Ethics in a Digital World by Dr. Kristen Mattson explores incredibly important ideas surrounding the non-neutrality of technology and how grades 6-12 educators can better support the development of digital citizens who are equipped to navigate ethical questions at the intersection of technology and humanity. Personally, I believe this book (and these topics) should be a must-read for all 6-12 (and K-12) teachers and technology leaders.
Technology impacts nearly every aspect of our daily lives, and building a foundational understanding of that impact is of critical importance in modern education.
Technology impacts nearly every aspect of our daily lives, and building a foundational understanding of that impact is of critical importance in modern education.
After introducing key vocabulary, ethical principles, the ISTE standards, and providing tips for integration of these ideas, the book is organized around 6 big ethical questions:
Following the examination of these big questions, the book concludes with a call to action and brings these ideas together against the current pandemic backdrop while also providing additional follow-up resources and support suggestions.
Overall, these questions are enormously important and sit at the center of the current ethical issues our larger society is faced with. Dr. Mattson has done an excellent job scaffolding the conversation around these questions and providing accessible entry points to educators who are new to thinking about these ideas.
Each of these 6 major questions has a chapter dedicated to it, and each chapter begins with background information, vocabulary, and relevant current events. From there, different arguments and claims are explored, along with research-based evidence about each claim. The chapters then move on to make explicit curricular connections, provide sample activities, make connections to the ISTE standards, and provide additional resources, articles, and lesson ideas.
In general, I found this chapter organization strategy to be an excellent and highly beneficial approach to breaking down and implementing complicated technology-related questions into 6-12 classrooms.
Overall, Dr. Mattson does a phenomenal job providing accessible examples and integration strategies across secondary grade levels and subject areas. Whether you are a technology teacher or coach, or teaching another secondary subject, I strongly recommend exploring the ideas, activities, questions, and discussions this book raises.
Technology impacts all grade levels and subject areas, as well as students’ lives outside of the classroom, often ways that perpetuate harm and systems of oppression. These are absolutely the questions our students need to be asking and examining.
Find Dr. Mattson on Twitter for more.
- Access to Information: Is It Time to Better Regulate the Internet?
- Privacy in the Digital Age: How Much Are You Willing to Give Up?
- Human Bias: Can Artificial Intelligence Help Diminish Human Bias in Decision-Making?
- The Future of Work: Is Innovation Helpful or Harmful?
- Technology and Mental Health: Cause or Cure?
- Social Media and Society: Flashlight or Flame?
Following the examination of these big questions, the book concludes with a call to action and brings these ideas together against the current pandemic backdrop while also providing additional follow-up resources and support suggestions.
Overall, these questions are enormously important and sit at the center of the current ethical issues our larger society is faced with. Dr. Mattson has done an excellent job scaffolding the conversation around these questions and providing accessible entry points to educators who are new to thinking about these ideas.
Each of these 6 major questions has a chapter dedicated to it, and each chapter begins with background information, vocabulary, and relevant current events. From there, different arguments and claims are explored, along with research-based evidence about each claim. The chapters then move on to make explicit curricular connections, provide sample activities, make connections to the ISTE standards, and provide additional resources, articles, and lesson ideas.
In general, I found this chapter organization strategy to be an excellent and highly beneficial approach to breaking down and implementing complicated technology-related questions into 6-12 classrooms.
Overall, Dr. Mattson does a phenomenal job providing accessible examples and integration strategies across secondary grade levels and subject areas. Whether you are a technology teacher or coach, or teaching another secondary subject, I strongly recommend exploring the ideas, activities, questions, and discussions this book raises.
Technology impacts all grade levels and subject areas, as well as students’ lives outside of the classroom, often ways that perpetuate harm and systems of oppression. These are absolutely the questions our students need to be asking and examining.
Find Dr. Mattson on Twitter for more.
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