The Ethical Implications of the Overuse of Technology in Education

Introduction

The overuse of technology permeates education. Underlying its appropriate use is the factor of trust.

Trust is essential for ethical behavior in education. Anything that undermines that trust is arguably inimical to those endeavors. To be sure, technology is now embedded in every facet of our lives, and its many advances have proven beneficial; for example, technology has enabled remote instruction, work from home, and telemedicine, all beneficial to its users, particularly in these difficult times of a pandemic. That said, we would like to call attention to the overuse of technology in some instances, its undermining of trust, and the consequent adverse and unethical impact on education.

Two kinds of trust need to be distinguished. The first, what we might call reliability-based trust, is “the reliance on the integrity, strength, truth, ability, surety, etc. of a person or thing” (Dictionary.com, 2020). We thus say, for example, “The teacher trusted that John would erase the white board every day last week as that was his assigned job”; or “I trust the New York Times to report the true and unadulterated news of the day because it is a newspaper that has integrity.” The second kind of trust is what Patrick Lencioni, in another context, refers to as vulnerability-based trust, and is what allows team members, or classmates, to be genuinely transparent with each other. “When there is vulnerability-based trust team members say things like ‘I don't know the answer, I need help.’ ‘I think I screwed this up’” (Lencioni, 2002).

Discussion

Both kinds of trust lie at the foundation of creating a sound learning environment and seasoned pedagogues begin establishing and fostering both kinds of trust from the moment their students enter the classroom on the very first day. Such trust must be mutual, and it must be created and fostered between teacher and students as well as between each student and his classmates. Accomplishing this is a process that involves, among other things, being considerate of the negative experiences, say at home, that may affect a student's performance, giving students responsibilities and holding them accountable for completion of the tasks assigned to them, being consistent in the treatment of all students, that is, ensuring a level playing field by having a single standard for all students, modeling and instilling the importance of respecting others. Some teachers hold brief meetings on a regular basis with a view toward building and fostering a trusting classroom environment. These meetings are an opportunity for students to be open and honest about their feelings. Our point here is not to provide a mini handbook for creating a sound learning environment, but to point out the foundational nature of trust in that environment, and with it the correlative values of respect, responsibility, and accountability.

Trust and respect are important factors of a learning environment. If a student does not respect and trust his or her teacher or professor, or if an instructor is not respectful of students, the learning environment will not be as supportive as it should be and the instructor's pedagogical strategy will not be as effective. A lack of trust and respect will also cause students to feel unsafe and uncomfortable in the classroom (Developing Trust, 2020).

One of the primary responsibilities of educators is to provide a safe, secure, and caring environment for their students. At elementary and middle school levels of education, teachers ensure against physical danger by eliminating hazards as well as fighting, kicking, and name-calling in the classroom. At these earlier levels of education, and higher levels as well, teachers must create an environment in which no student is afraid to make mistakes, or afraid that someone will make fun of him. Such an environment is thought to be a necessary condition for everything else the teacher intends to impart and instill. It allows the teacher to create a stimulating environment that supports curiosity and intellectual risk taking, to provide learning opportunities that will allow each student to reach his full potential and help build in him the ability and desire to become a life-long learner, and good citizen. Such an environment is built on trust. Trust is, of course, applicable to all levels of learning, including K-12 and higher education as well.

In the realm of education, the overuse of technology may be regarded as unethical, firstly, where it directly undermines student trust, and, secondly, where it has deleterious effects on the students. The former is evidenced, for example, in the use of proctoring software to “deter, detect and prevent cheating, authenticate identities, and protect exam content” (Proctoru, 2002). Companies offer different levels of service such as record, review, and record and review coupled with live proctoring; but the basic underlying idea in all levels of service is the idea of “proctorless” exam session recording, powered by artificial intelligence technology. While even live human proctoring may be regarded as an ethically questionable practice, inferior say to the honor system which actually promotes trust, the use of proctor software is far more impersonal and sends a more direct message to students that they are not trustworthy. Physical human presence during an exam can have a softening effect on the absence of trust message, as when a proctor says encouraging things before the exam begins and sets the tone as exam papers are distributed; however, no such encouragement is present when it is done by use of sophisticated software supported using technology.

The overuse of technology also crosses ethical boundaries when it has damaging effects on students. These include:

Adverse repercussions on attention and memory spans.

We are preparing our students for transitioning their educational experiences into the professional world. That which they learn as part of their educational background guides them for their futures. Much the way trust is important to education so too is it a critical factor in the future of our students.

Trust is the essence of good pedagogy and positive learning environments. The relationship between an educator and his students is paramount to guiding his students to become lifelong learners; however, many of the pedagogical approaches used to instill integrity in the learning process accentuate the use of technology to a degree that is detrimental, as opposed to beneficial, to an ideal learning environment. Our contention is that the use of technology in education at a level that is beneficial is evidently a plus, but it needs to be suitable, and the effects of all factors must be considered.