Reflection+9

The short answer is: the same ethical considerations that apply to the rest of human endeavour. Be fair. Do no harm. Take responsibility for your own actions.
 * Key question: What kinds of ethical considerations should be a factor for students using new media?**

In an education setting there are many aspects to the debate about ethical use in relation to ITC and new media:
 * how to best provide equitable access to technology in the classroom and other areas (eg student common rooms, libraries)
 * how to best provide the equitable access by both sexes ie opportunities and support for girls to enrol in subjects that include computer science, networking, information science, mulitmedia applications, graphic design, computer aided design and photoshop etc
 * how to control student access to 'harmful' content and attitudes
 * how best to teach ethical behaviour in the use of new media
 * how to respond to cyber bullying of students
 * how to teach about plagiarism, ownership of texts and verification of student work for assessment purposes
 * how to advise teachers about the appropriate use of social media to communicate with students
 * how to protect the school's network and files from cyber attack and sabotage.

There are few easy answers since the ' one size fits all' response by centralised policy makers may disadvantage students and teachers. For example, the recent (compulsory) move in my school to the state-run system of internet filtering has meant loss of access to hundreds of commonly used websites used for legitimate teaching and research purposes. Sites that may be deemed too risky for younger students are appropriate, and even essential in some cases, for older students. And teachers- I am often prevented from using my page on edublog.org because it is not recognised as being an authorised site. My students can not access tumblr or Facebook from college even though they use these sites to store information and acquire data from responders.

The video, //Protecting Your Digital Footprint,// contained many good points.However, lecturing to students about protecting their online selves reminds me very much of road safety campaigns and their lack of success with adolescents. Of course we need to alert them to potential risks when they expose themselves in such a public way online, and teaching them good practices must be part of the curriculum. But let's not kid ourselves that adolescents respond well to adult warnings. We know from current brain research that the part of the brain that regulates action and risk taking behaviour is still developing in adolescents so they feel they have an invincibility cloak protecting them from peril.

I thoroughly enjoyed the article, //High Tech or High Risk: Moral Panics About Girls Online//, by Cassell and Cramer. It made me realise that I had succombed to the media's message that the danger of girls being lured into danger in growing. Somehow I never thought to question why boys weren't equally at risk from online predators! A look at some statistical data helped me to put the problem into perspective: boys and girls are still more at risk of harm from their own family in their home than through the agency of the 'evil cyber predator.' I laughed aloud at the descriptions of the purported dangers of girls using the telegraph and later having access to a phone (landline).