Posted by Tanya Winter

eth·ics

1.

( used with a singular or plural verb ) a system of moral principles: the ethics of a culture.

2.

the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.: medical ethics; Christian ethics.

3.

moral principles, as of an individual: His ethics forbade betrayal of a confidence.

4.

( usually used with a singular verb ) that branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ethics

cyber eth·ics

What is cyber ethics? And how do you teach it to your children? Simply put, cyber ethics is a code of behavior for using the Internet. One easy way to think about cyber ethics and to address the subject with children is this: acceptable behavior on the Internet is very much the same as acceptable behavior in everyday life.

http://us.norton.com/library/familyresource/article.jsp?aid=pr_cyberethics

I found the ethical dilemmas of using computers in the classroom a very interesting subject.  Through my readings this week I discovered many ethical areas that were hot topics such as:  Piratism, plagiarism, hacking, cyber-bullying, etcOne idea particular that stuck out as kind of different was:

"Making poor decision making faster" 

Say what??

I know, making poor decision making faster..what are you talking about, Tanya? Well, let me explain.  Basically, we are all using computers in the classroom.  Yes, hopefully everyone is smart enough to use a filter system and yes, hopefully we have rules and regulations in the classroom. HOWEVER, access to the web throughout the day can have negative impacts on the decisions our kids are making while they work because it takes less time to make a mistake. 

First example:

Brady was sick on Monday and is already one day behind on getting a paper started that is due Wednesday.  Tuesday he decided to do a search on shoes because basketball is right around the corner. If he does not find the perfect shoes...well, he just wont be as awesome as everyone thinks he is.  Well, he wasted class period and a study hall and now he is down to the wire.  He decides to cut a few paragraphs here and a few more there…done in less than an hour and now he can go back to looking up shoes for the rest of the night!  BAD DECISION!!  We all know the consequences of plagiarism are pretty serious.  Is it possible that would not have happened if the paper had to be hand-written?  He probably would have come up with a pretty poor paper to hand in, but the chance that his words and thoughts would have actually been used is much higher!

Second example:
Clara had to run back to her locker and asked her best friend Sophie to save her a seat in English class.  She just makes it to the classroom before the bell rings, grabs her Mac and looks for Sophie.  WHAT! Sophie is sitting by Hillary and they are laughing at Clara because she has to sit in the front row by nose-picking Jane!! Sara begins working, but in the heat of the moment opens up to her Face book account and types “Sophie is a b___h on her Wall for everyone to see.  Before she realizes what happens, everyone sees it and things just spiral downward from that bad decision.  Now I know that it is her own fault for acting out in anger, but I am simply suggesting that it is easier to make mistakes when you can type it out in five seconds as opposed to her taking out a piece of paper and trying to write a nasty letter to her friend. Chances are she would have ripped it up before she ever even had a chance to give it to her. She probably would have yelled at Sophie after class and had a one-on-one argument, but at least she would have had all of class period to kind of cool down a little.

I have children and I do understand it is my job (as it is any parents) to teach my kids self-control, restraint, how to overcome peer pressure, and what it means to have consequences to his/her actions.  The question I am proposing here is "...Is it possible to be making it easier for our children to make bad decisions by exposing them to computers and the internet in the classroom?..."

I do look forward to reading your responses on this one!!