ICT student textbook/What students need to know about ethics of technology

ICT use can be beneficial or harmful. This means there is a need for human judgement in the use of ICTs. Ethical challenges in the use of ICTs can arise in the following situations:

1. Plagiarising - passing off resources created by others as created by oneself
2. Using others resources without their permission, or as per the 'license' associated with the resource.
3. Participating in a virtual forum in an offensive manner, contravening etiquette of virtual forum behaviours

You need to be aware of these dangers and learn to avoid these, and help your classmates also avoid these.

Plagiarising - passing off resources created by others as created by oneself

It is easy to copy a resource from the Internet and include in your own work without giving credit to the creator. This is called 'plagiarism' or 'copying'. This is an unethical practice. Nowadays, there are software applications which can check a digital submission to check if it includes (plagiarises) other resources in an unethical manner. Referring to other resources, citing them in your work, or adapting them to meet the needs of your work are ethical by themselves. This is called 'fair use'. However, if you copy large parts of another resource not created by you, in your own work, it will run the risk of being seen as plagiarism. What is 'minor' copying or 'large' depends on the situation and you need to use your judgement. In case of doubt, always discuss with your teachers and friends / classmates.

Using others resources contravening the 'license' associated with the resource

Digital resources, including software and content always have an associated 'license' of use by others. In case the software or content is licensed as 'proprietary', where the creator has all the rights and has not given any rights to others, then using the digital resource is illegal as well as unethical. You may find it technically very easy to just 'copy-paste' an article from the Internet or copy a proprietary software program from another computer, or download a movie from the internet which is not licensed to be copied. All these would be unethical.

One way of avoiding this unethical practice, is to use and promote Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) and Open Educational Resources (OER). FOSS and OER movements aim at providing digital resources that are licensed in a manner that you can make copies, you can change the resource and share again.

Remember that if a digital resource has no explicit copyright clause mentioned, it means it is owned by the creator with no rights for others. Hence when you create a digital resource, please take care to explicitly mention that it is an OER. You can do this by providing the copyright clause such as - "Copyright - Creative Commons CC BY SA 4.0"

Internet Safety

The virtual world also can be as or more dangerous than the real world.

The Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility has prepared the 'ten commandments' or ten rules for use of computers, some of which are listed below: You should not use a computer to harm other people. You should not interfere with other people's computer work. You should not snoop around in other people's computer files. You should not use a computer to steal. You should not copy or use proprietary software for which you have not paid You should not use other people's computer resources without authorization You should always use a computer in ways that ensure consideration and respect for others