Yes and no. While there are certainly many instances where students are using technology appropriately, there are still time when they are not. I think the two largest issues are stealing and cheating. Students share academic work, take tests for each other, and steal copyrighted material. While some of this activity may be done in innocent ignorance, I have to believe that the large majority of this illegal activity is knowingly done by students. It is our job as educators to teach them legal from illegal, and ethical from unethical. We also must model what we teach.
Are students infringing on others’ rights by the way they use technology?
Sometimes yes. I thing largely in this context of digital law, we are talking about the infringement of intellectual property rights. As stated above, this is sometimes unintentional, but is our job to teach them the ends and outs of digital law so that they can be informed citizens, and act appropriately as such.
Should students using digital technologies be accountable for how they use digital technologies?
Yes. However, I believe that we must take a redemptive and educational approach. We need to take these opportunities of holding students accountable to teach them the accepted norms of use. Laws exist to keep people accountable to doing the right thing in a society. Digital laws are no different. Unfortunately, online digital law has not caught up to the explosive growth in technology and the internet. It has become increasing difficult to hold students accountable, but we must persist in our efforts to do so. Students, as well as society in general, stand to benefit from that accountability.
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