The Ethics Paper was created as part of a requirement for the Educational Technology course 6393, Issues and Trends in Instructional Design, in the fall of 2016 through the University of Arkansas’s program in Educational Technology. The purpose of the ethical framework was to establish a series of principles that should be followed by all professionals when designing new courses whether in or out of the classroom, or in a hybrid course. The framework outlines the duties and responsibilities of the instructor and the participating students, as well as the desired outcomes and predictions in personal development. The ethical framework was created based on recommended standards of educational ethics as set out by scholars and professional educators.

The first principle in the framework suggests that the instructor provides detailed information on the role of technology in the course, and the student has the opportunity for informed consent. In doing so, the instructor articulates the specific role of technology in the course and the student in invested in this use due to their informed participation. The second principle notes the need for equal access to technology, which should happen at the level of the administration. The purpose of this principle is to level the socio-economic playing field between higher and lower-income students.

The third principle is meant to allow these diverse students to have open and honest communication. This principle lays out that the online discussion forum be unmonitored by instructor or teaching assistants, but still be recorded. The purpose of the recording is so that if students do encounter harassment of any kind, complaints can be verified through review. But the unmonitored space should encourage students to engage more openly. Principle four focuses on the privacy that all students are due when engaged in an online course or any course in which technology collects student information. The fourth principle states that the data gathered about specific students is limited in both scope and storage. Finally, the fifth principle requires the oversight of technology use in order to ensure the legal use of technology in education, and its application in ways that improve student learning.

During the creation of the ethical framework, I reflected deeply on the ever-increasing role of technology in education, both in face-to-face classes and online education. The ever prevalent role in education has introduced new virtual spaces in which students and instructors are interacting, as well as ethical questions about access to technology and access to information on users of that technology. These new spaces of interaction and opportunities for access and information require serious regard for educators’ role in producing and maintaining safe spaces for learning environments. This framework has helped guide my integration of technology in my classroom. I have become increasingly mindful of articulating clearly and repeatedly the purpose of the technology being used. Additionally, I have begun integrating good digital citizenship conversations into my classes as student create more and more online assignments. It has also helped me develop strategies for teaching students about copyright infringement and plagiarism as their online translations, submitted through Google Docs, has become a repository for copied and pasted translations, slightly modified by the students.