The Internet is becoming more and more a part of the educational system, at all levels of academia. Courses regularly use the Internet as a resource and a medium for information exchange. Distance learning via the web is becoming commonplace. However, as the rapid pace of technological change pushes us further along the information highway, it is necessary and relevant to discuss the ethical concerns that these technologies can create. This paper utilizes a previous framework to raise several areas of ethical concern regarding the use of the Internet in academia: property rights, privacy, accessibility, accuracy, and the impact on the learning process. It is not the place of this paper to give answers to the issues raised, but to make the reader aware of the dilemmas present so that defensible and rational policies may be developed before problems occur.
展开▼
