Working legally, safely and ethically online

After working on resizing images this week my mind was taken back to Week 2 of our e-learning course when we discussed the importance of copyright laws and acknowledging the images we use from the internet (working legally, safely and ethically online).

Now, because the image I resized in my previous post is one of my own I did not have to acknowledge it. However, throughout my blog posts I have used a number of images from Google which are not my own, but rather the property of those who uploaded them. Despite knowing this, up until now I have been getting into the nasty habit of uploading photos without acknowledging their source! (EEK!). This has led me to go back through my blog posts and ensure that I have acknowledged all of the images I have used by providing a link to their original source on the web.

It is our responsibility as teachers to be setting the example for students when it comes to working legally, safely and ethically online. Students cannot be expected to 'just know' about copyright laws or issues like stranger danger online - we must teach them about it. Furthermore, teachers must, at all times, model the appropriate behaviours for working online.

The Moodle webpage for our course relating to working legally, safely and ethically online provides a list of the areas that both teachers and students need to be aware of when working online. These include:

Copyright laws - Learners need to be taught that any image, video or piece of information they use from an online source must have its author acknowledged - unless it is their own material.

Inappropriate materials such as pornography, sexually explicit images or any information/images relating to violent, hateful and offensive behaviours - Teachers need to ensure that their school has online security measures set in place which limit the type of websites students can access. Teachers also need to encourage students that if an inappropriate image or website does appear when they are using the internet, they need to report it immediately to the teacher or another adult.

Privacy - If teachers would like to share a students' work online they need to ensure they have the permission of both the student and their guardian to do so.

Stranger Danger - Teachers need to speak openly with their students about the dangers of talking with strangers on the internet. They also need to ensure that students are not providing any personal details (i.e. full name, phone number, address, photographs) on things like blogs, wikis or websites that could lead a person to make contact with a student. Additionally, teachers need to ensure that when using digital tools such as wikis, blogs and websites that the privacy settings are set to 'Private' not 'Public' so that only the student themselves or other class members can view their work.

Cyber Bullying - Teachers need to make students aware that online work spaces such as blogs, wikis and websites are not to be used as tools for bullying others. Teachers need to model to students what appropriate and constructive commenting on other peoples' work looks like and talk with them about the devastating, long lasting social and emotional effects that are left on people when they are cyber bullied.

Some of the practical ways that teachers can help students to learn about working legally, safely and ethically can be found on this website - Teaching Students Right from Wrong in the Digital Age. I personally found the idea the author presents of working through real-life scenarios with students, such as 'A student locates a story online, recopies it in his own writing, and submits it to the teacher as his own work', as a very meaningful way of helping them distinguish between the right and wrong ways to work online (Johnson, 1999, p.2). This website provides countless scenarios that teachers can work through with their students relating to each of the issues spoken about above. As well as this, two questionnaires have also been created for students to answer as a way of testing their knowledge about appropriate online behaviours.

The internet is a truly wonderful tool for helping to enhance the learning of our students. However, as highlighted above, there are clear risks that come with working in online environments. It is our responsibilty as teachers to ensure we provide safe online experiences for our students and that we explicitly teach them how to work legally, safely and ethically online. In doing so, we are setting our students up for future success, as both secondary and tertiary institutions require students to strictly adhere to copyright laws when producing academic work.

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References:

Johnson, D. (1999). Handout for teaching students right from wrong in the digital age. Retrieved from http://www.janinelim.com/bc/4thur/ethics.pdf

Image Acknowledgement:

Online Safety - http://theteenagertimes.blogspot.com.au/2011/12/schools-add-internet-etiquette-safety.html

Cyber Bullying - http://aspanational.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/cyber-bullying-a-question-of-punishment/