Ethical Use of Technology

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Jason Powell EDU 225 December 4, 2011 Professor D. Soclari Ethical Use of Technology in the Classroom Ethical use of technology is probably the most important part of implementing technology in the classroom. “Ethics is the philosophical study of standards of conduct and value” (Ethics, 2010). It is something that teachers normally do not think about concerning internet, since it is done at a district level, but it is a necessity to know how it needs to be done. Districts establish the firewall that protects the students from accessing any questionable material. The last thing that a teacher wants is to have a student pull up inappropriate material while doing an assignment for them. A firewall for an organization, such as a school, is software loaded on the router or server for the district. A firewall blocks unwanted programs and intruders from getting in, sensitive information from getting out, and students from accessing unwanted material. By having this done at the district levels, teachers can comfortably allow the students to use the internet without the constant fear of what they will access or who will try to access them. However, there are still things a teacher can do to ensure that students are actually within the parameters of the firewall. Programs are available that allows the teacher to monitor all the computers in a lab by one centralized computer. With this program the teacher can see all the computers and what are on their screen at one time. Active monitoring doesn’t hurt either. Even so, students can find ways around firewalls and other security software to access material that is not appropriate for them to view. Districts and schools will often require students to sign an acceptable use agreement. This protects the district and the teacher from being held responsible for students accessing material that their parents find unacceptable.
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