Ethics and the online world!

I've used Rolfe’s model to reflect on the situation raised in this short video, where a teacher shares photographs of her learners in a public blog, when parental consent has only been given to take photographs of the children for “learning purposes”.

I will unpack this ethical dilemma using Ehrich et al. (2011) framework. 

The framework begin by looking at the competing forces, each which impact on the decision making with their own bias. Firstly, from a legal perspective, there is no guarantee of confidentiality or security when posting photographs in a public space. To post a students photograph online, requires consent. The consent that was provided by the whanau only cover photographs being taken for learning purposes, therefore not giving permission to share photographs publicly online. Secondly, the institutional context of schooling is to best prepare students for the future. These photographs become an electronic footprint, that last forever. School need to consider the standard of the material that is published online, a funny photograph may look amusing now but may be embarrassing to the student in the future. 

It is obvious that the teacher is enthusiastic about sharing the learning that is taking pace in her classroom with her learners whanau. She believes that sharing these images in covered by the “learning purposes” consent that her parents have signed. Although she has not been transparent with her whanau about what “learning purposes” means to her, leaving them feeling surprised when they saw their children’s photographs on the school website. 

Formally, action needs to be taken to ensure that the organisation has clear policies around the use of photographs to protect the privacy of their students. The teacher needs to remove the photographs from the school website and make contact with the whanau requesting their consent to share photographs in this way. In the future, the school could share photographs and learning stories with parents using a digital tool, like Story Park, See Saw or Class Dojo. The school would need to gain consent before sharing photographs and provide whanau with unique codes to view their child’s photographs and learning stories.When sharing photographs in a public space, like a school website, a question that can be asked in the photographs served by student identification? Could the student’s faces be edited in such a way that will allow the activity to recorded in a digitally without identifying any of the students.

This decision is relevant to my practice as I think that as teachers it is our role to create a safe environment for our learners to grow to become their best selves. This safe space, extends to the way that we share our children’s learning online. 

This decision is relevant to the Code of Professional Responsibility writes that as teachers we are committed to upholding the reputation of the teaching profession and maintaining the trust and confidence of their families, whanau and the public. Specifically, as teachers we are committed to engaging our whanau in our students learning journeys while protecting them from the harm. I believe this makes the use of digital tools, such as Story Park, See Saw and Class Dojo ethical choices. 

This decision is relevant to the Standards for the Teaching Profession as this choice embodies the value of Manaakitanga, by creating a learning environment that treats everyone with respect and dignity.

Any thoughts on the best ways to use digital tools in an ethical way? 

Kia Kaha!