1.1. Defining ethics and ethical choice

Rhodes (1986, p. 21) defined ethics as “the systematic exploration of questions about how we should act in relation to others”. A related concept to this is ethical sensitivity, which refers to the conscience of an individual (and by extension that of an organization) whose actions may affect the welfare of others (Bebeau, Rest & Yamoor, 1985). In this context, ethics involve: (1) determining whether the technological options directly or indirectly affect another person negatively; (2) developing an ideal plan of action; (3) identifying the important values associated with each situation; and (4) implementing a solution or specific plan of action that will be monitored and evaluated (Rest, 1982).

Jonas (1995) suggested that, regardless of the field or specialty, responsibility should be the guiding principle of technological actions. Every one of us should modulate our use of technology by taking into account that: (1) personal responsibility goes beyond formal and legal responsibility and is linked to other values and moral principles; (2) we are responsible for our actions and the consequences of our actions; and (3) before acting, we should always anticipate and predict the effects of our actions (Jonas, 1995).

University education is not exempt from these issues. For example, would selling data on students enrolled on a MOOC to potential employers by the MOOC providers be an ethically appropriate decision? Some important MOOC providers are actually considering this option as an income-generation strategy (despite the rhetoric that MOOCs are essentially free). This is one example of an ethical question whose responses lie within the “gray zone”. This gray zone is the normal ethical context since real ethical implications are scattered along an ethical context continuum. If MOOC providers obtain the informed consent of their students to sell student data to potential employers, does this eliminate the potential harm to students and, if so, is it ethically correct? Traditionally, open universities were created to expand access to higher education to individuals who historically were unable to attend. Will students be obliged to choose to enroll in open university courses even though their university leads them to failure? Is this ethically correct (Kelly & Mills, 2007)?

1.2. Ethical choices and the Ethical Context Continuum (ECC)

One of our first objectives is to examine the ethical options existing in the education sector that are related to innovation and the use of digital technologies. Figure 1 illustrates the conceptual focus for this definition of ethical choices.

Figure 1 suggests that ethical choices occur along an ethical context continuum (ECC) and are inherently influenced by the social and cultural norms prevalent where they occur and by the values people hold in a society or culture. It is people – the agents of technology in any of their guises (producers, managers, receivers or users) – who display behaviors that are either exemplary and exemplifying or reprehensible, irresponsible or illicit. People’s ability to analyze, reflect, and constantly ask themselves questions, together with their imagination, ingenuity and creativity – not to mention their curiosity, attitude and will – drive them into action both individually and collectively. Also, when ethical concerns arise, they are not black and white but appear along the ECC. If we bear in mind the key variable in our definition of ethics (the perception of harm done to third parties), the ECC enables an evaluation of the situation, issue or question that identifies whether that situation, issue or question is perceived as being potentially harmful to others, neutral, or beneficial to others. The ECC recognizes that the consistency of these issues with culture and normative values contributes to the way in which society responds in its choices and ethical points of view.

2.1. Factors

The adoption and use of ICTs around the world are now ubiquitous (Marginson, 2009, 2010; Olcott, 2009, 2012). As well as these transformations we are also witnessing an accelerated change that is creating both new challenges and new opportunities for educators along the ECC. The context is expanding at the same time that a series of emerging factors are generating potential ethical problems among educators. Below we describe these emerging factors.

Globalization may be defined as the worldwide flow of people, technology, economics, ideas, knowledge and culture. Internationalization, due to its focus on the relationships between nations, people and cultures (Knight, 2005), may be taken to be a component of globalization. Globalization is obliging education leaders to redefine the international dimensions of their institutions. It is also expanding the issues located along the ethical context continuum and presenting new questions and situations for educators.

Digitization, which is characterized by rapid advances in communication technologies, is producing a rapid and efficient exchange of knowledge and information that can take place anywhere and anytime. This extension of the cybernetic highway involves a greater level of complexity through social institutions in the political, economic, social, cultural and educational spheres. Differing approaches in business, education, commerce, and governmental relations require new dimensions in both the practical and ethical contexts.

Competition is intensifying and new business agents with different roles, missions and strategies are entering the education sector in search of financial gain.

Public-private partnerships are increasing in direct response to this new global market and to the Open Content Movement (OERs and MOOCs, etc.). The acceptance of knowledge as a worldwide public good that should be easily and freely accessible to all is gaining impetus.

The quality of education (especially in e-learning) is being questioned due to the massive influx of new providers. National regulatory agencies and accreditation bodies are supervising the “qualifications factories” and educational practices of these providers.

All the above factors have helped to shape an educational panorama that creates both opportunities and challenges along the ECC. Our traditional values, attitudes and ethical perceptions are constantly being challenged and we are obliged to question our traditional values and beliefs on education. The incursion of ICTs into education therefore involves new ethical challenges, new questions and new issues.

2.2. Challenges

The challenges outlined below affect people both individually and collectively and range from digital identity and reputation to the critical use of information, ICT-related abuse and online security and privacy.

Digital identity is defined as “information related to a person that is available on the internet (personal data, images, files, news, comments and so on), setting out a personal description at the digital level” (INTECO, 2012, p. 5). Not only does this trail of information configure the digital identity of a person, group or organization but it also enables others to use that information to construct a shared social opinion of others and build someone’s reputation.

The boundaries between human beings’ real and digital spaces: thresholds and invasions. Lévy (1999) analyzed how transfer between the actual (real) and the virtual (online) is produced, describing it as a transformation from one way of being to another. According to Lévy (1999), the virtual does not imply falseness, illusion or fiction but a new way of being that fosters creative processes beyond what is allowed by physical presentiality.

Online security (of an individual, a group, an organization or an administration) becomes a challenge that may determine the stability and smooth operation of the system itself. Although a greater level of sensitivity and concern for the secure use of the Internet are being observed, a lack of knowledge, information and care on the part of users makes them vulnerable to risks ranging from data loss to theft of digital identity. Training programs are needed in order to reverse this situation and promote good habits regarding the use of technology and the networks.

Online bullying both inside and outside the school context has, via technology, discovered new forms of attack that transcend the school environment and enable the privacy of the bullied child or youth to be constantly invaded. Whether receivers or perpetrators, schoolchildren are victims of various forms of online bullying (including cyberbullying, sexting, trolling, and happy slapping) that go beyond the school context and disturb their psychological and personal development (Patchin & Hinduja, 2006).

Use and abuse of ICTs in school and family contexts. Though they may not reach the level of techno-addiction, some people develop behaviors that reflect an anomalous and excessive use of technology (Charlton & Danforth, 2007). The non-self-regulated use of technology can affect and condition personal relationships and interactions, especially those of young people who need to feel permanently connected to the Internet (Cuesta & Gaspar, 2013) or fear being disconnected from their peers (Przybylski, Murayama, Dehaan & Gladwell, 2013).

Judicious and reasonable consumption and use of technology. In response to the excessive use of technology, proposals have been made to provide education that promotes healthful habits with regard to the amount of time one should spend using technology. With this approach, it is the users themselves who should regulate and self-manage their access to technologies efficiently. Seen from another perspective, this judicious use of technology is related to media literacy, which derives from the convergence on the Internet of all traditional means of communication.

Plagiarism in education. Using the ideas, words and works of others as if they were one’s own is recognized in academic environments as academic plagiarism. However, plagiarism is not always intentional or malicious. Sometimes it is done unwittingly and is caused by a lack of prior training. Agud (2014) states that some university students admit committing plagiarism and other forms of academic fraud and warns against such malpractices since they can be the prelude to fraudulent practices during the professional careers of those involved.

Intellectual property in the digital context. The COIT (2014) report corroborated that the inrush of digital technology has enabled access to the storage, recording, reproduction and dissemination of content on a massive scale, thereby making it difficult to dovetail copyright and the commercial exploitation of digital works and productions. Created in response to the traditional form of commercial protection via copyright, which protects financial benefit, the proliferation of online copyleft licenses for digital works (especially Creative Commons) highlights the tension between the commercial and the social views regarding the use and exploitation of the Internet.

Dissemination of information and the sharing of knowledge on the Internet. Universal dissemination of information does not guarantee its quality or veracity. However, it does help to produce more aware and autonomous individuals and make it difficult for governments, economic powerhouses and media conglomerates to act with impunity. On the Internet the unidirectional communications model of traditional media has given way to more open and participative models in which individuals, acting anonymously and altruistically on an endless range of environments and networks, share information and knowledge with others, thus allowing for collaboration and the collective construction of knowledge.

2.3. Recommendations

The report by the European Group on Ethics (EGE) on the Ethics of Information and Communication Technologies (Salvi, 2012) aimed to provide a point of reference for the Digital Agenda for Europe, the EU’s strategic plan to enable digital technologies (including the Internet) to help achieve sustainable economic growth. The plan was drawn up in response to the need to safeguard the EU’s fundamental values, which are: (1) respect for human dignity; (2) respect for freedom; (3) respect for democracy, citizenship and participation; (4) respect for privacy; (5) respect of autonomy and informed consent; (6) justice; and (7) solidarity (Salvi, 2012, p. 60). These values guide both the policies of the EU in general and those pertaining to its Digital Agenda.

The EGE report highlights the importance of responsibility and individual conscience (Dratwa, 2014) and determines the need for more education and greater public awareness in general. Individuals should be equipped with the tools they need to: (1) protect their data and privacy; (2) be alert, aware and informed; and (3) be conscious of the consequences when signing exemptions of privacy or sharing their data. Therefore, education must also enter into a broad social dialogue on the implications of new technologies for privacy, autonomy and liberty. Education must promote greater knowledge and reflection with regard to the practical and moral dimensions of these aspects in every curriculum in the EU.

2.4. Strengths

Catalonia has presented successful, consolidated experiences and initiatives that help to narrow the digital divide. One of these successful and valuable initiatives is the Xarxa Òmnia (Òmnia network) (http://xarxa-omnia.org), which was set up by the Generalitat de Catalunya (autonomous government of Catalonia) in 1999 and currently contains over a hundred Òmnia points distributed across Catalonia. Each of these points is a telecenter that promotes technology-based learning methods, the social integration of individuals who are at risk of social exclusion, and online community services.

The Mobile World Capital Barcelona Foundation (http://mobileworldcapital.com), in alignment with the global and European agenda, believes that mobile technologies are an opportunity for change in areas such as mHealth, mEducation and mSmartCities. Since 2013, mSchools has gathered public and private institutions to promote mobile education, opening up new forms of teaching and learning that improve performance and employability. mSchools helps students to acquire important new digital competences and prepare them for the world of today. mSchools Mobile4all, an initiative designed to narrow the digital divide, promotes accessibility to mobile devices for students with disabilities and their families.

Internet Segura (http://www.internetsegura.cat/index.php), another impact experience for children and youngsters, is a component of the Safer Internet program of the European Commission. In Catalonia the organization responsible for this initiative, which enjoys the participation of the Mossos d’Esquadra (the Catalan regional police force), is CESICAT (https://www.cesicat.cat/). The main objectives are to: (a) promote the safe and responsible use of the Internet, devices and applications and prevent harmful contact, behaviors and contents; and (b) make resources and materials available for children, families and teachers. In 2013, 3,547 experts disseminated Internet Segura to 109,568 participants at teaching centers throughout Catalonia (Mossos d’Esquadra, 2014), which illustrates the intense level of prevention conducted.

The autonomous government of Catalonia also makes available (to every agent of education) numerous digital repositories of educational resources, including: CREA (http://www.edu365.cat/crea/), which comprises a selection of web 2.0 tools to promote multimedia communication, collaborative work, and the completion of projects; Alexandria (http://alexandria.xtec.cat/), a web service for distributing educational materials and promoting the intensive use of digital technologies; and Edu3.cat (http://www.edu3.cat/), a pioneering education portal for radio and television that is now a reference in Europe and that comprises an endless supply of audiovisual resources for teachers and other education professionals.