Promoting Ethical Literacy in Youth - ALA 2011

Promoting Ethical Literacy in Youth
How Librarians Can Partner with Parents and Teachers
Michael Zimmer, PhD
Assistant Professor, School of Information Studies
Co-Director, Center for Information Policy Research
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
www.MichaelZimmer.org

Promoting Ethical Literacy
Ethical dilemmas facing youth
Role of literacy standards & codes
Opportunities for new forms of education & intervention
Challenges ahead
Michael Zimmer | ALA Annual 2011

Ethical Dilemmas
Traditional ethical dilemmas abound for today’s youth
“I need a shortcut to complete an assignment”
“Defend my awkward classmate, or join the bullying?”
“Spreading a rumor, or a secret, about a friend”
“Do I steal the CD?”
“Sneak a peek at the adult magazine?”
What happens when we introduce digitally-networked technologies…

Digital Ethical Dilemmas
“I need a shortcut to complete an assignment”
Use of Sparknotes
Essays-for-sale websites
Cut-paste from online sources
Wikipedia
Renewed ethical concerns
Plagiarism, responsibility
Trust & bias of information sources
User-generated content, collaboration

“Defend my awkward classmate, or join the bullying?”
Much easier to engage in bullying via instant message, texting, Facebook walls
Things can be said via technology that you wouldn’t F2F
Doesn’t stop once you leave the playground; doesn’t disappear as time passes
Anonymity
Friendship
Teasing vs. Harm

“Spreading a rumor, or secret, about a friend”
Spread faster, farther with Facebook or MySpace
Access to more sensitive information – and images
Not always intentional
Harder to “take back”
Anonymity
Friendship & sharing
Gossip

“Do I steal the CD?”
Greater opportunities to obtain access to content without paying or authorization
P2P downloading of music
Copyright-protected content on BitTorrent
“Breaking” encryption or DRM to access & share
Login/Password sharing
Theft & Ownership
Intellectual Property & Fair Use
Information Access vs. Control

“Sneak a peek at the adult magazine?”
Greater opportunities to view restricted material, or engage in risky behavior online
Online pornography
Webcam chat, sexting
Fear of online predators
Playfulness & exploration vs. taboo
Freedom of expression
Trust vs. surveillance

New twists and turns on traditional ethical concerns
Cheating & plagiarism
Bias and trust in information sources
Property, theft
Friendship, teasing, gossip
Sharing, privacy, and surveillance
Some of these addressed in existing standards & codes, others need different approaches to achieve literacy

Literacy Standards: ACRL
#3: The information literate student evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system
#5: The information literate student understands many of the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information and accesses and uses information ethically and legally
Helps address bias, plagiarism, copyright, netiquette
But vague, and is college too late?

Literacy Standards: AASL 21st
#1: Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge
Make sense of information gathered from diverse sources by identifying misconceptions, main and supporting ideas, conflicting information, and point of view or bias.
Maintain a critical stance by questioning the validity and accuracy of all information.
Respect copyright/ intellectual property rights of creators and producers.
Follow ethical and legal guidelines in gathering and using information.
Helps address bias, copyright, ethics broadly

Literacy Standards: AASL 21st
#3: Share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society.
Use information and technology ethically and responsibly.
Show social responsibility…
Use information and knowledge in the service of democratic values
Respect the principles of intellectual freedom
Helps support collaboration, responsibility, freedom of expression

Ethical Codes: ALA
II: We uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and resist all efforts to censor library resources
III: We protect each library user's right to privacy and confidentiality with respect to information sought or received and resources consulted, borrowed, acquired or transmitted.
IV: We respect intellectual property rights and advocate balance between the interests of information users and rights holders.
Helps teach privacy, freedom of expression, property rights

Where are we?
We have literacy standards at multiple educational levels that touch on many of the core ethical concerns
Mostly concerned with plagiarism, copyright, bias
We have professional codes and statements of rights that touch on additional ethical concerns
Address privacy, intellectual freedom, respect
But are institutionalized mentions of ethical issues sufficient for reaching youth & attaining literacy?

New Forms of Literacy Education
Talking and listening to youth
Discover their unique perspectives on privacy, property, information sharing & exchange
Need to shape ethical lessons & examples accordingly
Ensure ethics are integrated into all literacy-related educational activities
Specifically address ethical questions related to each learning outcome
Add ethical components to computer literacy courses, information literacy sessions, special projects

New Forms of Literacy Education
Reach youth through information technology
Engage the technology, don’t build fear of it
Create ways to teach ethics through the active use of Facebook, Wikipedia
Turn all information interactions into “ethical teaching moments”
Game nights could include discussion of cheating
YouTube video contests could address copyright
Searching Google can present lessons on bias, free speech, censorship

Challenges Ahead
Need to ensure parents & librarians obtain necessary ethical training themselves
Need to foreground ethics and make it interesting without nagging, preaching
Need to trust youth, and give them the tools to make good ethical decisions
None of this is easy…

Promoting Ethical Literacy in Youth
How Librarians Can Partner with Parents and Teachers
Michael Zimmer, PhD
Assistant Professor, School of Information Studies
Co-Director, Center for Information Policy Research
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
www.MichaelZimmer.org

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Promoting Ethical Literacy in Youth - ALA 2011

by Michael Zimmer on Jun 26, 2011

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