Axis 6. Ethical challenges of ICT

For more than three decades, the incorporation of information and communication technologies (ICT) in educational contexts has been justified by:

• The need to adapt teaching to the demands of contemporary society, called knowledge society or information society.
• The need to prepare students in the face of new digital cultural mediums.
• The increase and improvement of the quality of teaching and learning processes.
• The innovation of teaching methods and materials, among others.

However, the integration of ICT to produce significant changes in the educational context requires much more than a good technological infrastructure and training aimed at developing technical skills in the use of specific software or hardware. The pedagogical value of ICT depends on the role it is assigned and the manner in which it is utilised within a specific educational context. In this regard:

“[…] the development of interpretation frameworks, thinking tools that allow the student to contrast and situate the information and accumulated knowledge, recognize the codes and languages of the different types of knowledge and learn to use them to express their understandings and arguments, make ethical judgments and continue to learn throughout their lives, is presented as one of the fundamental challenges of a formal education that does not shy away the problems of its time.”

(Sancho, 1998, p. 42)

Therefore, it is necessary to articulate integrated and complex visions that are free from technical reductionism, that take into account the set of dimensions that interact in the teaching and learning processes, and that help to promote an ethical reflection about the meaning of education in the technological society and the meaning of technology in education.

As Yanes & Area warn:

“The introduction of new information technologies in a context of instrumental rationality will make them instruments of alienation rather instruments of liberation and human emancipation for teachers and students.”

(Yanes & Area, 1998, p. 28)

The response that teachers must articulate to the ethical challenges posed by ICTs is mentioned by Hargreaves (2003), who calls for teachers to be catalysts and counterpoints to the challenges of today’s society. In their role as catalysts, teachers must:

• Encourage deep cognitive learning, creativity and inventiveness among students.
• Foster research, networking and teamwork, and ongoing professional training.
• Promote problem-solving, risk taking, trust in the collaborative process and the ability to face permanent change.

As a counterpoint, teachers must be concerned, at the same time, with character and results; with emotional learning and cognitive learning; with personal and professional development and professional learning; with group life and group work; with preserving continuity and safety; and with promoting risk and change. In short, being a teacher means practising a profession that not only provides values, but, with or without the use of ICT, must also be guided by values in their daily practice.