there will be an ethical concern as some will feel discriminated (Sawahel, 2020).

Current Research

Data from the National Center for Education Statistics reveal that the number of students using the Internet at home grew from 57.7% in 2010 to 63.8% in 2018 (NCES, 2019). Similarly, for the same period of time, households that have computers and smartphones that can access the Internet have grown from 85.3% to 94.3% (NCES, 2019). This is an indication of a growth trajectory for the students using the Internet at home for academic purposes.

In terms of social concerns and trending, cyberbullying has been seen growing currently, where 73% of students report having been cyberbullied at some point (Broadband, 2020). Cyberbullying is also recorded in bringing various negative impacts as 64% of students who get bullied while using the Internet say that their learning is affected and only feel safe while at school (Broadband, 2020).

Additionally, 19% of students who get cyberbullied, report that they feel negative about themselves (Broadband, 2020). On the same, 14% of the victims report their relationship with friends, and family members were affected while 9% report their school work getting affected by cyberbullying (Broadband, 2020). Also, in 2019, out of a total of 382 incidents of hacking, 92 were from schools as the attackers targeted the school system from student portals, phishing emails, and ransomware, with 12% resulting from unauthorized disclosure of student data (Herold, 2017).

Recommendations

Since the usage of the Internet by students, while outside school to complete various school tasks, aligns with modern digital technology, it is recommendable to look on ways to ethically use it. Firstly, educators should articulate personal values to students on what ethical conduct is online. By so doing, clear limits of what is allowed should be set under the school acceptance policy. Secondly, discussions on internet ethical issues should be encouraged for both student’s experiences and other sources. They should be taught the difference between the virtual world and the physical world. There should be direct teaching of ethics as a part of the information literacy curriculum in the school.

Additionally, the school should consider involving parents by educating them about the ethical technology by the use of school newsletters, talks at parent organization meetings, as well as through orientation programs held by the school. When the parents, who are key stakeholders in student’s education, are aware of some of the basics regarding internet usage, they will be able to offer positive monitoring and help students. Besides, it is of great benefit when students are encouraged to report any of the inappropriate online relations to their parents, teachers, counselors, as well as the administrators once they occur. In terms of confidentiality, strict measures, as well as education, should be administered to curb plagiarism and Copywrite issues.

Conclusion

The current technology has many benefits for both teachers and students in both teaching and learning experiences. Students accessing the Internet outside the school to complete schoolwork is a current digital technology already being used vastly by both educators and students. The diversity of this digital technology makes it prone to various social, moral, and ethical implications. Statistically, the number of students using the Internet has grown drastically over the last decade, and many households are already equipped with prerequisites for its usage. In order to ensure there is ethical use of digital technology, personal values should be articulated to the students; there should be direct teaching of ethics and also educating parents on ethical technology.

References

Broadband. (2020). Critical Cyberbullying Statistics in 2020. https://www.broadbandsearch.net/blog/cyber-bullying-statistics

Herold, B. (2017). New survey data show IT leaders underestimate cybersecurity challenges. https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2017/11/29/schools-struggle-to-keep-pace-with-hackings.html

Lawson, F.(2020). Ethics and Technology Use in Education. http://ethicsandtechnologyuseineducation.blogspot.com/

NCES. (2018). Student Access to Digital Learning Resources Outside of the Classroom. National Center for Education Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2017/2017098/index.asp

NCES. (2019). Percentage of children ages 3 to 18 who use the Internet from home, by selected child and family characteristics. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d18/tables/dt18_702.15.asp?current=yes

Sawahel, W. (2020). Union opposes online classes as ‘violation of equality.’ University World News. https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20200325083138992