Making of Meaning; considering ethics

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Permalink Reply by ddeubel on July 22, 2007 at 2:43pm

Linda,

I do believe that "hypocricy" is abundant in all societies really and not just the day and age we all live in. But you are right, it play a large role in the ethical development of children/students.

I've always believed in the power of "authenticity", meaning that what is important about an action is not the "what" that is undertaken, the content, the thing, the representation. No. The real message to others in all action is deeper and is in the "How", how you undertake something, how you do something. The process, the "dansein" as Heidegger might of described it - the thing behind itself. We tend to think of this very abstractly as "spirit" but I think it is every bit as concrete as the thing itself.

When people are deemed "authentic", they have grace and no matter the action or result itself, there is worth there. Why? Because there is no apparent contradiction between the person and their being. We need this kind of "anti" hypocricy in teachers as mentors and role models. I think a lot of what we admired in the teachers we liked as children was this - not what they did specifically but rather their manner and spirit. The authenticity they oozed.

What does this have to do with ethics and technology? A lot I believe. Skip gets it right in my opinion; the aspirations of Dewey will be forever the goal, no matter how the world changes. It is all about being a better citizen. But you can't teach this directly, overtly. That is where I believe the education system gets it so wrong. You can't make "cultural learning" into a subject. It is done as you say, through collaboration, networking, socialization, through the everyday actions of teachers as role models.

For technology, there is much danger -- even ethically. We risk technology becoming the end not the means. Technology becoming a plaything, a way to pass the time....technology controlling the user. I think this is the biggest "ethical" challenge. How to create and promote forms of technology in education (much like the book was promoted first, through cheesy soap opera stories -- yes! this is what got people reading at first too, see Pamela, the first successful novel) which will lead to a better citizen? How to hook people without killing them, killing their soul?

Technology is a two edged sword. It invigorates and sustains democracy and a "better, educated citizenry" (the goal of all education) but it may also limit and control this same citizenry through its very nature.

David

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Permalink Reply by Julia Osteen on July 22, 2007 at 5:51pm

Wow! The posts on this thread make for some very enlightening reading. I would like to take us back to my original question. Since we have now come back to the importance of being a good citizen, then what does it mean to exhibit digital citizenship in a global society? I'm not trying to put together a list of do's and don'ts but I am trying to create for myself (and anyone else who wants to read this) a vision for what a good citizen in the 21st century really looks like. If we don't know what we are working toward, then how will we know when we've modeled correctly for the students?

I have known some very well-meaning teachers who didn't realize how some of their actions actually projected to their students a lack of regard for intellectual property. Dave, you said,"But I prefer open access with educators as facilitators, discussing this with students and with education departments, fostering this awareness in teachers." I agree with your statement here. I'm not sure we can assume that all teachers will be able to facilitate toward good citizenship if we don't have some type of vision or goal for what we want that to look like at the end.

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Permalink Reply by Connie Weber on July 30, 2007 at 2:54am

David,
Thanks for your comments; they deserve much thought. I'm going to share your post as an opener in my discussion group at Harvard's Project Zero. I look forward to the talk that will follow...

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Permalink Reply by Linda on July 30, 2007 at 1:47pm

David,
You are right on target with technology (or the novel, even) being a double edged sword. What makes it so powerful--its scope and reach to all parts of the world in an instant, for example--is what also makes it so powerful. I wish I could remember all the things that my cyber-ethics class in library school discussed. That was seven years ago and already there are new issues and concerns. The cyber-world changes so quickly that it makes some of our ethical (and other) discussions obsolete before we can find the definitive answer. Even the seemingly straight forward question of what is good digital citizenship is made that much more difficult because we can discuss it from one cultural bias and it is soon being batted about from a totally different perspective. The existence of CR 2.0 means that a somewhat elite group is discussing suggested "rules" for people who do not even know this exists. That is not really democracy. Is it even ethical to "impose" our beliefs on others. How do we promote the ideas developed here to the "outside" world without imposing them where they are unwanted? I am all for promoting books but cringe at the thought of censorship. How do we promote the "good,clean, fun and knowledge" of the worlds opened by technology without censoring the trash that comes along with it? How do we, as Julia asks, assure that teachers respect intellectual property or any of the other myriad things that seem good use at the time only to infringe, impede, or simply embarrass someone.?

I ramble, I know, but this is really interesting stuff and I feel a need to just get my ideas out and let you help me put them into place.

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