In the US, ethically (and possibly legally) there is a problem if an instructor makes this mandatory and/or does not provide an alternative for those who do not want to make their work or their name public. This is something we have discussed at my faculty and with university representatives. It relates to compliance with the US Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) as it affects and interacts with new ways of having students contribute to class (blogs, wikis, web pages, etc.). Basically, some people need to keep their identity private, and the universities accommodate that through various means. Instructors need to bear these regulations in mind as well as their ethical responsibilities to students when asking for public postings. /Caroline ---- Original message ----
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2007 22:44:32 -0500 From: Barry Wellman <wellman@chass.utoronto.ca> Subject: [Air-l] is this ethical? To: aoir list <air-l@aoir.org>
I have Google Alert set to identify anything online that mentions my name. (I want to know who is talking about me and perhaps learn from their comments.)
Recently, I have been disturbed because Google Alert keeps popping up Blogspot entries that clearly come from class blog entries.
While I am happy that folks are reading my stuff, I am aghast that their entries are on the web for all to read. (Altho I smile that they say nice things.)
I know that I don't post my students' term papers on the web [I only give 'em to Turnitin;-)], but this strikes me as an even greater invasion of the students' privacy. Shouldn't such within-class stuff be password protected?
I'm putting one innocuous example up below my .sig, but I've encountered at least four others.
Barry Wellman _____________________________________________________________________
Barry Wellman S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology NetLab Director Centre for Urban & Community Studies University of Toronto 455 Spadina Avenue Toronto Canada M5S 2G8 fax:+1-416-978-7162 wellman at chass.utoronto.ca http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman for fun: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php _____________________________________________________________________
3) What was "Netville" in the suburbs of Toronto? Why's it important in relation to the paradox argument?
This was written buy our good friend Barry wellman again ( jokes) . The Netville in the suburbs was looking at the internet as a part of how it structures the community life if it hinders and brings people closer together within the community environment.
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman/publications/neighboring/ neighboring_netville.pdf
It looks at how the internet is effecting community life whereby it is leading people away from the enclosures of the community social life by now engaging on the internet for their social activity or on the other hand is this use of the internet bringing the community closer together as a whole.
With relation to the paradox this is where the argument fell that the influence of the internet has decreased the social interaction within the community. This study looks at how the internet supports weaker ties within the community helps mend bridges and bring the community closer together but still looking it as a context rather than the paradox by stating the negative side.
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---------------------------------------- Caroline Haythornthwaite Associate Professor Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 501 East Daniel St., Champaign IL 61820