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There are four ways, and only four ways, in which we
have contact with the world. We are evaluated and classified by these four contacts:
what we do, how we look, what we
say, and how we say it.
Dale Carnegie (1888-1955),
American Educator
Targeted Audience:
This pathfinder focuses
upon a variety of online technological methods teens use to socialize, communicate and express themselves. It includes
definitions, a variety of resources to review, and an array of information for adolescents and for adults who work with teens.
This ePathfinder provides the
following sections –
Introduction
Technological resources – specifically, the Internet and all it offers
to each of us, no matter the age, color, social class, geographical region, IQ, or religious belief – are tools that
raise the bar on ethical choices. The speed with which information travels and the fact that we communicate beyond former
boundaries (or, in many cases, beyond the formerly geographical limitations of time, space, and passports) has brought us
all further into defining what this means when presented with ethical choices. New rules and policies will have to be adapted.
We have seen the beginnings
of such changes in our public libraries with the inclusion of “Computer/Internet user agreements” on public access
library computers (for example, see the Cecil County Public Library’s Internet/Computing Policy and Rules) .Schools, public libraries, and parents grapple with filtering issues as they work to find a balance between their goals
of providing quality education and information, and protecting minors from scams, misuses of information and harmful tricks.
What is wonderful about the Internet is also what creates its difficulties in a free society.
Recent news has promoted the increase of cyber bullying (also known as eBullying)
and challenges to “inappropriate” use of such public publishing tools as personal webs and blogs. See “Teen’s Bold Blogs Alarm Area Schools,” by Tara Bahrampour and Lori Aratani (The Washington Post, January 17,
2006). More and more schools, colleges and perspective employers are reviewing
a student or candidate’s online work.
This ePathfinder will introduce you to these (and likely future) trends
and their technological explanations, some common problems, and most importantly, guidelines to help cope and work with the
changes and challenges information technology presents to us.
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The Topics:
eCommunication - Defining concepts and terms
- Information Ethics (as defined on Wikipedia by Drexel’s IST Graduate Students involved
with Information Ethics)
- ACM’s Code of Ethics Section One is linked here to provide a thoughtful approach to a professional
standard. The Association for Computing Machinery’s “General Moral
Imperatives” actually can apply to anyone and are great guidelines, not only for understanding real applications of
ethics in a technological world, but also for gaining insight about professionals standards.
- What is “Inappropriate?”
According to WordReference.com, “not conforming with accepted standards of propriety or taste.”
- Frances Jacobson Harris defines “Inappropriate”
in the book, I Found It on the Internet (Chicago:ALA, 2005, p. 86-92). Discussions of what is acceptable at
home versus in school, using policies as rules or guidelines, and how libraries and schools “must define the principles
and standards that best fit their individual settings and circumstances” (p. 88).
Schools and libraries have responded by developing and reevaluating policies concerning computer use, Internet use,
and filtering. For an example of this discussion, see Nicole Jenkins and John
Johnston’s article, “Schools/libraries filtering kids’ web access” (Boca Raton News, March 12, 2006).
- ComputerEthics.org has a game called “Computer Ethics: a 20-question game” - it introduces topics and simpified
case scenarios which help identify what falls under the topic of ethics.
Cyber
Etiquette
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Internetworked Writing – trouble to avoid but good to know about
- Stealing work/plagiarism
- Plagiarism, intellectual property rights, copyright
and patents are discussed in this award winning site: Plagiarism.com
- Although written by a faculty member for Empire State
College (Genesee
Valley Center, Rochester, NY) students, this site is simply designed and
presents the facts well. Sometimes a student might not quite know she is stepping
over the boundary of plagiarism. This paper discusses how to avoid plagiarizing
someone else’s work. At “Plagiarism and how to avoid it.” .
- Copyright law –
- Hacking vs. Cracking (getting onto a teacher’s
email account)
- Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) – C. Internet Responsibility is the most relevant section to this pathfinder,
although parts A & B, Internet Safety and Security, are also helpful. This
U.S. Government site offers annotated links to other sites, such as the Netmonkey (http://www.netmonkey.info). Interestingly, Netmonkey was created
by “former software pirates” who are using their expertise and experience to bring information about “right”
and “wrong” behavior. They make school visits in the Los Angeles, CA area (part of their mandatory community
service).
- LawforKids.org has a little about hacking and ethics (the specific laws are targeted for Arizona); mostly it’s about ethical discussions and has an animated
section with might be appealing to younger teens.
- Sharing information legally and responsibly (i.e.;
Creative Commons,
open source
Methods of eCommunication (socializing and sharing of homework and game cheats, discussions of personal
information teens wouldn’t ask an adult, and organizing events from parties to political issues)
· Get
to know the pros and cons of Blogging – it’s good to look and see what they are all about. They are usually free and easy to set up. David Warlick’s
site (listed below) has a current, useful tips as well.
o Blogger (now owned and operated by Google)
o Bloglines
o David F. Warlick has a great explanatory site for blogs, wikis, podcasting, etc.
o Facebook (controversial, usually college students use this)
o LiveJournal
o MySpace (controversial site used by teens)
o Tripod (operated by Lycos)
o Wordpress
o Xanga (AOL’s site)
· Instant Messaging (and Chat) (some homework help links will include 24/7 online library services)
o AOL IM
o MSN IM
o Yahoo IM
o
AskUsNow (an example of 24/7 virtual library reference service for use through Maryland
public libraries)
· Email – formal compared to IM, method of communication for student/teacher sharing, etc.
o
Yahoo
o
AOL email
o
Hotmail (operated by MSN)
· P2P (peer-to-peer) downloading
o
Limewire (at this point, it looks like it is following in Napster’s path)
· Personal web pages – legitimately sharing creations (of poetry, drawings, computer-generated games). There are a few which can be found by using the search terms, “free web builder”
or “free web hosting.” My top pick is:
o
Tripod (owned and operated by Lycos).
· Wiki’s (upcoming uses for collaboration)
o
Again, see David F. Warlick’s great explanatory site for blogs, wikis, podcasting, etc. According
to Warlick, wikis are the up and coming replacement for blogging (already?).
o
PBWiki claims to be as easy to use to set up a
wiki as making a peanut butter sandwich.
· Online learning (the movement to virtual classrooms and quality distance education)
o
One example concerns Vail school district in Arizona – all texts are now located on the school’s laptops, provided for each student.
o See the Degree Information Portal for current articles, comparisons, and links concerning distance education.
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Possible Future Trends (happening now)– these are shaping the changes in information technology. Some will force us to further question our privacy rights, ethical behavior (exclusive
rights to enter a place or apply for a job, because you have an implant, for example) and issues concerning the digital divide
and social attitudes.
o
Skype: A free “telephone” service using your computer. It
now has video. The quality is surprisingly good.
o
RFID – what is it? (Radio Frequency Identification is explained very well on this March 12, 2006 article.)
o
Cellphones of the future The movement seems to be towards “all-in-one” devices (cameras, geopositioning, email, phone, video
and music capable, etc.)
o
Implants (related to RFID technology). It’s happening to humans now, for “security reasons” in Mexico, in Spain at an exclusive disco, and around us.
Bibliography (Further reading and sources)
Helpful Online
Resources
· Adolescent Stages of Development from the Childhood Development Institute
· Al Teich’s Technology & the Future (for a glimpse of future ideas)
· American Library Association’s Code of Ethics
· Computer Ethics
· Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
· Creative Commons (for copyright issues, an alternative approach started by Lawrence Lessig)
· Global InfoEthics
· Information Ethicist
· International Center for Information Ethics
· Internet Public Library
· YALSA blog
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Bibliographical resources
Bell, S. (2005). Where the readers are.
Library Journal (Net Connect), 8, 10, 12, 14(Fall supplement).
Braun, L. (2005). Don’t blame
the internet. Voice of Youth Advocates, 27(6), 457.
Darrow, R. (2004). CIPA and the school
library media specialist. Library Media Connection, 22(6), 50.
Harmon, A. Free expression in a virtual world. New York Times Upfront. New York: Mar 22, 2004. Vol
136 (11), p. 14, 2 pgs.
Harris, Frances Jacobson.
I Found It on the Internet: Coming of age online. American Library Association:Chicago, IL,
2005.
Martindale, T. and Wiley D.A. (2005).
Using weblogs in scholarship and teaching. TechTrends
Linking Research and Practice to Improve Learning, v 49 (2), p 55-61.
McGraw, Jay. Life Strategies for Teens. Fireside:New York, NY,
2000.
Metcalf, Franz and Yoon, Monk Song. Buddha in your Backpack: Everyday Buddhism for teens. Seastone:Berkeley, CA,
2003.
Pike, G.H. (2005). Blogger beware.
Information Today, 22(11), 17-19.
Riedling, Ann Marlow and Eisenberg, Michael. Learning to Learn: A Guide to Becoming Information Literate. Neal-Schuman: New York, NY,
2002. (Companion Web site to book found at: www.neal-schuman.com/riedling.)
Sanders, L. and Cuneo,
A.Z. (2004). Verizon wireless upsells youth via instant texting. Advertising
Age, 75(9), 36.
Schneider, K. (2002). The ethical blogger.
Library Journal (Net Connect), 36(Spr).
Smith, R. E. Wired for trouble: Web sites like MySpace are drawing teens and
their personal information. Knight Ridder Tribune Business News. Washington, February 19, 2006, p. 1.
Tavani, Herman T. Ethics & Technology: Ethical issues in an age of information and communication technology. John Wiley & Sons: NJ, 2004.
Valenza, J. K. (2003). IMing
means never having to say you’re not there. Voice of Youth Advocates, 26(4), 291. Ms. Valenza also has a
useful blog: Joyce Valenza's NeverEnding Search found at: http://www.joycevalenza.edublogs.org.
Winston, Diana. Wide Awake: A Buddhist guide for teens. Perigee (Penquin) Books:Berkeley, CA,
2003.
Woodbury, Marsha Cook. Computer and Information Ethics. Stipes:Champaign, IL,
2003.
You wanna take this online? Time, Inc., 166(6), 52, 55. 2005.
Helpful Resources
on the Web (a quick alpha guide):
American Online Instant Messaging (AIM), found at: http://www.aim.com/. This is probably the most popular (free) instant messaging service,
and is well known. They also provide free email.
Al Teich’s Technology of the Future, Tidbit of the Week, found at: http://www.alteich.com/tidbits/subindx.htm. provides information from this Director of Science and Policy Programs with the American Association for the Advancement
of Science (Washington, DC.) about future trends in computer technology.
Association for Machine Computing, found at: http://www.acm.org/. A terrific resource for anyone seriously interested in learning more about the community of Computer Scientists.
Build a Web site:
“Understanding copyrights” found at: http://www.learnthenet.com/english/html/44copyr.htm.
Computer Ethics,
found at: http://library.thinkquest.org/26658/ this site has an interactive game (for one to four players) in Part Five called “Ups and Downs: A game about life with
computer ethics.” Random luck and no skill is all it takes, but it introduces topics and scenarios you might face.
Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS), found at http://www.cybercrime.gov.links1.htm/. “C. Internet Responsibilities” is the section that is most relevant to this pathfinder, although parts A and
B (Internet safety and security) are worth mentioning. This government site offers annotated links to other interesting areas,
such as the...
...“NetMonkey”
(found at: http://www.netmonkey.info/). Interestingly, NetMonkey was created by “former
software pirates” who are using their expertise and experience to bring information about “right and wrong”
behavior. They even visit schools in the Los Angeles (CA)
area as part of their mandatory community service.
This site has links to many useful sites regarding copyright and piracy
issues, and primarily concerns itself with illegal downloading of software, hacking (cracking), and illegal music downloading.
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Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, found at: http://www.cpsr.org/.This is a great site for exploring what computer scientists and information specialists are discussing.
Creative Commons,
found at: http://creativecommons.org/. A highly organized and fast-growing site started in 2001 by Dr. Lawrence Lessig for offering alternative approaches to standard
copyright. Sections concerning law, copyright, file sharing are highly informative. This site also provides a forum and collaboration
if you are searching for images, movies, music and sounds, etc. All legal!
Ethics Resource Center
found at http://www.ethics.org/, has an Ethics Crossword Puzzle (“Fun with Ethics”). They proclaim themselves to be “the oldest nonprofit
in the US devoted to ethics.”
The Information Ethicist, found at: http://infoethicist.blogspot.com/. By Dr. Martha Smith, this blog freely exchanges thoughts, events, and current issues pertaining to Information Ethics.
Law for Kids, found
at http://www.lawforkids.org/. This site has an animated “teaching” tool concerning challenging questions most young teens face today. Although
it exemplifies Arizona State laws, many
of the problems are pertinent to all US
adolescents.
The 21st Century Information Fluency Project (21CIF), found at: http://21cif.imsa.edu/. Within this terrific site is a link to the “Digital Information Fluency Model”
– this provides an impressive wizard for those who are exploring ethical issues regarding the Internet, information
seeking, computer technology, etc.
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Online Resources: Sites to help you get started with your own free web, blog, wikis (by no means is this a comprehensive
list):
Blogger, found at:
http://www.blogger.com/start. This free blog building site painlessly guides you through the steps.
Bloglines, found
at: http://www.bloglines.com/, is a free blog site that is clearly easy and straightforward.
Easyjournal, found
at: http://www.easyjournal.com/, is another free blog building site, which looks very similar to Bloglines in style and format.
Google’s BlogSearch, found at: http://blogsearch.google.com/. Here is the beta version, since indexing blogs is just beginning.
JotSpot, found at:
http://www.jot.com/, allows you to try out making a free wiki. After their trial period,
you must pay to keep it going. On this page, “What is a Wiki?”, there is a nice introduction to what wikis are all about.
Microsoft’s instant messaging service (and free hotmail), found at: http://join.msn.com/messenger/overview/. The “future of messaging” is intriguing.
PBWiki, found at:
http://pbwiki.com/. PB = Peanut butter! They claim to be as easy to use to set up a wiki as making a peanut butter sandwich.
Skype, a free “phone” service through your computer, found at: http://skype.com/helloagain.html. As of January 25, 2006, Skype added a pretty good video capability.
Tripod, found at:
https://www.tripod.lycos.com/. On their “SiteBuilder” area, you can create a free web, blog, or use
their photo album builder. Supports its free services by advertising on your site.
Weblogs.us, found
at: http://weblogs.us/. They are dedicated to “helping people freely blog.”
Xanga, found at:
http://www.xanga.com/. Another blog building site. Here is a link to their user agreement page: http://help.xanga.com/about/termsofuse.htm.
Yahoo’s Geocities, found at: http://geocities.yahoo.com/, provides a walkthrough to set you up with a free web site (also photo sharing, emailing, etc.). Well known, but lots of
ads.
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