A proposed methodology for the teaching of information technology ethics in schools
Authors: Andrew Meyenn
Venue: Selected papers from the second Australian Institute conference on Computer ethics (2000)

Professor Terry Bynum, from the Southern Connecticut State University, in his keynote address to the Australian Institute of Computer Ethics Conference, held in Melbourne during July 1999, suggested that Norbert Wiener (Bynum, 1999, pp9-10) laid the foundation for the study of computer ethics when he stated the following three questions in 1950;&bull; what will be the social and ethical consequences of introducing ulta-rapid computer machines into society?&bull; how can human beings anticipate and cope with the social and ethical consequences of automatisation in ways that serve and preserve human values?&bull; what are the special obligations and responsibilities of people who are engaged in automisation and the creation of computeristed automata?Bynum concluded that;In short, everyone must come to terms with a new world. The computer revolution - predicted by Norbert Weiner fifty years ago - is now unfolding world-wide. The 'information age' is emerging - 'morphing' into existence before our eyes. (Bynum 1999, p. 13).There are numerous ethical challenges facing students, teachers and parents as information technology (IT) finds its way into mainstream education and the life experiences of us all. Students' moral development now takes place within the context of a rapid increase in the use of IT in schools and in the home. From an early age students, as they explore the use of IT, make decisions and choices that require the application of ethical and moral judgements. This is particularly true as they explore the virtual world of the Internet: a world that is unfamiliar to their parents and many of their teachers. The virtual world or cyberspace of the Internet can be viewed as a distant world where it is not always possible to have a clear understanding of the likely consequences of ones actions. Often decisions concerning the validity of information must be taken in isolation and require a high level of individual responsibility as traditional quality controls over information such as literary classifications, refereed journals and textbooks are absent. Effective supervision and verification of the types and motivations of users is difficult to implement. Recently, a report in The Age ("Paedophile contact",1999) newspaper. Melbourne, Australia, in which a paedophile was able to make physical contact with two young children after initial contact had been made via an Internet chatroom, is a warning sign that we need to be cautious.How then should we try to assist children in developing ethical behaviours that will help guide them in utilising IT? This is the key question addressed by this paper. I will argue that many of our traditional ethical guidelines are still appropriate. However, it is important to actively engage students in reflective activities that require them to work through ethical issues by engaging in activities that stress the importance of considering the consequences of their actions and self regulation. The proposed methodology asks students to explore issues from various view points and develop parallel real world examples of the situations they find when using IT. For example, a lost disk is no different to a lost wallet, if you find a lost wallet or computer disk you should return it and this is what you would expect the person to do who finds the wallet or computer disk. Parallel situations provide a way for students to explore the ethics of a new situation in relation to another more familiar one. The method is based on the parallel space methodology as proposed by Morris (1999) and stresses the importance of exploring both differences and similarities, otherwise, as Johnson (1994) warns, we may by use of analogy focus only on similarities.