For the basics of this issue I first went to: https://www.techlearning.com/news/talking-to-students-about-cyberethics. This was a great site for understanding what the main issue is. And what is that main issue? Pirating.
No not that pirating...
This pirating:
"Pirated" software whether copied from a friend, illegally downloaded from the Internet, or purchased from a vendor of illegally-made copies at an online auction site is created without the permission of the copyright owner. This is incredibly important to teach your students! Many students might not understand the importance of copyrights. Teaching this lesson also goes perfectly with any Science or English lesson about citing your sources. Always cite digital or non digital sources!
The second site I went to so that I could better understand the importance of teaching internet ethics to students was thus: https://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech055.shtml. This site had some interesting information from a middle school technology teacher, Jerry Crystal. The site gives a few examples of students getting into serious criminal trouble from cyber-crimes. Then the author gives a few examples of how to incorporate internet ethics into any classroom. Please read the article for the full list, but here are two I particularly liked!
1. Draw parallels between the real world and the electronic world.
2. Involve students in constructive activities.
Honestly, these two examples could be used in most in-class situations for most in-class issues. Is your student acting apathetic during class? BLAM!!! Involve them in activities!!!! Is your student spending too much class time messing around on the internet instead of doing the assignment? Draw Parallels to their own life and the assignment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But in all seriousness, it only took me half an hour and a few websites to really start to understand the importance of teaching online ethics to my students. There is no excuse to let your students get into trouble online. If you just spend some time, and model good behavior, they will understand. You just have to put in the time.
Until next time!
Chris
