Ethical Considerations and Policy

Ethical Considerations of Technology in Early Childhood

When you use technology in early childhood it is crucial for all members of the centre, including parents and teachers to have knowledge about ethics, as some parents may not be happy with the information being submitted online. The New Zealand Teachers Council has created a document of ethics that teachers of New Zealand "should" adhere to. The New Zealand Teachers Council (2004) states that:

The overall purposes of the New Zealand Teachers Council Code of Ethics for Registered Teachers are to:

• clarify the ethics of the profession,
• inspire the quality of behaviour which reflects the honour and dignity of the profession,
• encourage and emphasise those positive attributes of professional conduct that characterise strong and effective teaching,
• enable members of the profession to appraise and reflect on their ethical decisions. (para. 1)

It is the teachers role to inform parents of information that is going to be used if it involves their children. A centre normally has a policy in place for this purpose, and for student teachers to be able to observe children.  If a centre does not have a policy in place regarding ethics and informed consent, there needs to be a form signed by the parent to ensure that the information that is being used is kept confidential.

Rebbecca Sweeney from Learning Media Limited gave me this website about how a teacher puts information about what the children are doing for a subject online and the parent is not happy about the content (personal communication, March 8, 2013). Here is the link to this one: http://vimeo.com/49804201

Policy

It is really important that as teachers there needs to be a policy on gaining consent for the sharing of information online and with others. There also needs to be a strict confidentiality agreement put in place for those parents who do not feel comfortable with their information being shared to put their minds at ease. Ethical considerations must be taken when working with children as the internet has a lot of people and websites that are suspectable and damaging to development. As teachers, it is up to us to have a program that keeps children, their confidentiality and information safe. A firewall and anti virus system is a good way to prevent this. Singer and Singer (2001) state that the "notion of monitoring children's usage patterns of media is not new but what is new is the significantly larger amount of information to be monitored" (p. 25), therefore making it more important to adhere to ethics and monitor internet usage more closely.

Another good website that was useful in providing information about the information regarding ethical considerations and how teachers must conduct themselves, was the teachers and social media website that was created by the Teachers Council New Zealand. Here is the link: http://www.teachersandsocialmedia.co.nz/

These websites provide videos, posters and useful information about how teachers need to be considerate of family/whanau and how student and teacher confidentiality policies must be adhered to strictly.

References:

       Code of Ethics for Registered Teachers in New Zealand. (n.d.). NZ Teachers Council Code of Ethics. Retrieved March 8, 2013, from www.teacherscouncil.govt.nz/required/ethics

       Singer, D. G., & Singer, J. L. (2001).Handbook of children and the media. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications

       Teachers & Social Media | Teachers & Social Media . (n.d.). Teachers & Social Media | Teachers & Social Media . Retrieved March 8, 2013, from http://www.teachersandsocialmedia.co.nz

       Vimeo. (n.d.). Commitment to Parents/Guardians and Family/ Whānau. Retrieved March 8, 2013, from vimeo.com/49804201