Ethics-Related Technology Policies in Schools

Abstract

Educators often face ethical and legal issues with the use of information and communication technology (ICT), especially when assigning digital content to their students. Institutional policies regarding the boundaries of acceptable ICT use can help educators deal with these issues. In this article, the authors apply neo-institutional theory to the diffusion of institutional policies on the ethics of ICT use. To evaluate this conceptual analysis, data are presented from three sources: a nationwide survey of U.S. schools, a 23-country survey of principals of upper secondary schools, and a content analysis of 46 acceptable use policies from school web sites in six countries. The predicted homogeneity among schools with regard to their ethical policies was found among web sites, within the United States, and to some extent, cross-nationally. Across countries the pattern in the adoption of ethical policies by schools was more heterogeneous and apparently idiosyncratic.

The Diffusion and Use of Institutional Theory: A Cross-Disciplinary Longitudinal Literature Survey

“…The use of the theory in public sector contexts is also quite popular. For instance, in their article, Dill and Anderson (2003) explore the diffusion of ethics-related technology policies in US schools using neo-institutional theory as a means to explain why some schools are establishing such policies while others are not. Haughton (2006) uses institutional theory to analyse what institutional isomorphic pressures might be influencing the Canadian customs brokers' ICT projects.…”

“…Examples (2001), Chatterjee et al (2002), Dill and Anderson (2003), Teo et al (2003), Cavalluzzo and Ittner (2004), Miranda and Kim (2006), Salmeron and Bueno (2006), Ituma and Simpson (2007), Liang et al (2007), Nevo et al (2007), Soares-Aguiar and Palma-Dos-Reis (2008) Descriptive/Conceptual/ Theoretical (4) Robey and Boudreau (1999), Cannon and Woszczynski (2002), Chismar & Davidson (2005), Mark (2007) Interpretive (11) Lyytinen (1998, 2001), Butler (2003), Ramiller and Swanson (2003), Tingling and Parent (2004), Sawyer et al (2005), Haughton (2006), Bala and Venkatesh (2007), Davidson and Chismar (2007), Hu et al (2007), Miscione (2007), Hayes (2008) Research methodology: Empirical vs non-empirical Empirical (24) Lyytinen (1998, 2001), Sandberg (2001), Chatterjee et al (2002), Butler (2003), Dill and Anderson (2003), Ramiller and Swanson (2003), Teo et al (2003), Cavalluzzo and Ittner (2004), Tingling and Parent (2004), Sawyer et al (2005), Haughton (2006), Miranda and Kim (2006), Salmeron and Bueno (2006), Bala and Venkatesh (2007), Davi...…”

“…They develop and test a theoretical model to investigate the (2003) Multi-method (3) Ramiller and Swanson (2003), Sawyer et al (2005), Ituma and Simpson (2007) Field study (1) Davidson and Chismar (2007) Ethnography (1) Miscione (2007) Technology and research issues studied Role of collaborative workflow technology (Hayes, 2008); e-procurement systems adoption (Soares-Aguiar and Palma-DosReis, 2008); Computerized Physician Order Entry (Davidson and Chismar, 2007); career anchors that exist in IT workers (Ituma and Simpson, 2007); IO Business Process Standards (Bala and Venkatesh, 2007); Improving IS Security ; technology adoption in health care organisations (NHS) (Currie and Guah, 2007;Mark, 2007); telemedicine introduction in Peru (Miscione, 2007); adoption of Internet business solution (Nevo et al, 2007); assimilation of enterprise systems (Liang et al, 2007); Outsourcing (Currie, 2004;Miranda and Kim, 2006); Effects of IT/IS on SMEs (Salmeron and Bueno, 2006); impact of IT investments on SMEs (Haughton, 2006); industry in IS research (Chismar & Davidson, 2005); role of ICT in residential real estate industry (Sawyer et al, 2005); enterprise technology selection and evaluation (Tingling and Parent, 2004;Liang et al, 2007); implementing performance measures innovation (Cavalluzzo and Ittner, 2004); ethics of ICT use in educational institutions (Dill and Anderson, 2003); Organising vision for IT (Ramiller and Swanson, 2003); developing and implementing intranet-and internet-based IS (Butler, 2003); adoption of IO linkages (Teo et al, 2003); crises and revolutions in IT (Cannon and Woszczynski, 2002); shaping up e-commerce (Chatterjee et al, 2002); diffusion of EDI (Teo et al, 2003;…”

School Technology Leadership: An Empirical Investigation of Prevalence and Effect

“…More than three fourths of all schools also had policies regarding unauthorized system access and "honoring intellectual property rights, e.g., copyrights" (quotation is from a phrase in a question included in the study's Principal's Survey Booklet; see Becker & Anderson, 1998). Often these three policy principles are packaged together as a single acceptable use policy (AUP), which defines an implicit contract between the school and computer system users (Dill & Anderson, 2003). Althouch these policies are statements of ethical expectations, schools establish such standards in part to protect themselves from potential legal and political problems as well.…”

Social media access in K-12 schools: Intractable policy controversies in an evolving world

“…Existing research in Education Policy around technology use in schools has typically focused on the content and structure of student AUPs (Dill & Anderson, 2003; Flowers & Rakes, 2000). However, few studies offer frameworks to understand recent controversies surrounding young students and social media.…”