Teaching ESL Students Ethics in the Digital Age | Original Article

ABSTRACT:

This paper presents actual case studies involving certain basic ethical issues pertaining to the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the ESL learning environment. English language is an integral part of ICT. English is the most commonly used language on any ICT platform. So English and ICT are inseparable. Students tend to use Internet either for seeking entertainment or for learning purposes. Hence there may be many situations when they have to make ethical decisions while using digital technology. Teaching students ethics deserves special attention as there is a tendency to view the actions of the students in virtual world of technology as being less serious than their actions in the real life. As Ki and Ahn (2006) observe, “Unethical use of ICT in education is a serious problem in all educational settings.” Copying a book illegally is costly, risky and time- consuming but copying an image, document or PDF file illegally on the internet can be done quickly and easily at a negligible expense. Also, the traces of any illegal activity on the computer or a website can be wiped out easily. Piracy has become a global problem. Computer Software piracy creates loss of billions of dollars to software companies every year. Increasing cybercrimes in recent times, issues relating to violation of privacy, increasing tendencies of plagiarism among students and researchers are forcing educationists and teachers to look into various factors responsible for such growing tendencies among the student community in order to evolve suitable techniques that teachers can implement in the classroom to inculcate desirable ethical behaviours among the students. This paper intends to throw light on various ethical issues pertaining to the use of ICT and to explore the activities that help to inculcate desirable ethical behaviors among the students.