Learning Right from Wrong in the Digital Age

Doug Johnson is director of Media and Technology at I.S.D. 77 Mankato Public Schools in Minnesota.

"Johnson’s guide should be required reading. It makes elementary what is often unclear and ambiguous and provides analogies of situations to point out how stealing is stealing whether it’s in a store or in a virtual situation. His approach is to entice discussion and allow the students to discover the answer to the ethics question in a variety of settings. After an overview of the difference between the physical and virtual world in regard to ethical codes, several sections are devoted to scenarios of various behaviors that involve privacy, property, and appropriate use of information. Each scenario provides discussion topics as well as the relationship to National Learning Standards. Resources such as privacy and search policies, and Web sites are provided for more information. One section specifically instructs teachers, librarians and parents on what students need to know in order to practice ethical behavior with computers. It offers information about Acceptable Use policies, Web Site Guidelines, Library Rules, and Plagiarism Guidelines. It reminds teachers how to create plagiarism proof assignments and describes what parents can do at home to teach and encourage ethical behavior. Finally, appendixes offer sample documents of those policies that all schools and libraries should have available. Highly Recommended." - Library Media Connection