Charles Explorer logo
🇬🇧

Ethical and Safety Aspects of the Use of ICT in Chemistry Education

Publication at Faculty of Education |
2016

Abstract

Information and communication technology (ICT) has become an integral part of education. This brings not only a question of the efficiency of these technologies, but also of the possible ethical and safety risk related to them.

For teachers and students, it is important not only to be familiar with safety rules and the legal and moral principles underlying the use of ICT (especially on the Internet), butalso to be capable of applying them correctly. This concerns above all the basic ethical codes and legislative framework.

The paper is based on a survey which sought to categorize teachers according to their attitudes towards the use of ICT in chemistry education. A follow-up qualitative inquiry thenseeks to surveythestrategies theinnovative teachers incorporatein termsof computerethics andsafety risk when using ICT in education.

Therespondents'answersindicate that ICT is seen as an indisputable part of chemistry education. The results suggest that students use the Internet network to communicate, search for information, or to practice knowledge by means of online tests, applications or games.

The teachers tended to emphasize citations of online sources as a potential ethical issue, with other ethical aspects (e.g.netiquette,differentapplicationsofcopyrightlawunderlicenses,etc.)takingtheback seat. It also seems that teachers tend to underplay the significance of safety aspects.