I believe that students are aware of others when they use
technology, but they often prefer to overlook the potentially negative effects that use of various devices might have on others in order to continue using
technology. Part of that failure stems,
as some of the readings indicate, from observing adults who fail to exhibit
proper digital etiquette. Looking back
on the past week, I can think of several times when I failed to model
appropriate digital etiquette.
As Benbunan-Fich notes, people tend to disregard the impact
that technology has on others as long as it doesn’t create physical risks (2012). They don’t view annoyance as something
negative – unless, as she notes, hypocritical behavior ensues and the offender
becomes offended by the same behavior that s/he exhibits. Creating specific guidelines for technology
use is important in classrooms and educational settings; it is equally
important to explain the purpose of the guidelines and to consistently enforce
them. If technology users can recognize
that there are particular times and places where use is prohibited, they become
more open to other guidelines and restrictions. Any prohibitions against use need to be purposeful
and reasonable.
Students sometimes understand how technology use affects themselves
and others. Sexting and cyberbullying
are commonplace enough that many students have at least anecdotal experience
of negative technology use. Again, we
can look to adults to realize that bad behavior still occurs with role
models. Do we know coworkers or
employees whose comments are either inflammatory toward their
employers or at least reflect poorly on the employer or organization? The likely answer is “yes”. And as Facebook allows younger teens’
profiles to be searchable (Levin, 2013), teens need to be doubly aware that
nothing they post – or text or e-mail – is private once they hit “send.”
Benbunan-Fich, R. (2012). The ethics and
etiquette of multitasking in the workplace. Technology and Society
Magazine, IEEE, 31(3), 15-19. http://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2253/xpls/abs_all.jsp?arnumber=6313622
Levin, A. (2013,
October 24). Could Facebook’s new privacy rules endanger your kids? Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-levin/could-facebooks-new-priva_b_4152034.html