About this text
The purpose of this text is to serve as an Open Education Resource (OER) designed initially to be used in a secondary or post-secondary education setting. It is intended to be a guide to facilitate focused discussions about contemporary issues of the ethical considerations related to technology evolution, development, deployment, and consumption, as well as issues (both known and unknown) of potential misuse and abuse of technology. This is not a traditional Ethics textbook in that it is not intended to provide a survey of all of the history of Ethics through the ages nor is it intended to dive deeply into any particular ethical movements or frameworks as may be the focus of other ethics studies. Rather, it is intended to focus predominantly on the concepts of applying critical and ethical thinking to issues and subsequent decisions related to our interactions with technology in the 21st century.
If you came here looking for definitive answers – I’m so sorry to disappoint you. This text does not purport to include any categorical absolutes or any sort of an ethical road map for the reader to adopt. Rather, the intent is to be a starting point for the thinking person to consider one’s own perspectives and understandings of:
- what the concept of ‘ethics’ means to you as you begin your exploration...
- what influences (family, school, religion, region, ethnicity, gender identity, socioeconomic status, etc.) have come together to make you the ‘who’ you are at this moment…
- what are the skills necessary to be able to objectively review a concept or situation so as to understand what its ethical issues may be…
- what it actually means to have a choice between more than one option and how to be able to make an informed decision for yourself that includes ethical considerations…
- how to recognize that while technology continues to advance, other systems like legal systems, economic systems, political systems, social systems, and individual and group moral and ethical systems often lag significantly behind the rate of change of technology.
This text is best used in conjunction with case studies and examples (both historic and contemporary) to serve as springboards for in-depth discussion surrounding the various topics. As an OER, it is expected that some of the case studies and examples that are initially presented throughout the text will become ‘stale’ over time. Therefore, it is encouraged that adopters of this text consider enhancing this base text with additional, contemporary case studies or other source materials which exemplify the topics. Likewise, it is encouraged that students and other consumers of this text also bring suggested new case studies and examples for possible inclusion. New examples of both ethical and unethical behaviors, decisions, and applications of technology continue to happen every single day. It is a hope of the author that those who work with this text will begin to adopt a habit of intentionally and closely examining the ethical considerations of their respective interactions with technology.
Throughout this text, we will discover that having a shared understanding of the intended definition of critical terms (if not a shared agreement of those meanings) is critical in order to have meaningful discourse about these ethereal concepts. As a result, many terms will be presented throughout this text which will require this shared understanding of the author’s intended meaning.
As a result, terms that may be subject to multiple definitions or interpretations are highlighted in bold in this text. The definition of these terms may appear when they are first used, or may be defined at the end of the chapter in which they are used. Throughout the use of this text, it is important that the reader and others involved in discussions about these topics have a minimum of a shared definition of what each critical term means and the context in which the terms are being used.
About the Author
Hello good reader! I am Ed Weber, an Associate Professor of Computer Science at St. Charles Community College (SCC) in Cottleville, MO. I also am the President and owner of Weber Enterprises, LLC of Wildwood, MO, which was founded in 1995. I have spent my entire career in Information Systems working with both very large companies, and with mid-size and small clients. I have been teaching Information Systems and Computer Science since 1996 originally as an adjunct instructor and then as a full-time Assistant Professor with Millikin University for 9 ½ years before joining SCC. I have seen countless technologies come and go throughout my career and I have witnessed both the ethical and unethical implementations of technology as well.
Figure 2: Ed Weber, Assoc. Prof. of Computer Science SCC
When I wrote my first textbook, Spreadsheet Fundamentals, in 2018, it was for the primary purpose of reducing the cost of a required textbook for my class. This was a direct and intentional action when I realized that some of my students were struggling because they didn’t have the financial support to buy the textbook we were previously using. This was my first real exposure to the realities of the ethical issues surrounding the digital divide (see Chapter 6). At that time, I was unaware of the Open Education Resources (OER) concepts and that there was a way for me to publish the textbook to be 100% free of charge. Rather, I was approached by a traditional textbook publisher who helped me in my first publishing endeavor.
So, while my first publication allowed me to reduce the cost of the text from nearly $200 to under $40, I have subsequently learned how the OER model affords me an opportunity to make new classroom materials for students that will be forever 100% free of charge. That is my primary purpose in developing this text.
Throughout my career, I have often found myself in situations where I had to make decisions and take actions which would have significant ethical implications for myself, my family, my colleagues, my staff, my employees, my clients, my organization, and even my entire community. The more often that these types of situations occurred, the more I realized that you don’t want to begin thinking about the ethical issues of your situation when you are already knee-deep in the middle of it! Rather, it seems to be healthier for me to be more proactive when it comes to thinking about ethics and how I incorporate my understandings into my day-to-day life and decisions.
Therefore, this text will attempt to lay out just a sampling of some of the major technology-related topics that are happening at this time which have exceptional ethical considerations. It is my hope that by thinking about (and discussing) these topics before you find yourself in the middle of making any significant decisions, you will be able to find yourself much more prepared for the decisions that life will be throwing at you.
Open Education Resource (OER) Copyright
Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research materials that are freely available for anyone to use, adapt, and share. These resources can include textbooks, course materials, videos, tests, and software, and are either in the public domain or released under an open license that permits no-cost access, reuse, modification, and redistribution by others. The purpose of OER is to reduce barriers to education by providing high-quality materials that can be tailored to meet local needs and contexts.
The material in this textbook is copyrighted and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike (CC BY-NC-SA)
license. This means you are free to use, share, and adapt the content for non-commercial purposes, as long as you provide appropriate credit to the original creator and distribute any derivative works under the same license. Commercial use of this material is not permitted without explicit permission from the copyright holder.
The images found in this text have the following attributions:
- The internet memes and Maslow's hierarchy image do not receive any attribution as they are considered in the public domain.
- The screenshot of the website is attributed with the citation for the entire content taken from that site.
- All of the rest of the images were created by me and referenced when using the Pixlr AI tool.