Moral and Legal Issues

Technology can be a very powerful tool to use in education. However, with great power, there are also comes the potential for moral and legal issues. Legal issues should be addressed through Responsible Use Agreements (RUA), providing a clear cut policy for all users, providing information on what is acceptable and what will not be tolerated.

Legal issues can include:

• Cyberbullying in regards to race or religion (Smith, 2014)
• Plagiarism in published works
• Piracy
• Fair Use

Wisegeek.org (2012)

On the other hand, moral issues aren't necessarily cut and dry, and are things that require a deeper understanding on student's part. Moral issues can often be introduced through internet safety or digital citizenship lessons. When moral issues arise, it is often important to look at each situation independently to determine the proper course of action that school officials should take. 


Moral issues can include:

• Cyberbullying (Smith, 2014)
• plagiarism in non published student writing
• Screen time limitations
• Student privacy concerns (Lane-Kelso, 2011)
• Inappropriate content
• Inaccurate or hoax content
• Universal access to technology

Regardless of the potential implications, it is important that schools embrace technology and develop plans to be proactive with regards to these moral or legal issues. Technology is here to stay and ignoring the moral or legal issues that may arise will not make them go away. 

Resources:

Lane-Kelso, D. M. (2011, December 27). Ethical Issues in Technology Use. YouTube. Retrieved 

            February 1, 2014, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF_9YdvIFDQ

Smith, M. (Director) (2014, January 24). Bullying. Professional Development. Lecture conducted 

            from SAU 43, Newport, NH. 

WiseGeek.org (Designer). (2012). Scales of Justice[Web Drawing]. Retrieved from 

            http://www.wisegeek.org/what-are-the-scales-of-justice.htm