Technology’s impact on education has been a popular discussion subject in recent years. Remote learning during the pandemic changed the public perspectives on the role of technology in teaching and learning. According to Himmelsbach (2022), educators realize the power of digital tools, devices, and applications. However, there are several ethical concerns and legal issues that need to be addressed. Teachers’ main objective is to improve students’ performance, and technology can help them achieve it. School of Education (2020) states that technology provides students access to information, accelerated learning, and interesting opportunities to practice their knowledge. It enables learners to engage in self-education and acquire technical skills needed for future jobs.
As the use of technology in the classroom increases, people have to be more mindful of ethical issues that arise from it. As per Mattison (2018), one big ethical problem is plagiarism, especially considering how search engines make it easy to find an answer to any question. Moreover, there is the matter of electronic communication between teachers and students and the blurring of lines in it between business and personal. Then there are concerns related to cyberbullying and the collection of students’ personal data by schools.
It is important to remember that there are also legal issues connected to the implementation of technology in the classroom. The main one, according to Smith (2020), is the issue of the legal right to use sources. However, the creator owns the content that they made, and in accordance with the chain of command policy, one has to obtain the creator’s permission if they wish to utilize the asset in their teaching.
A counter-point to this issue is presented by Poole et al. (2021), who found that many companies in the business of information publicizing are essentially privatizing the results of research sponsored by government grants and taxpayer money. Such financial and informational gatekeeping, according to Poole et al. (2021), promises to increase inequality, harming the poor and minorities first. That inequality is likely to exacerbate during the pandemic, with many students being forced to study from home, not having access to libraries in their respective universities. The legal issues of copyright, according to Winchester (2020) have been ignored for the past 20 years, but the increased necessity for studying from home might see a revision of knowledge rights. These changes might affect the way students study and utilize technology in the future.
References
Himmelsbach, V. (2022). How education technology in the classroom can impact student learning. Top Hat. Web.
Mattison, L. (2018). Ethical issues with using technology in the classroom. Study.com. Web.
Poole, A. H., Agosto, D., Greenberg, J., Lin, X., & Yan, E. (2021). Where do we stand? Diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice in North American library and information science education. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 62(3), 258-286.
School of Education. (2020). How important is technology in education? Benefits, challenges, and impact on students. SOE Online. Web.
Smith, L. (2020). Overcoming legal issues with implementing technology in the classroom. Study.com. Web.
Winchester, I. (2020). Culture, Freedom, Oppression, and Better Educational Opportunities. Journal of Educational Thought/Revue de la Pensée Educative, 53(2), 123-124.