Research Goals
The proposed research will be conducted on the ethics of technology in education. Nowadays, as people increase the use of technology, people also need to be conscious of ethical issues that increase from the technological use. It is identified that understanding the largest ethical challenge affecting education will help people understand how to resolve them. Therefore, the importance of conducting a research on this context lies on the fact that excessive use of technology in education often neglects the mandatory ethics. So, the proposed research would help to understand the potential ethical challenges in education caused by excessive use of technology and address the identified challenges. The purpose of the proposed research is to assess the ethical issues associated with technology affecting education and develop potential solution.
As put forward by Zalaghi and Khazaei (2016) ethics has always been at the core of generating a thriving learning environment. People or the instructors are well accustomed to teach students ethis through the principles. However, it is certain that widespread availability of technology often bring emerging ethical challenges to the forefront. Tavani (2011) commented that technology in classroom could be extremely disruptive. The author argues that the society has imposed some guidelines for things that students cannot do. Nonetheless, teachers make attempt to educate students to become accustomed with computers, the instructors push them into cyberspace without any guidance. Nonetheless, it is inappropriate to expect young students to behave ethically on internet, when their identity is hidden. Januszewski and Molenda (2013) on their ethical research discussed how growth and development in technology is moving faster and the youths can understand the ethical consequence of the technological use. It is also identified that particularly at the development stage, the students highly benefit from the learning ethics in face-to-face communication. Therefore, it can be mentioned that ethics play a great role in technology and the education setting adoption technology must have to consider the base for ethics.
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- What are the ethical factors influencing the use of technology in education?
- How ethics associated with technology can be applied to education?
- What are implications if ethics are not applied in education when using technology?
As put forward by Cheung and Slavin (2013), the privacy of internet users could be one of the significant issues. The consumption of internet technology has increased rapidly but the internet connection has become less costly. Nonetheless, it is identified that when it comes to an educational setting, there are many students who may not know their personal information could be public when get online. One of the basic principles that exist in many regulations is an individual cannot leak or share a person’s personal information to others. Nonetheless, it is nothing unfamiliar that organizations can use personal information that were gathered by their website and utilize them for telemarketing or sell them to the other firms. Likewise, there are several facts and findings provided by the scholars in this context. Thus, to conduct a detailed review of those facts and findings, almost 25 journal articles on ethics and technology have been considered and used.
Research Methodology
According to Zalaghi and Khazaei (2016), the faculties are the significant aspects in any educational setting. As teachers take the responsibility for enhancement and growth of learners, the educational organizational setting and the faculties should be aware of the ethical responsibilities. Tavani (2011) also mentioned that teachers should play their roles like a role model for the students as the study follow their teachers and learn by example. To become an effective role model, one may require compassion, sensitivity, trust, commitment and respect for others (Cheung and Slavin 2013). On the other side, McMenamin et al. (2014) mentioned that teachers should teach students or make them aware of the harm or less of not following the ethical rules when using internet and instruct them using technology as such as internet at an extent adequate to their age and maturity. The instructions must allow students to ask themselves:
- Does it break the ethical code?
- It is illegal
- Does it trouble your conscience?
- Does it appear as someone is going to be harmed?
- It should alert students to become respectful to others when staying connected to the internet
Kim et al. (2013) in their experimental study mentioned that faculties should be developed in a isolated positions to show learners how to get familiar with internet causing no harm for others. “Internal Society for Technology in Education” mention that faculties must have to use performance indicators for related to social, ethical, legal and human.
In addition, according to International Society for Technology in Education, the faculties must follow the performance indicators for social, ethical, legal and human issues such as:
- Use technology-based resources to authorize and enable learners with diverse characteristics and ability
- Identify and apply technological resource that ensure diversity
- Promote safe as well as convenient technology
- Provide equal access to technology based resources for all learners
Once a proper training program is developed, the faculties could engage learners properly in technology embedded classrooms. Hence, McMenamin et al. (2014) commented that educational setting need to build service workshops for the teachers to improve those skills. Thereby, the major role of preliminary education system is to create distance learning using internet technology. It can certainly help students to complete their studies without going to remote location. They can learn things sitting at home only.
Ingerman and Collier-Reed (2011) opined that the responsibility of organizational setting is also increasing. The organizational setting such as school, college must create rules and obligations to help learners to know guidelines of the h using internet properly and in a safe way. For instance, filtering could be important for educational institution and computers at home. In this context, Cheung and Slavin (2013) mentioned that teachers as well as family members such as parents should work together and teacher their kids rules and make them aware of the regulations.
As mentioned by Zalaghi and Khazaei (2016), issues related to ethics when using technology may involve variety of elements including, safety, privacy and unauthorized access at the institution. In this context, Tavani (2011) arguably mentioned that as the teachers in schools or college encourage students to use technology or promote technological education, cyber ethics should also be a part of their curriculum. On the other side, Januszewski and Molenda (2013) mentioned that educators do not always need to resolve cyber ethics but they can identify it in the context of their current curriculum as well as implement the lesson into an ongoing programs. Cheung and Slavin (2013) talks about an adequate network or “netiquette” which is a necessary skill for all individuals. The learners are taught to respect adults and be polite to everyone. Thereby, it can be mentioned that cyber ethics should be considered with the same skills as technology.
Ethical Challenges in Education and Technology
This is because most of the people use computer to interact. Mayes, Natividad and Spector (2015) state a rule that users or the students should be aware of the fact that there is a human being with emotions and feeling on the receiving end of the communication. Furthermore, it is also identified that students safety and privacy is another important element of cyber ethics that personnel of educational setting is responsible for in the classrooms. Particularly, “The Children Internet Protection Act” requires that district develop an internet safety resolving the unauthorized disclosure and dissemination of personal identification information about the students under age. On the other side, Stahl, Eden and Jirotka (2013) mentioned about another significant element of ethical issues of technology in the classrooms is the unauthorized access to some particular website at schools, downloading unauthorized software web applications.
As put forward by Wright (2011), the exceptional growth or development of information technology brings a series of ethical consideration, which to some great extent help students to become aware of the ethical issues that can be significant aspect of the development as citizens. Pardo and Siemens (2014) mentioned the ethical consideration could help people a little more reflective and vigilant. On the other side, Dieker et al. (2014) mentioned that teachers and students certainly have the right to privacy to the degree that can perform their teaching and learning. The faculties need privacy to preserve students’ record and information about the competitive evaluations. Nonetheless, the confidentiality of student’s records could be disadvantageous to the learning process. Moreover, from this particular fact it can be ascertained that if instructions are supposed to be provided technologically in the classrooms or throughout the institutions, the openness about students records could provide a particular vehicle for gaining achievement through cooperative learning and peer tutoring
Kim et al. (2013) mentioned that Ethical decision-making need to be included as one of the major skills of 21st century. Hence, Conlon and Zandvoort (2011) also mentioned that some individuals might admit that the “ethical decision making” has always been a required skill. However, today’s generations are going through the most complex period of human development. It is certain that access of information, availability and new technologies are developing and they are broadcasted at a specific rate that human minds might not figure out. Thus, with the same pace, ethics should be integrated into the mind of young people. In this context, Mulhearn et al. (2017) society is a dynamic or changing system; thereby, naturally, it should evolve to survive. When people in the society develop new concept of behavior in the technology based environment, it is imperative that others in the society can be involved in hat process.
Responsibilities of Faculty in Educational Settings
As put forward by Paakkari and Välimaa (2013), nowadays, it is easy to find the news of cyber crime, theft of intellectual property and next cyber-bully suicide could be the part of today’s reality. The education systems or the setting all across the nations should ensure that cyber ethic is s significant part of their educational curriculum.
The following are some of the ethical challenges appeared due to the use of technology in education found in the research conducted by Cheung and Slavin (2013).
As put forward by Mayes, Natividad and Spector (2015), “Teachers Education and Mentoring Program” suggest faculties to employ their beset professional judgment when managing the technology related ethics. This mentoring program proves to be useful or relevant for the teachers to identify these sorts of situations as well as to describe them with other educators to enhance dearness of emerging ethical issues (Wright 2011). Besides, this identification of ethic related situations; it is also significant for the faculties to follow basic ethical grounds. Conlon, and Zandvoort (2011) mentioned that faculties of thee educational system should enhance or expand students’ learning as well as help them see how technology could connect and develop their real-life learning and activities. The institutions adopting technology in education should create a clear boundaries of students can do or cannot do when using a computer in the classrooms. Stahl,., Eden and Jirotka (2013) developed ten different commandments that and some of them include not harming others, not snooping others and not using others; intellectual output without any authorization and insight of social consequence.
This section of the research determines what can be the possible result of the proposed because research methodology determines how the research will be conducted. This section describes the research methods, approaches design in detail and particularly highlighting those used throughout the study. Hence, each of the choices of research methodologies has been justified with advantages and disadvantages.
It is identified that the research philosophy manages the sources, nature and development of knowledge. In other words, it can be mentioned that research philosophy remains as the belief regarding the ways in which data about a specific phenomenon need to be collected, used and analyzed (Meyers and van Woerkom 2014). There are three different types of research philosophies such as positivism, pragmatism and interpretivism. According to Duberley, Johnson and Cassell (2012) positivism research philosophy observe the world as independent, real –where the parties or organizations exist as discrete entities. It is also identified that positivism research philosophy may support the integrated methods across the nature and society that can be studied in the same scientific way. On the other side, interpretivism observes the social world as different from the natural world and socially constructed. Hence, the organizations are considered as the product or entity of negotiation. On the contrary, the pragmatism promotes a philosophy of meaning and observes the accounts of reality as socially negotiated but valid because they generate practical outcome. Nonetheless, for the proposed study, the positivism research philosophy will be considered.
Organizational Ethics and Policies
Justifying positivism research philosophy
Positivism research philosophy has been selected for the proposed study because it provides primary numbers and statistical modeling to deliver quantifiable as well as generalisable implications, which further helps to build the scientific laws. In addition, the positivism research philosophy is appropriate for the proposed study because the research findings can be judged based on the criteria of reliability, validity and generalisability. On the other side, interpretvisim will not be used in the proposed study because the research findings are generally judged based on the criteria of meaning, normal adequacy and contextual sensitivity.
Research approaches are usually categorized into two different kinds- deductive and inductive. Deductive approach mainly helps to develop the hypotheses, which is based on the existing theory and then it helps to develop and design the strategy to test the hypothesis. In this context, Terrell (2012) commented that deductive approach helps to go from a particular event to a general one. Deductive approach is usually explained by the means of hypotheses, which can be obtained from the propositions of the theory. On the other side, Case and Light (2011) mentioned that deductive approach helps to derive conclusions from the propositions. When it comes to inductive approach, O’Brien and Saldanha (2014 ) mentioned that inductive reasoning usually starts with observations ad theories that are usually proposed towards the end of the research techniques and the outcome of the observations. However, for the proposed study, the inductive research approach will be selected.
Justifying inductive research approach for the proposed study
For the proposed study, the inductive research approach will be selected because this research approach helps to build a detailed observation of how ethics are necessary in technological adoption and how ethics appear as the challenge. The approach helps to move towards a more abstract ideas and generalization. Firstly, when conducting this approach, first an empirical generalization of ethics associated with technology in education will be formed. The approach helps the researcher to develop an abstraction to explain the image of phenomenon related to ethics in the use of technology in education
Data collection is known as a suitable process of collecting information from all useful sources to find the response to identify the problems and then analyze the theories and evaluate the outcome. Techniques of data collection can be of two different kinds such as primary and secondary. As the questions of proposed is about finding out the factors that influence the use of technology in education, the research requires both primary and secondary data collection.
Conclusion
Primary data collection: It is a known fact that primary data collection techniques can be divided into two different types such as primary “quantitative data collection” and “qualitative data collection”. Hence, the quantitative data collection is usually will be done involving some mathematical calculation in different formats. For example, the techniques of quantitative data collection will include a questionnaire with close-ended questions about the importance of ethics when using technology in education techniques of calculating mean, mode, median and others. Hence, 5 five educational institutes will be considered for collecting the primary data about the same. However, a particular set of criteria will be selected to choose the secondary data in the proposed study, which plays a great role with respect to enhancing the levels of research reliability and validity.
Secondary Data collection technique- Secondary data is a sort of data that is already been disclosed or published in newspaper, books, magazines and in the wide reading sources. Thus, for the analysis in the proposed research, the sources data will be collected from books, journal, newspaper, blogs and some other wide reading sources. In addition, some real world evidence about how ethics of technology in education has created any sort of consequence will b used in the proposed research.
Data analysis:
Collecting the relevant data is not the only task required to be implemented to gain the desired outcome. The collected data will be analyzed with different data analysis techniques. For example, the secondary data will be analyzed by comparing and contrasting the findings of the data of chosen journals and the findings will be presented with figures and graphs. However, the primary data will be analyzed by presenting the data in tables and graphs and then based on the figures, mean, media and mode will be calculated in a separate journals. Now, from this proposed calculation, the areas that required to be discussed will be presented in different paragraph. However, interviewed and surveyed data will be analyzed considering the aims and objectives of the research. The data analysis will also include a critical analysis and interpretation of figures and numbers to identify the rationale behind the main findings.
Sampling:
Sampling is usually used as the particular principle used to choose members of population to be involved in the study. There are two different types of sampling methods such as non-probably and probably sampling methods. In probability sampling, the simple random sampling method will be used as it the most simple and straightforward probably sampling strategy and this sampling approach for selecting a particular sample population for a large set of purpose. The total population size for the selected sample technique will be 100, which means overall number of students and teachers of the educational institutes. However, for conducting the interview method among the teachers of the educational institutes, convenient sampling method, which falls under non-probability sampling method, will be applied to the study for the analysis.
Detail Project Plan (Gantt chart)
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Topic Selection
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Data collection from secondary sources
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Framing layout of the research
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Literature review
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Formation of the research Plan
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Selection of the Appropriate Research Techniques
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Primary data collection
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Analysis & Interpretation of Data Collection
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References
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Conlon, E. and Zandvoort, H., 2011. Broadening ethics teaching in engineering: Beyond the individualistic approach. Science and Engineering Ethics, 17(2), pp.217-232.
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