Information Technology Ethics

"The study of Ethics is really a study of what is good. But what is good? And that leads us to another question; Good for whom? What if your good is my bad? What is the minimum good before it comes bad?"



I came across this video on Youtube. It is an introduction to a study of Ethics, Society & Technology, and how technology has influenced ethics.

Ethics of technology is a subfield of ethics adressing the ethical questions specific to the Technology Age. Technology in itself is incapable of possessing moral or ethical qualities, since "technology" is merely tool making. But were should we draw the line? Does a scientist have an ethical obligation to produce or fail to produce a nuclear weapon? Is it ok to clone humans? Or what about the ethical questions surrounding the production of technologies that waste or conserve energy and resources? For me these quiestions are difficult to give an answer to. I think the evergoing developement of new technologies makes it harder to draw that line. The right of privacy is being continually attenuated by the emergence of new forms of surveillance and anonymity. The old ethical questions of privacy and freedom of speech are given new shape and urgency in the Internet age.

The 3TU.Centre for Ethics and Technology in The Netherlands are trying to answer these quiestions for us, and help us draw the line. They say that: "Science and technology are of paramount social, political and economic importance in the 21st century. They are not only drivers of economic and social developements; they shape our societies, practices and institutions. In order to grips with science and technology, political and policy decisions regarding them, we need to reflect on the ethical aspects of their development, the moral acceptability of their application and their contribution to the quality of life and well-being. Education is important as well. Engineers and scientists are often confronted with ethical questions in their professional life. The knowledge and the technology they produce directly influence the well-being of individuals. The education should prepare them thoroughly and systematically for dealing with such ethical questions. We have a need for balanced, high quality and comprehensive reflection and judgement on moral, political and policy issues associated with science and technology."

With this as motivation, the 3TU is now trying to answer some of the most crucial questions of the 21st century: "What have the recent global financial crisis, the threat of climate change, the matter of poverty alleviation and the emergence of controversial and risky technologies in common?" All these realities have enormous impacts on contemporary society; each of them is influenced by specific technological developments, yet futured by universal ethical issues. The process can no longer be determined by mere cost-benefit appraisals or the push of uncontrolled economical growth. Solid and consistent ethical considerations shall be embedded in the processes of design and innovation. This is both the contribution and the ambition of 3TU, adding ethical value to technology and, i so doing, answering to the most challenging and crucial questions of our time.

Amen! This has to be some of the most resonable I have heard so far. We must not forget "ethics and moral". We learned about it when we were in pre-school! Where on our journey in society did we forget it? I am sorry to say, but I think in our society today it's all about economy and power. So ones good becomes anothers bad...

Finally, I really recommend a visit to 3TU's homepage.

Spring-time in Norway !!!

No, this was not taken during christmas, but in a few minutes ago... So this is the global warming? Well I have to think positive.. I don't have to cut my lawn for at least 2 months :-)

Have a nice day!! :-)

Information Society - implications for education and socialization

You have applied for a new job. Your opportunity of a lifetime. You're almost there. But then, your upcoming boss google your name:

Well, what do you think? Would you get the job??

This is an example of one of the less fortunate implications the Information Society have brought on us. Today it is very common that people google your name to find out who you really are. So have you tried it yourself? Do you know what information people can find on you at the internet? This is a problem that have increased the latest years with the help of social medias like Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. Everyone can share anything on the internet. Your best friend could have tagged you on the picture above. He probably didn't mean anything wrong with it, but the consequences can be devastating for you. This is why we have to be critical when we use this social medias. Especially when we share pictures, videos and comments of other people. But fortunately our society has started to deal with these problems. For instance, in Norway we have just got a new service from The Norwegian Data Inspectorate that can help us with this. It's called "slettmeg.no" (deleteme.no). Slettmeg.no offers advice and guidance to people of all ages who find offending material about themselves on the Internet. Offending material might be photos published without permission, fake profiles on different Internet services, incorrect personal information or harassment.

But let's focus on something positive :)

I've read an article from BBC. It is a research by the National Literacy Trust regarding the developing of writing skills for children who use technology. This shows that children who blog, text or use social networking websites are more confident about their writing skills. Engagement with online technology drives their enthusiasm for writing short stories, letters, song lyrics or diaries. "The more forms of communications children use, the stronger their core literary skills".

Reading this article got me to think of a similar research and educational method developed in Norway by Arne Trageton, teacher and researcher at the College in Stord/Haugesund. In my ICT education at the College in Nesna I'm writing a task regarding Arne Trageton and his method. In short Trageton's method involves that children should start typing on computers before they learn to read. The idea is that children get to write freely on the computer, so they can learn all the letters in their own pace. The texts doesn't need not be intelligible to others than themselves. Later, the students produce their own dictionaries and writing stories or texts as they draw pictures, like newspapers and books. Handwriting training will not be used until the 3rd grade. Handwriting is a barrier for some children, particularly boys. PC gives them a chance to express themselves orally and in writing. The children always work two and two together. They are discussing what to express, both orally and in writing. The producing student is the main key, not the reproducing student.

I have no doubt that using ICT in children's education has a positive effect. We can't take away the opportunities that the Information Society can give them just because we are afraid of the ways they can abuse it or be abused by it. Instead we have to give them the proper education and training to use it responsible.

 

Information Society - culture dimensions

If the internet told you that 2+2=5, would you believe it?

Well, most of us wouldn't fall for that one, but the fact is that the internet and multimedia is playing a huge part in changing and shaping our history, future and cultural heritage.

Today you can find everything on the internet, and I mean everything. I bet that you could probably spend your whole life beside your computer and use the internet and multimedia to do everything for you. You can shop from the internet, pay your bills, order a holiday, talk to your familiy and friends and work from your home etc. So if you wanted to, you would probably never have to leave your house. I think this is an important issue we have to deal with in the future. Or perhaps it's already here?

The internet and multimedia can become a threat to our social lives and to our culture. But the main issue is to find a way to co-exist, because we are both depending on each other.

I came across an interesting video on Youtube with Matt Thompson, an award-winning multimedia producer. And I have to say that he shares some very interesting thoughts with us:

Globalizaton and the new information society - or information age - we are living in, is changing our way to think about our culture and education. Information can be seen as a matierial foundation of the information age. From that point of view, culture can be seen as a constitutive element in the information age insofar as everything is framed and structured by information and communication media. Institutions and people make decisions and represent life through cultural codes and reality is always mediated through language. Culture is important in the information society in two different ways: information capitalism shapes culture with this explosion of the mass communication system, but on the other hand, local cultures have shaped the development and use of information and communication technology.

It is a fact that there is more information available around us than ever. The overflow of information is not only changing our thinking but also our relationship with information. But the relevance of this information seems to become less obvious. It is getting more and more difficult for people to check the relevance of information. What is true and what is false? Sadly, many of us rely blindly on the information they provides from the internet.

So, would you believe that 2+2=5??

Information Society - the concept and related notions

Do we live in era of change or in a changing era?

First some theory and history...

"Information society", "information age", "knowledge society", "post-industrial society" and "global village" are just a few of the terms that have been used in an attempt to identify and understand the extent of these changes. However the selected term in itself does not define content. Content emerges from usage within a specific social context. It is therefore expected that any term used to designate the society in which we live, is backed by the varied opposing projects of society.

Ok, the "child" has many names. So why have we ended up using the "information society"? In 1973, sociologist Daniel Bell introduced the notion "information society" in his book "The Coming of Post-Industrial Society". He believes that this society will mainly consist of theoretical knowledge and warns that knowledge-based services will be transformed into the central structure of the new economy and of an information-led society, where ideologies will end up being superfluosus. The expression reappears strongly in the 90s during the development of the World Wide Web and ICTs. And in 1995, it was included in the agenda of the G7 (now G8) meetings. Since then it has been addressed in forums of the European Community and the OECD, and been adopted by the US government and the UN.

Within this context, the concept "information society" as a political and ideological construct had developed under the direction of neo-liberal globalization, whose main goal has been to accelerate the establishment of an open and "self-regulated" world market.

Well, it didn't actually go as planned. The idea was, as I understand, to close the gap between the rich and the poor in the world. But the opposite happened. Increased pressure was placed on the developing countries at the end of last century by devolped countries who now already had adopted ICT infrastructure polices. Instead of trying to adapt themselves, developing countries had to leave the way free for investments by telecommunications and informatics companies, in search of new markets to maintain growth of earnings.

This is one of the reasons why I think that our "information society" does not benefit everbody (for now). On the other hand you could say that "a fight" always has a loser, but in this case I think that if we are going to include everybody in this society, we have to STOP, evaluate and perhaps take one step back. We have to give those who need it, the chance, the time and the economy to adopt to this society themselves. In my opinion this is one of the main tasks in trying to close the big (and growing) gap between the rich and the poor in this world!

The following video shows some interesting facts and how we can use ICT to help balance the inequity in developing countries around the world. 



I think we have to bring this with us to the classroom and to our children as well. Don't misunderstand me, the inclusion of ICT in today's education is crucial after my opinion, but sometimes I think we have to stop and slow things a bit down.

It's important that our children understands that it's not about what ICT can do for them, but what they can do for themselves with the help from ICT.

D'OH!

D'oh! : "Expressing frustration at the realization that things have turned out badly or not as planned, or that one has just said or done something foolish. Also (usu. mildly derogatory): implying that another person has said or done something foolish" (Oxford English Dictionary)

Hehe.. yes I'm a great fan of the Simpsons. But anyhow, theoretical the Simpsons may not add that much to our information society, but TV do. I think it's one of the most important medias we have, beside the internet to distribute information to the world.

So I think this is an good example of the "power" the television possesses as a medium. After pressure from the people, the Oxford English Dictionary, which is probably the most important and well knowned dictionary in the world, had to add the word D'oh in 2001.

Catch you later! Have a nice day :-D

Getting started!

Hello Everyone :-)

This is my first blog ever, but I'm really excited to get started. I haven't studied for nearly 7 years now, so please excuse my "rusty" english pronunciation. I haven't started yet for my teacher education (will do this autumn), but I will try my best for this task. Please have mercy with me and give me feedback on my way :-)

Have a nice day!