Although all of the issues we discussed in this lesson were very serious, there are legal and ethical issues that can land you in serious hot water, possibly resulting in termination and heavy fines. There may be times where we, as educators, may be asked to do something that is either illegal or unethical by our boss, parents, or even students, but we must maintain a moral high ground and be role models for our students. We also must make sure that if we have suspicions or know that a students has been dishonest, we should take the necessary steps to investigate and report it. Some legal and ethical problems that we may face in our schools are:
Hacking
Hackers are people who try to break into online systems to try to find personal and private information. Hackers may target schools for a variety of reasons, and may end up stealing large amounts of data about staff and students. As a result, schools invest in firewalls, protective software that blocks on unauthorized access to school computers. Schools spend a large portion of funds on trying to prevent these illegal activities, and try to constantly keep teachers and students educated iin how to prevent these attacks from happening.
Safety Issues
A major safety issue when it comes to students being online is online predators. These people have easier access to children than ever before, being able to try and charm them behind the screen of a computer monitor. These predators can very easily find out a lot of information from students just by going onto the child's social media accounts or by simply asking questions. Students also have access to many objectionable materials, including cyberporn. To try and negate this issue, schools often have parents and students sign an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP).
Academic Dishonesty
With greater access to online resources comes the possibility of academic dishonesty. Also known as cybercheating, online cheating is a very serious offence within schools. Often times when talking about cybercheating, we are talking about plagiarism. Plagiarism tends to happen a lot when students are feeling overwhelmed with the amount of work they have to do and they feel they won't get a good grade without copying some else's work. Other times, students may not not cite a source correctly or at all and may accidentally commit plagiarism. Although this is the most common forms of cybercheating, there is also the possiblity to cheat in online classes. Teachers who teach these classes worry that the work they are getting is not the work of the student. Schools try to combat this by making students go to a physical location to take exams.
Illegal Downloads/Software Piracy
This type of legal and ethical issue is not as prevalent in the classroom as other issues, but it can still become a problem. We must keep an eye out for suspicious signs of students downloading illegal materials and breaking the AUP. Many students may not be aware that by downloading their favorite song off of a website for free can be considered music piracy and is illegal. Making students aware of their activities and how serious they are may caution students against doing it again in the future.
Solving this may be as simple as just making sure students are aware of the consequences of any illegal or unethical practices. The AUP has been put into place as a way to try and combat any issues that may arise, but students still find ways around this and may do it at school as well as at home. We can't always be looking over their shoulder to make sure they are doing the right thing, we can just give them the information needed to help them make the most appropriate decision.
Please wait...