Blog post #3 ethical issues related to using internet in the classroom

The issues that pose for teaching and learning using the internet in the classroom are vast. However these issues are those that can be avoided by taking the steps necessary. With the ethical issues we see in our media today dealing with the use of free content on the internet verse using licensed material that is also found on the internet or publishing material you may publish on the internet yourself can be difficult as an educator. For using content found on the internet is where you run into issues you see in the news like the one dealing with the story and tragic death of Aaron Swartz. The challenges we face as educators is making sure students understand who is the publisher of the material we are using and how students use it in the classroom and in their work. To make sure we dont have the issues of plagiarism and/or the issue of a student or teacher using the material and claiming it as their own. Creative commons explains how we are a sharing culture and that only recently we have put restrictions on sharing on the web and Creative commons explains how they give the ability of their work to be used in many ways but the author gives you the permission of what can be done and how it can be used outside of their own uses. So it allows for people to extend their own identity and create the ability for others to make their work better. I personally believe this is how all content in education and on the internet should be used on the internet because it allows for the author to put the restrictions they want on their work. As a teacher it gives the freedom for students and teachers alike to grow and build on their own work or others without having such legal issues as we saw in the Aaron Swartz saga which lead to something we want for no human being. With E-Books they are changing the hemisphere of academia of books. E-Books answer all the questions I had issues with while i was in school like size and weight of text as well as the availability to students and teachers at any time. But the issues with E-Books are still looming dealing with the availability of text to electronic media. It restricts the material students can get outside of the classroom. "Publishers have at last begun to uncouple print and electronic sales of textbooks, making it easier to choose one or the other as desired. In some parts of the world, DRM restrictions still impede the adoption of electronic textbooks; titles that are released in one country may be unobtainable in another, or available only on certain platforms. Until electronic textbooks are divorced from reader-dependent formats, broad adoption will continue to be problematic for universities." (2011 horizon report) With this dilemna We have the issue of using these because it does not allow for the availability at certain levels and in certain countries. So for this being the future of education it leaves the dilemma for teachers and professors alike of whether this is important for their classes. In closing my only issue with anything electronic is the issue with social media and the ability of students to communicate between each other so by allowing the use of smartphones, Ipads and other smart devices. That is my only dilemma in using material that is available to the internet. So as an educator it can be frustrating to know the availability to information when using such devices.