Ethical Use of Technology in Digital Learning Environments
Ethical Use of Technology in Digital Learning Environments
Anonymous
Brown B., Roberts V., Jacobsen M., Hurrell C., (Eds.). (n.d.) Ethical Use of Technology in Digital Learning Environments. PressBooks. https://openeducationalberta.ca/educationaltechnologyethics2/
Reviewed by: Anonymous, Lehman College
Introduction
This OER evaluation is on Ethical Use of Technology In Digital Learning Environment: Graduate Student Perspectives. The publisher of this resource is Open Education Alberta. The textbook is written by several graduate students over the course of a year, during the Covid-19 Pandemic. The students selected topics related to technology use they were intrigued by and wrote about them. The resource is divided into two halves and covers a variety of topics concerning technology during the Covid-19 era and afterward. These topics include the facilitation of national healthcare applications with personal data; excessive video gaming and its implications on children; video intrusion during synchronous online classes; risks of using artificial intelligence (AI); online cheating and the use of e-proctoring; access to broadband connectivity in rural communities; and big data in educational contexts. This resource is great for those who are interested in technology and its implications in the near future, specifically in a classroom setting or data privacy/sensitivity. This source is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY).
Evaluation
The content of this textbook is extremely relevant in this day and age. It is easily applicable to a real-world context, especially since the use of technology in classrooms, at home, and at larger health institutions is trending upwards. The infographics, videos, and questions provided in the book edify the material greatly. Towards the end of some chapters, the questions further stimulate the information provided. Considering the OER was made by graduate students, the rhetoric is rather sophisticated, with the exception of the explanation of technical terms. A teenager reading about topics related to them (like video games, e-proctoring, broadband connectivity, or technological use in classrooms) might struggle with this textbook. This resource also expresses the use of the co-designing process and shares the fact that learning is a shared experience.
Structure, Organization, and Technical: The introduction prefaces the book, explaining the origin of the resource and its authors, the textbook is split into two parts: Emerging Ethical Questions on User Well-being in Technology-Enabled Learning Environments and Critical Considerations of the Ethics of Technological Advances and their Effects on Autonomy and Privacy. As mentioned, the book prefaces the fact that co-designing of this textbook is part of its makeup and strongly encouraged. The figures in the book are primarily in black and white, so black and white printing should not hinder the resource. However, more colors would have made it more