E-Learning Sites: Social, Professional and Ethical Issues - Essay Example

BIS3328: Social, Professional and Ethical Issues in Information Systems “e-Learning sites: Social, professional and ethical issues” Introduction With the advent of modern technology, a forceful impact of this technology has been observed in nearly all walks of modern day life. With the increasing access to these facilities, the lives of modern day human beings have changed so dramatically that in many cases a reversal towards the old ways of life seems apparently impossible. Similar is the case with the process of our education. The concept of e-learning has modified our learning modes and behaviours to a much greater extent. The ease of access to educational resources has improved the overall learning environment, while at the same time, there are a number of ethical, social and professional issues that have emerged in parallel with the emerging e-learning facilities as we shall discuss in the following lines. Discussion The widespread use of computers in our daily tasks like shopping, education and communication has created a ‘digital divide’ between those who use the modern technologies and those who for some reason or merely lack of interest do not use it. The effects of this ‘digital divide’ are so profound that the life patterns of the two classes show vast differences. Whether used in schools, universities or for professional training at work place, well planned and designed e-learning facilities greatly enhance the learning experience. E-learning features the delivery, exploration, application and promotion of knowledge through the use virtual environments thus offering new opportunities for both teachers and students. It is apparently clear that e-learning is providing great help to people from different nations in participating and acquiring higher level education. However, while developing an e-leraning application for a college/university, one must consider the associated ethical, professional and social issues. Stamatellos (2007) explains some of the ethical issues which are associated with the use of computers and internet in the fields of education, health and business. However, the focus of our study will be limited to the educational field. The ethical issues revolving around e-learning include: computer crime and security, Privacy and Anonymity, intellectual Property, Computer Reliability (Stamatellos, 2007). These ethical issues involve the security threats that exist while working on online databases. Some of these common threats include viruses, hacking software and programs, misuse of information and invasion of private material and illegal use of individual’s information. The laws related to intellectual property are also violated in the e-learning environment, mostly by the students. The plagiarism issue is one of the examples of those law violating activities. Students, teachers and other people are equally at a risk of violating such rights and laws. Computer reliability is another major factor which needs to be considered while designing, or implementing an e-learning application. Since, the data, information and important records are all stored in the computer memory and are uploaded on the websites; there are threats to those records and information. Computer memory is delicate and may be formatted easily. A virus, electricity problem or other issues may erase or end up in erasing the important information stored in computers. However, the information carried on t the websites have external threats from hackers and law violators. The e-learning approach draws the burden on both students and teachers to create a learning environment where diversified student population feel comfortable and relaxed. The language, cultural and social differences should not pose as a hurdle in the learning process of the diversified students’ list. Since e-learning environment provides a virtual classroom environment, it becomes difficult to judge the confidence level, practical working abilities and enhancing practical knowledge of the students. It, thus, becomes an important factor to be analyzed while opting for this kind of education. E-learning affects the learning pace of students as it provides virtual classroom environment which is less effective for a number of educational areas. The areas that require face-to-face interaction and on-campus practical demonstrations involve nursing, psychology etc. Hence such professional issues involving those related to the reliability of the infrastructure of the e-learning environment, access to the e-learning tools and the learning curve which is essential to be achieved by proper coordination between teachers and students must be considered while choosing e-learning software or education system (Billings, 2002 p 5). The importance and effectiveness of social interactions, virtual conduct and social support using e-learning courses have been discussed by a number of researchers in great depth (Gunawardena, 1995). Of these researches, mostly were determined to check the credibility of social learning theory on web based learning environment. The emphasis under this theory lies on the importance that social aspects carry in the course of an individual’s life. The three main components of social learning theory, as defined by Rourke, Anderson, Garrison & Archer (1999), are social, cognitive and teaching presence. The social presence refers to the projection of one’s identity and use personal traits in developing meaningful personal involvement to facilitate the learning environment (Gunawardena, 1995). Cognitive presence refers to the intellectual and logical soundness of a person. Cognitive presence involves the active learning, information absorption, critical thing, idea conveyance and active participation of individuals in the learning environment. The teaching presence involves issues that people face while learning or teaching concepts that require integration, justification and exposing ideas in e-learning environment. The issues that must be considered according to this theoretical school of thought involve the inability, idle mindedness, lack of interest, withdrawal from communication, absence from discussions and lack of participation in activities. Moreover, the inability of providing proper practical examples or demonstration from practical models, tools and samples also provide a hurdle in e-learning processes. The loss of cognitive abilities and learning skills are highly probable in an e-learning environment. Students are provided with e-books and online software that are capable of automatic detection of spelling and grammar errors, like MS word, which provide students with an easy way out of educational troubles. They are no more motivated to learn those spellings (Stamatellos, 2007) and grammar rules. This ‘technophobia’ calls for a change and a shift towards on-campus educational systems. The principles that must be considered before developing an e-learning application involve the privacy, plagiarism and copyright issues. In order to avoid plagiarism, the website must use the available plagiarism detectors in the market or develop one of their own to protect the students from violating laws. In order to protect the privacy or data, the website must be protected by passwords, anti-viruses and data protection programmes. Moreover, the code of conduct and ethics principles that should be incorporated must include the policies against plagiarism and privacy invasion. The rules must be strict on the behavioural patterns of students and their communication patterns which may affect the virtual classroom environment. As we have learnt earlier that the e-learning environment is particularly known for diversified population, it is an important factor to be considered that the use of language and vocabulary should be easy and comprehensible. The codes of conduct must be clearly incorporated in the website. A prominent and evident place should be given to this section. The codes of conduct and ethics must demonstrate understanding of the ethical, social and other issues that may arise while working with an e-learning application. There must be clear and apparently strict rules against misuse of information which is copyrighted or which belongs to the people associated with the learning environment. Threatening or disturbing comments while communicating on live chat sessions, virtual classrooms or e-mails from the website must be prohibited. Pictures, illustrations, examples or comments which are biased or may disrupt the interactive learning environment should be prohibited. The need to eliminate discrimination on social, religious, cultural, economic, financial and other grounds must be prohibited as per the legal rules provided by the Government. The codes of conduct must involve all avoidable issues properly. The laws relating to intellectual property, privacy, plagiarism and alike must also be incorporated (Khan, 2005). The design of the website should be user-friendly, so that people from different backgrounds may use it easily. Conclusion: In conclusion, it is justifiable to believe that technological advancements have clearly helped people around the globe to acquire the educational standards that were difficult and to some extent impossible for them to acquire. However, the difficulties and issues discussed in this paper are of immense importance before opting for e-learning. The website designers and e-learning application developers must be informed of these issues so that they may prevent the legal, ethical and social issues from affecting the learning process. Moreover, Training and education of e-learning teaching staff is also an important factor to be considered. The e-learning teaching tools differ greatly from the on-campus tools. Hence, software, options and Medias that are required by the teachers should be integrated in the developing stage of the website. Moreover, the requirements of teachers and students must be researched to include within the e-learning application if possible (Nemati, 2008). Since, most of the e-learning process is dependent on virtual communication, the communication tools and options must be flexible and provide good sound/text quality. Bibliography: BILLINGS, D. M. (2002). Conversations in e-learning. Pensacola, FL, Pohl Pub. STAMATELLOS, G. (2007). Computer ethics: a global perspective. Sudbury, Mass, Jones and Bartlett Publishers. GUNAWARDENA, C. N. (1995). Social Presence Theory and Implications for Interaction and Collaborative Learning in Computer Conferences. NEMATI, H. R. (2008). Information security and ethics concepts, methodologies, tools and applications. Contemporary research in information science and technology. Hershey PA, Information Science Reference. KHAN, B. H. (2005). Managing e-learning design, delivery, implementation, and evaluation. Hershey, PA, Information Science Pub. http://services.igi-global.com/resolvedoi/resolve.aspx?doi=10.4018/978-1-59140-634-1. ROURKE, L., ANDERSON, T., GARRISON, D. R., & ARCHER, W. (1999). Assessing Social Presence in Asynchronous Text-based Computer Conferencing. Journal of Distance Education. 14, 50-71. Read More