Legal, Safe & Ethical behaviour with ICT!

Working legally, safely and ethically in an educational environment can often be a tricky situation especially when you are uncertain or have little knowledge of copyright laws in the Australian education system. As an educator you must have an excellent understanding of the legal implications of uploading and using materials in an online environment. The following links provide you with examples on how to ensure you are working legally, safely and ethically in an online environment. What can a teacher do on a blog or wiki? (this link provides some great scenarios on what you can and shouldn't do when using online tools for educational purposes)

The Information privacy Act 2009 provides detailed information for the handling of personal information in the public sector on an online environment. It focuses on the "storage, handling, accessing, amendment, management, transfer, use and disclosure of personal information" (Information privacy Act, 2009) when dealing with personal information online.

Another major issue in the education system is use of copyright, there is the 10% rule that applies when copyrighting any material from a online source. Often educators do not know the full rules of copyrighting online materials which can lead to serious issue down the track. Although if all educators read over the Copy Right Act 1968 they will have a good understanding of he limitations involved with copying online material and implementing them into classroom lessons.

Educators should analyse the risks asscociated with web publishing when uploading students materials to blogs, wiki spaces or websites as some students situations might not allow for public recognition or work or achievements. Following these policies to insure the student identification is kept at a minimum (only first names) and that all students under the age of 18 have parental permission when photos and school work are uploaded on the school website, wiki space or blog spot. It is easy to maintain risk if educators follow and implement the Queensland Government Risk Management Privacy procedures.

Cyber-bulling  is becoming a major issue in school environments with the increase of Information Communication Technologies (ICT's) used in everyday life, especially within the education sector. Cyber-bulling is a 24/7 issue that common occurs through the use online tools such as blogs, facebook and websites. These tools are often used for educational purposes as they are a great place to communicate and exchange information with each other. Although with the increase of cyber-bulling many students often wish not to associate with technology tools in the classroom because of issues with the tools outside or within the school environment. A great way to limit cyber-bulling is to inform student about the implications and effects bullying has on young children today through examining what is cyber-bullying.