Week 8: Legal and Ethical Issues (Fall 2024 Webster)

Overview

In Week 7, we began to explore some of the issues that you will need to address as you plan and develop your Technology Integration Activity project. We discussed key models and frameworks for the adoption of new technologies, barriers to that adoption in education, and how to address those issues.

In Week 8, we will continue our look at technology integration issues by discussing legal and ethical considerations for the incorporation of digital technologies in teaching and learning. We will examine our duties with respect to the protection of privacy and access to information, as well as the establishment of safety when venturing into digital learning environments. We will explore the concept of digital accessibility, and the importance of making sure any digital resources we use comply with legislated standards and are as accessible as possible to all of our students. We will also discuss concepts related to academic honesty, copyright and education, and detecting and avoiding plagiarism. We will conclude the week by exploring how to find digital resources that we can freely use in education, including public domain, open access, and Creative Commons licenced resources. You will have an opportunity in this week’s Technology Exploration Activities to take a closer look at how these issues might impact your Technology Integration Activity project, and to develop solutions that address these issues in your own context. By the end of this week, you will complete a detailed analysis of what technology integration issues you need to consider as part of your Technology Integration Activity project.

Topics

Week 8 is divided into three topics:

Learning Outcomes

When you have completed this week’s activities, you should be able to:

Resources

BC Ministry of Education (n.d.).Online Safety. Retrieved from https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/erase/online-safety

Becta. (2010). Safeguarding children online. Retrieved from http://courses.olblogs.tru.ca/eddl5101/files/2012/10/safeguarding_children_online_risks_poster.pdf

Berman, D. (2014, May 13). Web accessibility matters: Why should we care [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/VIRx3RJzbZg

Common Sense Education. (2017, August 10). Tips for teachers: Protecting students’ privacy on social media [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/YEztyhevYlk

Common Sense Education. (2018, February 1). Twitter privacy basics for teachers [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/9wQDb5STUWw

Common Sense Education. (2018, February 13). Facebook privacy basics for teachers [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/IUa9xZrWh8Y

Coolidge, A., Doner, S., Robertson, T., & Gray, J. (2018). BCcampus open education accessibility toolkit 2nd Ed. [E-book]. Victoria, BC: BCcampus. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/accessibilitytoolkit/

Copyright Act, RSC 1985, c. C-42. Retrieved from https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-42/index.html

Copyright Act, RSC 1985, c. C-42, s. 29. Retrieved from https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-42/page-9.html#h-25

Council of Canadian Universities. (2017a). Accessible digital documents & websites. Accessible Campus. Retrieved from http://www.accessiblecampus.ca/reference-library/accessible-digital-documents-websites/

Council of Ontario Universities. (2017b). Accessibility in e-learning. Accessible Campus. Retrieved from http://www.accessiblecampus.ca/tools-resources/educators-tool-kit/course-planning/accessibility-in-e-learning/

Creative Commons. (n.d.). Creative Commons. Retrieved from https://creativecommons.org/

Creative Commons Aotearoa NZ. (2011, June 27). Creative Commons Kiwi [Video file]. Retrieved from https://creativecommons.org/about/videos/creative-commons-kiwi/ (CC BY 3.0 New Zealand)

Described and Captioned Media Program. (2019). Caption it yourself. Retrieved from https://dcmp.org/learn/213

Geist, M. (2012, August 22). The Supreme Court of Canada speaks: How to assess fair dealing for education [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://www.michaelgeist.ca/2012/08/scc-on-fair-dealing/

Interaction Design Foundation. (2018). Web fonts are critical to the online user experience – Don’t hurt your reader’s eyes. Retrieved from https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/web-fonts-are-critical-to-the-online-user-experience-don-t-hurt-your-reader-s-eyes

Lucas, A. (2016, April 21). Creative Commons: An introduction for teachers [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/622OHuEMM38 (CC BY 4.0)

McGuire, D. (2008). Understanding copyright: Knowing your rights and knowing when you’re right. In D. Harper (Ed.), Education for a digital world: Advice, guidelines, and effective practice from around the globe. Vancouver, BC: BCcampus and Commonwealth of Learning. Retrieved from http://www.colfinder.org/materials/Education_for_a_Digital_World/Education_for_a_Digital_World_part3.pdf (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Office of the Information & Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia. (2015, October). A guide to B.C.’s Personal Information Protection Act for businesses and organizations. Retrieved from https://www.oipc.bc.ca/guidance-documents/1438

The Paciello Group. (n.d.). Colour contrast analyser. Retrieved from https://developer.paciellogroup.com/resources/contrastanalyser/

Perez, S. (2017, February 7). Creative Commons unveils a new photo search engine with filters, lists & social sharing [Weblog post]. Retrieved from https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/07/creative-commons-unveils-a-new-photo-search-engine-with-filters-lists-social-sharing/

Price-Mitchell, M. (2015, June 9). Creating a culture of integrity in the classroom [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/8-pathways-creating-culture-integrity-marilyn-price-mitchell

Province of British Columbia. (2014). Accessible B.C. Act: 2022/23 Progress Report. Retrieved from https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/about-the-bc-government/accessibility/report-library#progress-report

Queen’s Printer. (2023). Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Retrieved from http://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96165_00

Queen’s Printer. (2023). Personal Information Protection Act. Retrieved from http://www.bclaws.ca/Recon/document/ID/freeside/00_03063_01

Queen’s Printer for Ontario. (2019). Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (2005, S.O. 2005, c. 11). Retrieved from https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/05a11

SHB Online. (2017, October 5). What is open access? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/gzRgknylTEM (CC BY 3.0)

Stim, R. (n.d.). Welcome to the public domain. Retrieved from https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/public-domain/welcome/

Thompson Rivers University. (2018, May 7). Plagiarism: What it is and how to avoid it. TRU Libraries. Retrieved from http://libguides.tru.ca/plagiarism

Traxler, J. (2016). Inclusion in an age of mobility. Research in Learning Technology, 24, 1-18. http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v24.31372 (CC-BY 4.0)

Turnitin, LLC. (2019). Turnitin. Retrieved from http://turnitin.com/

Universities Canada. (2012, October 9). Fair dealing policy for universities. Retrieved from https://www.univcan.ca/media-room/media-releases/fair-dealing-policy-for-universities/

University of British Columbia. (n.d.). Academic honesty. Retrieved from https://digitaltattoo.ubc.ca/learn/academic-honesty/

W3C. (2018). Accessibility. Retrieved from https://www.w3.org/standards/webdesign/accessibility

Webster, K. (2021). Copyright for educators. Retrieved from http://kumu.tru.ca/Copyright-for-Educators

YouTube, LLC. (2019). YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/

Topic 1: Technology Integration

Privacy and Access to Information

Privacy has become a major issue with respect to sharing and access to personal information in online environments. In education, we need to be especially cognizant of digital privacy issues—not just because it is the ethical thing to do, but also because of legal restrictions on how we can store, access, and share information with and about our students.

Most jurisdictions, including Canadian provinces and the federal government, have comprehensive privacy and access to information legislative frameworks in place. These frameworks also cover the issue of informed and timely consent, which is a significant issue in educational contexts. Any time we want to integrate technologies where privacy issues must be addressed, we need to obtain informed consent from all participants before using such technologies, and provide alternatives for those participants who do not consent to using the tools. (If the technology is fundamental to participation in a course or learning activity, we need to make sure we allow students to provide or decline informed consent before they make financial commitments to participate.)

In British Columbia, information on how these rules apply to teachers can be found at:

That’s a lot of information to take in! You are free to review these resource sites if you have time this week. Meanwhile, here are some general guidelines to keep in mind when using digital tools in your teaching and learning context:

Viewing:

We have used personal portfolio sites in EDDL 5101. We have also looked at the use of Twitter as a tool to start building your own personal learning network. Many schools have their own social media accounts, and many courses integrate their own social media pages, feeds, or hashtags. If you are planning to include social media in your own teaching and learning practice, or in your Technology Integration Activity project for this course, the following videos from Common Sense Education offer some useful advice on how to protect privacy for both students and teachers:

Watch Tips for Teachers: Protecting Students’ Privacy on Social Media (2017).

Source, Youtube, Common Sense Education

Watch Twitter Privacy Basics for Teachers (2018).

Source, Youtube, Common Sense Education

Watch Facebook Privacy Basics for Teachers (2018).

Source, Youtube, Common Sense Education

As you watch these three videos, consider:

Digital Safety Plans

Student privacy and confidentiality fit within the larger issue of digital safety, which is also a hot topic in recent years. If you plan to use technology to facilitate communication and collaboration on the open Internet, or even within more closed community spaces such as private online groups or learning management systems, you should carefully consider how you will make that digital experience safer.

“Safer” can be concerned with (as an example) student interactions with outsiders, the exposure of personal information, peer bullying, and the perceptions and concerns of parents and administrators.

Whether you are planning a lesson, unit, or entire year with components online, you should consider devoting some time to developing a safety plan. This will be more important for teachers in a K–12 setting where responsibility for student safety is assumed by the teacher. In post-secondary settings, aspects of online safety should also be considered in relation to learning outcomes (i.e., are you expecting some “digital citizenship” to be developed?) and technology uses that may be new or poorly understood. While post-secondary students are typically adults, there is a varied level of understanding when it comes to online safety. As an instructor, you can expect better results from your online components by planning for and guiding students towards safe use of the technologies used.

The amount of time spent on a safety plan should be proportional to the complexity of the tools (and your planned use of the tools) for your learning. Understanding the basic principles and components behind planning for safety will enable you to make quick, informed judgements about different opportunities as they arise. This system can also be applied to activities outside of the online world.

Safety Plan Steps

Optional Readings: Extend Your Understanding

Looking for some more information and tips on promoting safer learning experiences when using the Internet? Check out the following resources:

BC Ministry of Education (n.d.). Online Safety. Retrieved from https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/erase/online-safety

Digital Accessibility

In Week 9, we are going to look at theories and models of engagement. But there are also technical aspects to maximizing engagement with our students when using digital technologies. Many of these technical aspects have well-established international standards and are regulated through legislation in many jurisdictions.

The Importance of Digital Accessibility

It is essential when using digital technologies, including hosting entire courses within a learning management system, that we make sure our digital resources and experiences are as accessible as possible by all potential learners. Berman (2014) provides an excellent overview of why we should care about meeting digital accessibility standards in Web Accessibility Matters: Why Should We Care.

Berman, D. (2014, May 13). Web accessibility matters: Why should we care [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/VIRx3RJzbZg

In “Inclusion in an Age of Mobility” (CC-BY 4.0), Traxler (2016) talks about accessibility and inclusion of all learners in the context of increased use of mobile technologies to mediate learning experiences.

Reading: Accessibility Toolkits for Online Teaching and Learning

Many jurisdictions have already mandated technical and instructional design standards for user accessibility. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) provides an overview of accessibility issues, and a list of standards that are increasingly drawn upon as the foundations of the accessibility policies, standards, and legislation being adopted by many organizations and jurisdictions. A common theme emerging from discussions of accessibility standards is that designing with accessibility in mind improves the learning experience for everyone—not just learners with specific accessibility issues.

Universal Design for Learning

Universal Design for Learning is an educational framework that guides the design of learning goals, materials, methods, and assessments.

The Centre for Applied Special Technology’s Udl on Campus offers excellent information and resources related to course design and inclusive media. You should use these resources to inform the development of materials in all of your course design.

Essentially, the UDL framework attempts to offer tools for teachers and course designers to improve the universal access to educational content for all students. Essentially, UDL improves accessibility for everyone.

To dig in deeper, the British Columbia Ministry of Education offers an introductory online resource UDL Supporting Diversity in BC Schools

Optional Reading: Extend Your Understanding

Canadian Provincial Standards and Resources

In Ontario, accessibility in teaching and learning, including in online and blended learning contexts, is governed by the standards set out in the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). The Council of Ontario Universities provides a number of excellent resources to help you make sure your online teaching and learning resources are accessible to all learners, and AODA compliant:

Other Canadian provinces are quickly catching up with the benchmarks set out by the AODA. In British Columbia, digital accessibility for online teaching and learning is now governed by the BC Accessibility 2024 guidelines. BCcampus recently published an open access e-book on how to make digital learning resources, such as e-books,compliant with digital accessibility guidelines:

How important are accessibility issues and designing for accessible learning in your context? How accessible are the various technologies we’ve used and explored so far in this course? How might you use technology to increase the accessibility in the Technology Integration Activity project that you are developing in this course?

More Resources

Copyright and Plagiarism

The copyright environment for online educators in Canada is complex and difficult to navigate. The important principle on copyright to take from this is that your use of materials as an educator serves as an example to your students. As they move into the 21st century working world, they will need to communicate using digital tools. And they will need to be able to do that lawfully. Similarly, personal interactions on the Internet can also be plagued by issues of appropriate use of media created by others. What is acceptable? What counts as “fair”? These are important questions for you as an educator.

Readings: Copyright

Just because something is copyright protected does not mean that it is completely out of bounds for use for teaching and learning. There are strict guidelines for determining what is considered “fair use” in academic contexts. Read Michael Geist’s (2012) “The Supreme Court of Canada Speaks: How to Assess Fair Dealing for Education” for more on what the concept of fair use means for teachers and students. TRU’s Keith Webster has also created an excellent resource page on Copyright for Educators that is worth reviewing.

Optional Resources: Extend Your Understanding

Readings: Plagiarism

The Internet may make it easier for students to cheat by copying and pasting from the Web and by paying for papers. Google and software like Turnitin can also make it pretty easy to discover what students have found by searching and then trying to pass something off as their own work. Most teachers have a pretty good notion of what their students are capable of, and a simple Google search for a selected phrase is often all it takes to make the plagiarism connection.

TRU Libraries (2018) has a useful LibGuide that covers understanding, detecting, and avoiding plagiarism.

Here are some key tips for identifying plagiarism in the digital age:

The best way to prevent plagiarism by students is to discuss and model good practices related to using other people’s work and respecting intellectual property. Your classroom, department, or school must have a policy for dealing with plagiarism, and students and parents need to be made aware of that policy and the consequences of plagiarism.

Read Price-Mitchell’s (2015) “Creating a Culture of Integrity in the Classroom” for some information on strategies to help students understand the concept of academic integrity.

Here are some tips that can help prevent plagiarism:

Public Domain, Open Access, and Creative Commons

One of the biggest challenges that you are likely going to face as you integrate digital resources into your teaching and learning practice—including into your Technology Integration Activity project—is finding resources that you can use without violating copyright legislation. Take heart! There are many resources that are freely available for educators and students to use. Some require no citations at all, while others still require a citation, but have limited restrictions on how you can reuse the resources.

Reading: Public Domain

“Public domain” resources are ones that are not protected by any copyright laws. Read Stanford University Library’s “Welcome to the Public Domain” for an understanding of what public domain resources are, why some resources are not protected by copyright, and how to use public domain resources.

Open Access and Creative Commons

Open access (OA) or open educational resources (OER) are excellent alternatives because they can be accessed quickly and for minimal expense. They can also often be remixed, allowing you to customize the resources you provide to your students. One way that OA and OER are shared is by using Creative Commons licenses.

Watch the following videos to learn more about using open access and Creative Commons resources:

Watch SHB Online’s (2017) What Is Open Access? (CC BY 3.0).

SHB Online. (2017, October 5). What is Open Access? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/gzRgknylTEM

Creative Commons Aotearoa NZ’s (2011) Creative Commons Kiwi (CC BY 3.0 New Zealand).

Creative Commons Aotearoa NZ. (2011, June 27). Creative Commons Kiwi [Video file]. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/25657835

Watch Amanda Lucas’ (2016) Creative Commons: An Introduction for Teachers (CC BY 4.0).

Lucas, A. (2016, April 21). Creative Commons: An introduction for teachers [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/622OHuEMM38

Tools like YouTube readily allow anyone to use a Creative Commons attribution when sharing an online video, and clearly display that videos have been shared as such. The Creative Commons website also provides useful search tools, to help you locate useful open access resources. As Perez (2017) explains, Creative Commons has now made powerful image and photo search tools freely available through their website.

Topic 2: Technology Exploration

Topic 2 asks you to discuss key issues for your Technology Integration Activity project. Some of these issues include:

For this week’s Technology Exploration activities, you will have the opportunity to explore how you might navigate some of the legal and ethical issues we examined this week. Complete one of the following Technology Exploration activities, and share the results in the form of a blog post as part of this week’s Community Engagement activities.

Activity 1:

Create a Digital Safety Plan

Do you think that you might need to consider digital safety issues when preparing your Technology Integration Activity project? If so, use the guiding questions from this week’s digital safety plans readings, and Becta’s (2010) Safeguarding Children Online brochure to develop a digital safety plan for your project. Your plan does not need to be overly lengthy (perhaps a page orso), but should address key digital safety elements relevant to your target student audience. Prepare a short blog post to highlight the key aspects of your plan.

OR

Create a Digital Accessibility Strategy

Will your Technology Integration Activity project require the creation of a digital learning space, the distribution of digital resources, or the use of digital applications? If so, you must ensure that these spaces or resources comply with digital accessibility standards. Compile a list of:

Your list does not need to be overly lengthy (perhaps a page or so), given the short amount of time you have in the scope of this course, but should at least list your key considerations, and a few strategies for tackling them.

Create a short blog post that provides your list of elements to test, and tools and strategies for testing and mitigating digital accessibility issues in your Technology Integration Activity project.

OR

Create An Academic Honesty Lesson

Complete the University of British Columbia’s “Academic Honesty” lesson. Consider:

Prepare a short blog post to highlight the key aspects of academic honesty that you will need to address in your Technology Integration Activity project, and how you plan to address them.

Activity 2: Finding Resources for Your Technology Integration Activity

Create a list of digital resources that you will need as you develop your Technology Integration Activity project. These could include:

Search for public domain, open access, or Creative Commons licenced resources that you can use. Be sure to consider elements of UDL and accessibility in your methodology. Create a short post that describes the resources you need and how you found them. How will make sure that they are licenced for you to use as you intend? Will they provide universal accessibility?

Activity 3: Peer Support (Mandatory)

Schedule a time to meet up with your study partner (the classmate you connected with in the Week 6 Technology Exploration activities). Use a personal video conferencing application of your choice (i.e. Skype, Google Hangouts, FaceTime, etc.) to connect, share, and discuss your Technology Integration Activity assignments. Discuss the issues that you have identified as important to the design and development of your Technology Integration Activity projects, and help each other to find strategies to address those issues in your projects.

Topic 3: Community Engagement

Activity 4: Discussion Questions

Your instructor will post questions in the course discussion forum related to this week’s topics. Respond to these questions, and check out (and reply to) some of the responses posted by your classmates. Feel free to use the course forum to post any thoughts or questions you may have related to this week’s readings and activities.

Activity 5: Reflections on Legal and Ethical Issues

Share the blog posts that you created after completing this week’s Technology Exploration activities. Be sure to check out and comment on some of your classmates’ posts.

Week 8 Summary

This week, we have looked at the legal and ethical issues that we need to consider when integrating digital technologies, including the Internet, into education practice. We explored digital privacy issues, the creation of safe digital learning environments, and strategies to increase digital accessibility. We have examined copyright legislation, the promotion of a culture of academic honesty, and strategies for detecting and avoiding plagiarism. And we have explored how to find digital resources that are freely available for integration into teaching and learning activities. You have had an opportunity to examine how these issues impact your Technology Integration Activity project, and to explore strategies for addressing these issues. In Week 9, we will turn our attention to the importance of, and strategies for, increasing engagement in digital learning environments.