Qualitative research has been strongly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the possibilities that Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technologies such as Skype, WhatsApp, and Zoom offer to qualitative scholars. Based on the experience of using such technologies to collect qualitative data for our PhD studies, we present how we dealt…

This article deliberates concepts of Internet ethics from the perspectives of user and providers. It discusses concerns of the users from different disciplines. It addresses issues and corresponding regulations of service providers. It considers matters of privacy. The culmination is an exercise for students that incorporates usage of the Internet…

As both the frequency and the severity of network breaches have increased in recent years, it is essential that cybersecurity is incorporated into the core of business operations. Evidence from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012) indicates that there is, and will continue to be, a severe shortage of cybersecurity…

Courses in Information Technology Ethics are often designed as discussion-intensive courses where case studies are introduced and evaluated using ethical theories. Although many of the case studies directly apply to our students' online lives, the stories can sometimes seem too far removed from their own experiences. While we read the news…

The reality of students' cyber lives has thrust upon educators a new approach: creating character education programs tuned to digital youth that are proactive and aggressive. This will help integrate students' digital activities within the context of the communities in which they live, both local and digital. The digital age beckons a new era of…

It is tempting to assume that we know what our parents, our community, and our employees want from our schools. It is comforting to think that we know what they support. It is also dangerous. This article encourages school systems to let go of assumptions and to start asking the important questions that will lead school boards and administrators…

This article describes The Onion Router (TOR). It is a freely available, open-source program developed by the U.S. Navy about a decade ago. A browser plug-in, it thwarts online traffic analysis and related forms of Internet surveillance by sending your data packets through different routers around the world. As each packet moves from one router to…

Notes that research on the use of networked information resources, like any kind of social science involving the study of human subjects, raises ethical questions. The tension between traditional research guidelines and new technologies is discussed; public/private distinctions and informed consent are addressed; and possible solutions are…

Discusses netiquette, which refers to etiquette on computer networks. Highlights include ethical or moral issues as well as standards of politeness; specific examples and suggestions; netiquette rules for advertising; influence of online service providers, including acceptable use policies; influence of employers; and influence of governments.…

An overview of responses from a number of higher education associations (ACE, EDUCOM and NASULGC, and Cornell University) to the controversial issues that have arisen from the 1988 Internet "worm" are presented. Preliminary results from a CAUSE survey of higher education institutions are discussed. (Author/MLW)

Discusses rules of etiquette for communicating via computer networks, including conversing as politely as you would face-to-face; ethical behavior; becoming familiar with the domain that you are in; rules for discussion groups; quality of writing; sharing appropriate knowledge; and respecting individuals' privacy. (LRW)

This paper discusses the process for developing a campus-wide computer ethics policy at Illinois Wesleyan University. As a part of a campus-wide computerization planning effort, the university realized it would be necessary to set in place rules of conduct, methods of monitoring conduct, and penalties for transgressions of these policies. The need…

Discusses intelligent software agents, or knowledge robots (knowbots), and the impact they have on the Internet. Topics addressed include ethical dilemmas; problems created by rapid growth on the Internet; new technologies that are amplifying growth; and a shift to a market economy and resulting costs. (LRW)

The purpose of this article is to describe a capstone course in undergraduate student geographical research in which GIS and other geospatial tools were used to teach undergraduate students basic geographical principles. The course uses the "cooperative learning" pedagogical approach to address one of a number of client-supplied research projects,…

Discussion of elementary and secondary school classrooms linking with the Internet focuses on policies needed for successful use of the network. A project conducted at Northwestern University (Illinois) for reconceptualizing high school science education is described, and development of a network use policy is examined. (LRW)