Computer teachers’ attitude toward ethical use of computers in elementary schools

Author(s):

Kadir Beycioglucelal teyyar uğurluNiyazi OZER

Conference:

ECER 2009

Network:

16. ICT in Education and Training

Format:

Paper

Session Information

16 SES 02 B, Computer Teachers and Teacher Training

Paper Session

Time:

2009-09-28

11:15-12:45

Room:

NIG, HS 3C

Chair:

Anthony Coles

Contribution

Technology has been changing our world(s) rapidly and relentlessly. It has a great impact on every component of our lives. It is conquering our future and will affect our coming generation, too. Increased use of technology, for as for Yamano (2004), “by younger children has caused increasing societal concerns about who bears the responsibility of guiding these children in the appropriate use of technology.” Of all the institutions in society, school is supposed to be the only one that potentially has the answer and solution to that concern. Inappropriate use of technology in education is a recent agenda among educational researcher and researcher of ethics. It has caused some cyber philosophical debates about ethical and/or moral use of computers. According to Ki and Ahn (2006), unethical use of ICT in education is a serious problem. Johnson and Simpson (2005) emphasize that educators who deal with technology need to understand the legal and illegal uses of intellectual property to provide ethical models for students (cited in Beycioglu, 2009). Some of the researchers have argued that whether students and teachers are ethically linked to the world through the use of technology (Prosser & Ward, 2000. The advance of ICTs, for Roh (2004), reveals negative consequences as well as positive functions and benefits such as hacking, infringements of privacy or intellectual property, uncontrolled access to obscene or pornographic material. (p. 168). Baum (2005) affirms that “the ethical issues that accompany educational technology have become more apparent as more educators have integrated technology into the classroom” (p. 54). These issues include, but are not limited to, privacy, hacking, intellectual property/copyright, computer crime, software reliability and some further issues, not named yet, following new technological developments in educational context as well as other settings (Burnam & Kafai, 2001; Cow, 2001; Croy, 1985; Johnstone, 2007; Lin, 2007; Moor, 1985; Van Den Hoven & Lokhorst, 2002; Weckert, 2001, 2002). Educational researchers observe that unethical use of ICT is a serious problem in educational setting (Ki and Ahn, 2006; Johnson and Simpson, 2005). Researchers have also argued that if students and teachers use computers ethically when they integrate computers into the classroom (Baum 2005; Prosser & Ward, 2000). Similarly, recent researches conducted in Turkey (Beycioglu, 2009; Akbulut et al., 2008) revealed that unethical use of computers is an issue in Turkish educational context .

Method

This descriptive study aims to explore the following questions; 1. Computer teachers’ attitudes towards and awareness about computer ethics. 2. Are there any differences in teachers’ attitudes and awareness in terms of demographic variables such as gender, age, teaching experiences, etc. 3. What they are doing to help students understand the importance of using computers responsibly (The qualitative question). A survey developed by Yamano (2004) is being used in the study. The survey consists of 26 items that aims to measure teachers’ attitudes towards and awareness about ethical use of computers. It contains items such as; ü I am familiar with ethical uses of computer technology. ü I understand what intellectual property is. ü I teach my students why copying software or committing other copyright copyright violation is wrong. ü In my classroom, responsible use of computers is a priority.

Expected Outcomes

Earlier studies revealed that cyberethics is a neglected concept among teachers, prospective teachers, and many involved in use of computers for instructional purposes. This study suggests that teachers do not notice ethical use of computer and there are significant differences among teachers’ attitudes towards and awareness about ethical use of computers in terms of their demographic variables. In addition, the reseachers are curious to see if teachers do anything to help students understand the importance of using computers ethically.

References

Akbulut, Y., Uysal, Ö., Odabasi, H. F., & Kuzu, A. (2008). Influence of gender, program of study and PC experience on unethical computer using behaviors of Turkish undergraduate students. Computers & Education, 51(2), 485-492. Baum, J. J. (2005). CyberEthics: The new frontier. TechTrends, 49 (6), 54-55. Beycioglu , K. (2009). A cyberphilosophical issue in education: Unethical computer using behavior The case of prospective teachers. Computers & Education, doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2009.01.009 Burnam, B. & Kafai, Y. B. (2001). Ethics and the computer: Children's development of moral reasoning about computer and Internet use. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 25 (2), 111-127. Cow, W. S. (2001). Ethical belief and behavior of managers using information technology for decision making in Hong Kong. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 16 (4), 258-267. Croy , M. J. (1985). Ethical concerns in computer-assisted instruction. Metaphilosophy, 16 (4), 338-349. Johnson, D. & Simpson, C. (2005). Are you the©opy cop? Learning and Leading with Technology, 323 (7), 14-20. Ki, H. & Ahn, S. (2006). A study on the methodology of information ethics education in youth. International Journal of Computer Science and Network Security, 6 (6), 91-100. Kruger, R. (2003). Discussing cyber ethics with students is critical. The Social Studies, 94 (4), 188-189. Lin, H. (2007). The ethics of instructional technology: Issues and coping strategies by professional technologists in design and training situations in higher education. Educational Technology, Research and Development, 55 (5), 411-437. Moor , J. H.. (1985). What is computer ethics? Metaphilosophy, 16 (4), 266-275. Prosser, B. T. & Ward, A. (2000). Kierkegaard and the internet: Existential reflections on education and community. Ethics and Information Technology, 2 (3), 167-180. Roh , Y. R. (2004). Democratic citizenship education in the information age: A comparative study of South Korea and Australia. Asia Pacific Education Review, 5 (2), 167-177. Van Den Hoven , J. (1997). Computer ethics and moral methodology. Metaphilosophy, 28 (3), 234-248. Van Den Hoven , J. & Lokhorst, G. J. (2002). Deontic logic and computer-supported computer ethics. Metaphilosophy, 33 (3), 376-386. Weckert, J. (2001). Computer ethics: Future directions. Ethics and Information Technology, 3 (2), 93-96. Weckert, J. (2002). Lilliputian computer ethics. Metaphilosophy, 33 (3), 366-375. Yamano, P. (2004). Cyberethics in the elementary classroom: Teaching the responsible use of technology (Doctoral dissertation, Pepperdine University, 2004). ProQuest Information and Learning (UMI No. 3263708).

Author Information

Kadir Beycioglu

Inonu University

Education

Malatya

212

celal teyyar uğurlu

inonu university

Antakya-Hatay

212

Niyazi OZER

Inonu University

Education

MALATYA

212

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