Social, Ethical, Legal, and Human Issues of Computing:

By: Candace Renn Technology is a wonderful tool that can empower learners with diverse backgrounds by engaging all students around the world with social Medias such as twitter and facebook. Skype and Face Time are other forms of social media students can use to find information about different cultures around the world within their classroom. With technology, students are able to take virtual field trips around the world, talk to an architect, or scientist about specific content being taught/learned in class. Learning becomes real when it is applied outside of the classroom. There are endless possibilities technology provides teachers/students to enhance teaching and learning. Students of diverse backgrounds are provided equal opportunity in learning when technology is integrated into teaching/learning. Understanding the power of technology, educators must be knowledgeable about the social, legal, and ethical issues of classroom computing in order to capitalize on the endless learning possibilities technology provides. Social issues educators must become knowledgeable about are cyber-bulling, cyber-bashing, and sexting. Sexting occurs when sexually provocative pictures are sent via cellphone and exploit another individual and can be used for cyber-bullying. Cell phone images and texts, social networking sites, email, and instant messaging are all avenues bullies use for spreading untrue and/or hurtful rumors to torment another person. With technology, victims can be harassed during and after school hours. Cyber-bashing is a more severe social issue of technology. This occurs when physical abuse, such as fighting, is captured on camera and uploaded to a video-hosting website, such as YouTube. The implications sexting, cyber-bullying, and cyber-bashing has on the victim/s include feeling of low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, anger, and could cause emotional scarring. We, as educators, play a vital role in preventing these happenings by educating our students on these topics. Teachers and schools must establish and support classroom policies that address cyberspace situations for keeping students
physically, legally, and psychologically safe.

The legal and ethical issues of computing encompass copyright issues, plagiarism, and the Fair Use Policy. Copy right issues and plagiarism occurs when anyone takes someone elses work and passes it off as their own. This can be a big problem with the use of technology because its easy for students to copy and paste. Students must be educated on giving proper credit when using information from a source and citing the source correctly. Educators modeling the appropriate use of technology by giving credit and citing sources used in the delivery of lessons will aide students in the appropriate use of technology. There are times educators and students do not require the permission of copyrighted material if only a specific portion of the

copyrighted material is being used for educational purposes. The Fair Use Policy is a doctrine in copyright law that allows limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the right-holder. It provides for the legal incorporation of copyrighted material into another work under limited conditions. There are four factors to consider when determining if the material being used is fair use: the purpose of use, the nature of the work, portion being used, and the effect on the market. Another issue facing educators is social equality. Social equality is a state at which all people in
a given society share the same status in a certain detail. It entails equal rights, opportunities, obligations as well as economic equity. Educators must consider social equality when teaching

and assigning projects for students to demonstrate their learning. The digital divide is a challenge educators must factor in when planning lessons, delivering content, and assigning homework such as projects. After reading the New York Time article, The New Digital Divide, I understood the digital divide as the separation of people who have and do not have access to internet or high speed internet. Individuals of minorities and low socio-economic status suffer from not having access to high speed internet which affects the equality of opportunities for them to achieve and have the same opportunities available to individuals who are able to afford high speed internet. Our world is evolving into a technology rich world which requires the use of the internet to communicate with others when applying for jobs, researching topics for class, and submitting assignments online. In education, there is an achievement gap in learning among minority groups and students who have low socio-economic status. Some of the cause for the achievement gap is lack of life experiences and educational support. Now that the world is becoming dependent on technology as a way of life, can you imagine the impact the digital divide is going to have on the achievement gap among our students if and when they are not able to have access to high speed internet? As educators, it is our job and responsibility to not only educate children on the importance of technology but also educate parents/guardians. When the social, legal and ethical issues of computing are implemented by the educator and intentionally taught to students for proper use the world of technology can now be explored and utilized to engage learners of every and all diverse backgrounds. Hand held technology such as android and iOS devices allows learning to come to life with Augmented Reality. Augmented Reality is where real life is modified and enhanced by computer-generated sights and sounds (virtual reality) to bring learning to life. AR technologies offer endless opportunities for students of all ages to learn and interact with their environment in and out of the classroom. A few classroom ideas for applications of AR technologies include, but are not limited to, word walls, book reviews for the classroom library, math projects such as exploring the attributes of 3D shapes, and interactive flashcards of the alphabet for Pre-K, Kindergarten, and ESL students. Learning is not limited to the classroom, but is a continuing and constant

growing process via the path of technology. With Augmented Reality technologies, students deepen their knowledge in the STEM/STEAM subjects from reading and listening to creating and interacting with the content being taught.