The infusion of technology in the classroom requires teachers to consider a number of legal and ethical issues.
Copyright
Passed in 1976, the Copyright Act protects the intellectual property of individuals who create an original work (e.g., book) and prohibits anyone from copying or modifying the material without obtaining permission.
Fair Use
In the classroom, teachers may use copyrighted material if they follow the fair use guidelines. Fair use is based on four standards.
- Purpose of use: parts of copyrighted material may be used if it results in new information or material
- Nature of the work: published and factual material (versus fictional) may be used to disseminate information
- Proportion of material used: short excerpts of copyrighted material may be used with proper attributions
- Effect on marketability: copyrighted
material may be used as long as it does not decrease sales
Learn more about copyright and fair use.
Student Privacy
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects the privacy of students' educational records. This means that schools cannot share students' personal information (e.g., contact information, grades, or pictures) with external entities without the permission of parents/guardians. The law further allows parents/guardians to view their child's records and to request the correction of mistakes.
Learn more about student privacy.
Acceptable Use
School districts typically require students and parents/guardians to sign acceptable use policies. These policies outline what is considered acceptable use of technology in school. Many schools also use filtering software to restrict students' access to inappropriate websites on the Internet.
Academic Dishonesty
Due to the ease of copying information from the Internet, school districts also enforce academic dishonesty policies to deter students from plagiarism and/or cheating. Some schools also use anti-plagiarism software such as turnitin.
Learn more about plagiarism.
Freedom of Speech
Because the Internet is unregulated, people can post objectionable materials. Teachers should verify that students are complying with school policy when using technology and that they are not exposed to inappropriate content.
Digital Divide
It is the gap that exists between students who have access to technology and the Internet at home and those who do not. It can cause students to fall behind academically. In the United States, approximately 13% of all students enrolled in grades 6-12 are affected. Linked to several variables, including class background, race, and place of residence, students most impacted tend to live in rural or urban areas and to be from low-income households or minority backgrounds.
To reduce the digital divide, teachers should make sure that students can complete assignments that require technology in school and also encourage the use of public libraries.
Learn more about the digital divide in the United States.
Digital Citizenship
Teachers should impart good digital citizenship in students and teach them about the norms and responsibilities that they should follow when interacting online.
Teaching digital citizenship is necessary for maintaining a positive online environment, ensuring safety, decreasing cyberbullying, and protecting student privacy. Teachers should always:
- Enforce school policies about Netiquette and academic integrity
- Include the policies in
their syllabus
- Role model appropriate, online
behavior
- Require students to create original work with citations
- Train students to follow Netiquette and exercise caution in the online environment
References
Brock., A. (2018). FERPA: A teacher's guide. Retrieved
from https://youtu.be/zSKTV8cbpl8
Chapple, M. (2019). Understanding FERPA: How K-12 schools can update their data privacy approach. Retrieved from https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2019/09/understanding-ferpa-how-k-12-schools-can-update-their-data-privacy-approach-perfcon
Common Sense Education. (2020). Creativity, copyright, and fair use. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/xvZHNwBHirQ
Common Sense Education. Fusion. (2015). 75 million Americans don't have internet. Here's what it's like. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/m7I2YiobGKU
GCFLearnFree.org. (2018). Avoiding plagiarism. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/PzZsButRaHs
Harris, C. (2016). Digital citizenship: Acceptable use policy.
[Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/z5ILFOc7GcI
Joni Nguyen. (2017). Teaching students good citizenship. Retrieved from http://www.edudemic.com/digital-citizenship/
Maloy, R., Verock-O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Park Woolf,
B. (2017). Transforming learning with new technologies (3rd ed.).
Boston: Pearson.
SimpleK12. (2016). A hands-on activity to teach digital
citizenship. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/qGy1L0LneaY
SpeakUp. (2018). How America's schools are addressing the
homework gap: SpeakUp 2017 findings May 2018. Retrieved from https://tomorrow.org/speakup/speakup-2017-addressing-homework-gap-may-2018.html
Information from this post may be used provided credit is given to Dominique Charlotteaux
