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Illustrates the importance of teaching students about rights and responsibilities involved in online communications

Eventhough, this article is from 1998 it still presents ethical issues that are relevant. I wish schools start teaching classes on Internet ethics, copyright and online bullying early on. These question are going to be very critical to education and the future of citizenship. I think about how information is shared on Twitter in the current presidential election cycle and how the general public seem to not be bothered with checking facts. We have to work even harder to teach critical thinking and how to sort opinion for verifiable facts.

Great point about teaching critical thinking and the idea that taking away access to the internet is not an effective way to teach them to recognize the consequences of their actions. Often, I know in my classroom it is much easier to just take away the electronic devices than taking the time to stress the importance of ethical behavior online or offline.

How teenagers weigh perceived risks versus benefits in what they reveal online. Many teenagers supply false information in order to protect their identity which makes online advertising less effective towards them. Also, study indicates that how savvy a teen is in regards to thinking critically about the intent of advertisements and the strategies companies use offline the more they were able to identify the same tactics online.

Steven Novella discusses a survey of how younger people reason and evaluate online information sources. This Stanford University study looked at 7,804 student responses across 12 states, divided among middle school, high school, and college students. The goal of the study was to see if these students could distinguish reliable sources of information from fake or unreliable sources.

Macleod, B. H., Haywood, J., & Woodgate, A. (2015). Emerging patterns in MOOCs: Learners, course designs and directions. TechTrends, 59(1), 56-63. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.library.esc.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=452639d7-274a-43d4-9d76-6f20356bc6e1%40sessionmgr115&hid=111 Abstract "Engagement with Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) at the University of Edinburgh has emerged from its strategic priorities to explore and innovate in the area of online and technologically supported approaches to teaching and learning. This paper provides an account of analysis aimed at understanding who Edinburgh MOOC learners are, who elects to participate and the aspirations of that population, and the place that the MOOC will occupy in the University's online learning ecology. The analysis addresses a number of predictions that have been made about MOOCs since 2012, including their use for providing educational opportunities to the disadvantaged; global uptake of online learning; growth of an 'educational imperialism'; and the claim that 'MOOCs are for male geeks', and concludes with some observations about the University of Edinburgh's future plans in this space." (p.56) This is a peer reviewed academic article from TechTrends by University of Edinburgh. It analyzes the university's experience with MOOC learners after delivering 6 MOOCs on the Coursera platform, twice each. It presents analysis from 150K questionnaire respondents reflecting 600,000 enrolled learners. Some comparisons are made between the Coursera learners with newer platforms namely FutureLearn (UK) and Rwaq, a Saudi Arabian platform in Arabic. The sample of 20% of MOOC learners is considered representative of Coursera learners generally. Good graphics show results of an