Running head: ETHICAL TECHNOLOGY LEADER

Ethical Technology Leader James Call University of Tennessee Knoxville

Word Count: 2483 June 26, 2013

ETHICAL TECHNOLOGY LEADER Ethical Technology Leader The views expressed in this paper are not the views of the United States military, simply my interpretation of the Air Force Core Values and the military tradition.

The military has always been at the forefront of instructional technology, tracing its roots in education to World War II and the mass training of millions of soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. Filmstrips and training videos have given way to the latest in computer based trainings and real world simulators. Blackboards and briefing rooms have been replaced by webcasts and personal learning environments. As instructors and educators in the Air Force today, we uphold our tradition of innovation and strive to maintain a level of professionalism and ethical behavior that has become a trademark of our organization. Part of that tradition includes understanding what ethics are and how they apply to instructional technology. Herman Tavani describes professional ethics as a field of applied ethics concerned with moral issues that affect computer professionals (which in this case deals with the use of technology in the profession of instructing (Tavani, 2011, p. 136)). In the field of instruction technology and design, the Association of Education and Communications and Technology (AECT) has set forth a Code of Professional Ethics which professionals can use as a set of guidelines for professional and ethical behavior. In the Air Force, there is also a code which every Airman must live by called the Core Values. This paper will serve to merge the two in order to describe how I will stay committed to designing, developing, and supporting learning environments that are safe, ethical, and accessible for all learners. The Core Values of the Air Force are short but to the point. All Airmen recite a phrase to constantly remind each other of these values, Integrity, service before self, and excellence in all we do. The Merriam-Webster Online defines integrity as firm adherence to a code of

ETHICAL TECHNOLOGY LEADER especially moral or artistic values (Merriam-Webster, 2013). To each Airman the word means to always do what is right even when no one is watching. Service before self implies giving full commitment to the organization or to the team. Commitments in life can be difficult to balance, but service must come first before family or personal motivations. Family is extremely important, but all Airmen must trust that their brothers and sisters in arms will ensure the safety and security of their families in their absence. These values or principles fit well with the theory of act deontology. As Travani described in Ethics and Technology, David Ross argued that we must make decisions every day that can affect our coworkers and we must first turn to prima facie duties (duties that are selfevident to have the highest priority) in order to make decisions that adhere to our values. These are the core values. When two duties conflict we must use rational intuitionism to decide which

is a higher ranking obligation (Tavani, 2011). In the Air Force, you may have a moral obligation to return home from a deployment to visit a sick family member but you cannot return home because you are obligated to your service before yourself. The last Core Value, Excellence in all we do is meant to remind all Airmen that they are part of a team and that their efforts directly affect the team. As soon as an individual decides to give less than the effort he/she is capable of, the team as a whole weakens, and lives could even be lost as a result. The AECT Code of Professional Ethics has three sections that align very well with the Core Values. Section 1 concerns Commitment to the Individual, Section 2 describes the professionals Commitment to Society, and Section 3 provides guidelines for maintaining a Commitment to the Profession (AECT, 2013). The following sections of this paper will demonstrate how professional educators and instructional technologists in the Air Force apply

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the themes of Integrity, Service Before Self, and finally Excellence in All We Do to the code of the AECT. Integrity Commitment to the Individual Professionals in the field of instructional technology must protect the rights of individuals. Discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, race, religious background, or disability must not be tolerated. The AECT code insists that all individuals should be given access to the pursuit of learning, ability to participate in any appropriate program, and that different viewpoints should always be considered. The privacy, safety, and security of individuals is paramount and sound professional use of technology in education should ensure this (AECT, 2013). Individuals of all backgrounds and cultures must be given a chance to succeed. In the Air Force, integrity means having sound morals and respecting others and different viewpoints. The Air Force has been a multicultural organization since its creation and its commitment to the individual has been a deciding factor in its success. Commitment to Society The instructional technology professionals commitment to society is to be honest and forthcoming about educational matters and to truthfully represent his/her resume. This also involves taking precautions to not represent personal views as organizational views. Last, professionals must be open and honest with stakeholders about which services can be provided by the organization and make clear their intentions to conduct fair and equitable practices (AECT, 2013).

ETHICAL TECHNOLOGY LEADER Integrity is integral to the commitment to society. The Air Force must remain honest with the American people and serve them with the values that our nation holds dear. Trust is built between professionals in our field only by being honest and having strong

moral character. All Air Force members are trained to do the right thing even when no one is watching. Airmen do not misrepresent their capabilities while participating as a team. In the field of instructional technology, misrepresenting yourself or your capabilities could cause your organization to lose a contract or bring legal penalties against it. In the Air Force, it could result in the poor training of an airman and the ultimate destruction of a fighting units cohesiveness. Commitment to the Profession In our field, professionals have an obligation to protect the rights of other professionals and seek out diverse viewpoints. They also must not use power/influence, offer special treatment to affect the decisions of colleagues, or misrepresent work of other colleagues as their own - this includes the theft of intellectual property and the violation of copyright laws. Professionals also have the duty to report those in the field who dishonor these commitments to the profession (AECT, 2013). The Air Force has a similar view on the commitment to the profession. The Air Force Academy teaches cadets the following phrase that must guide their actions throughout their careers: I will not lie, cheat or steal, nor tolerate those who do. Using power or influence to impose your will on others constitutes cheating and violation of copyright laws is stealing. Sacrificing your integrity by falsely representing others work as your own constitutes lying. Service Before Self Commitment to the Individual

ETHICAL TECHNOLOGY LEADER The professional instructional technologist must endeavor to place the needs of the individual above their own. Personal motivations must not interfere with the idea of providing education opportunities to those who seek it regardless of gender, ethnicity, race, religious background, or disability. Educators must hold their profession in high regard and strive to provide safe educational work areas and promote sound professional practices in the use of technology in education. In our field the learner must come first and we must make decisions

that benefit his/her education as we balance our demands of friends, family, and personal desires (AECT, 2013). In the military all professionals live by the motto of No man left behind. If we do not sacrifice ourselves for a weakened individual then the entire team will be weakened. It will not matter in the end where the individual is from or what his/her social or economic background is. We will place our service before ourselves to ensure the success of the individual, in turn ensuring the success of the team. Commitment to Society Instructional technology professionals must not represent their views as those of the organization. This could damage the publics view of the field in general if the views did not align with normal, ethical statements or behavior. Another way to damage societys impression of our field is to use institutional or Associational privileges for private gain and to accept gratuities, gifts, or favors that might impair or appear to impair professional judgment, or offer any favor, service, or thing of value to obtain special advantage (AECT, 2013). Technologists must also take necessary measures to protect the environment from impacts of technology that they choose to use in their profession (AECT, 2013).

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According to our rules and regulations, Air Force members are not allowed to accept gifts or special favors to include unwarranted promotion. Placing yourself before your service to the Air Force will conclusively damage the image of yourself, your unit, and depending on the severity of the action could damage the image of the entire organization. In the past it has been made clear that certain military members used their access to classified information for personal and financial gain. While it served the individual to release documents and photographs, it severely threatened the national defense of the United States and its people. Air Force members will also not make public statements against our leadership or our organization unless it is to expose a wrongdoing and they have the legal right to do so. Instructional technologists also must not make statements meant to defame our field unless it is to report a breach of ethics. Last, Airmen always strive to protect the environment from unnecessary harm. In war it is difficult to guarantee that there will be no damage to the environment but by choosing targets wisely it can be minimized. As instructors and educators we use CDs, DVDs, and other instructional media to distribute training material to decrease the use of paper products. Training is also provided through computer based trainings (CBTs) to decrease the over distribution of those same instruction media formats. Excellence in All We Do Commitment to the Individual It is not always easy to perform at our best as professionals when we are ill or simply unmotivated but in our field the AECT code urges that we make efforts to encourage individuals to learn and to protect the rights and privacy of all individuals. It may be easier to gain access to an individuals information, for example, by circumventing proper channels, but this would

ETHICAL TECHNOLOGY LEADER compromise the integrity of systems designed to protect personal information of all learners (AECT, 2013). Instructors in the Air Force are very concerned with the privacy and security of each Airman. Proper channels for the flow of personal information about instructees would include Military Personnel Flight (MPF) Leadership or Air Education and Training Command (AETC)

staff. Just as it may be easier for technologists to gather information from other colleagues about students, Air Force instructors could obtain information from other instructors or instructees. It is more difficult and time consuming to follow proper protocol but the Core Value of Excellence guarantees individuals safekeeping. Instructional technologists must also make careful, calculated decisions about the selection of materials and equipment that will be used in educational work areas so that the health and safety of all individuals will be safeguarded. The selection process can be long and arduous but a strong work ethic will serve the technologist well and the result will be an environment free of hazards or faulty educational equipment (AECT, 2013). As military educators we struggle with the same time constraints and budget issues as others in our field, but we must not cut corners or choose equipment simply based on its availability or low cost. It may be tempting to bring teaching materials from home, but each training team must approve materials to make certain that all materials are proper and authorized. The authorization process takes time. However, the instructor will know with confidence that the protection of Airmen is the primary concern. Commitment to Society In Section 2 of the AECT Code of Professional Ethics, it is stated that professionals shall accurately represent facts about educational matters to the public and engage in fair practices

ETHICAL TECHNOLOGY LEADER when providing services to the profession. This notion again involves not cutting corners. In professional contracts, excellence means that each service that is described to the stakeholder should be provided in a timely and ethically sound way. Our profession will lose credibility to the public if we cannot uphold our obligations regardless of the limiting factors (AECT, 2013).

In the Air Force we have very rigid timelines in which we must train our Airmen. This is necessary to prevent backlogs in the training cycles, thus saving the public money by preventing wasted training opportunities. As instructors we are directly responsible for confirming each teaching team member is on time and ready for instruction and that each learner is present and motivated to learn. Commitment to the Profession Each instructional technology professional must strive continually to improve professional knowledge and skill and to make available to patrons and colleagues the benefit of that person's professional attainments (AECT, 2013). In the Air Force we refer to this practice as Best Practices. We share information about how each class can be improved with other instructors in order to provide instructees with the highest quality training. The team will share in the excellence and the organization will benefit as a whole. Earlier it was mentioned that all professionals in the field must use proper channels to conduct business, but the AECT code also states that credit should be given to those who provided work and ideas. Additionally, copyrighted material must not be violated or misused. A common mistake is to mass produce and distribute copyrighted material because it is less challenging than properly citing and reconstructing the material. Excellence in our daily work in the Air Force and in the technology field entails taking the extra time to advocate for those who have provided ideas that contribute to our success as an organization.

ETHICAL TECHNOLOGY LEADER Final Remarks It is the responsibility of every instructional technology professional, educator, and

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military member to ensure that they are abiding by a code of ethics. The AECT has provided an excellent resource for those in the field and the Air Force has delivered three Core Values to help each Airmen understand personal accountability to themselves and the organization. In the end all decisions will be left up to the individual, but it will not be for a lack of guidelines that mistakes are made or that teams fail. In my journey through the field of instruction technology and design, I will use all available resources and technology to reach all the learners that I possibly can because, I will not leave any Airmen behind. And when my military career comes to a close, I will continue to use the Core Values that I learned in the Air Force to guide my work as a professional instructional technologist.

(Leadership Central, 2013) How

will you apply aspects of these theories to your own motivation in graduate school? What strategies will you use when your motivation wanes? If you were going to pick one theory that you want to remember and use regularly, which would it be? And any other topic that has to do with your own motivation.

As I continue on in graduate school I will pay closer attention to what motivates me as a student. As I do in my career I will try to take courses or volunteer for projects that place an emphasis on the types of technology that educators use in the classroom and how to work with them because this really interests me. For research and for writing papers I will try to find motivation in the fact that I am learning how to better represent myself to my colleagues in the future as professionals write many white papers throughout their careers. When motivation wanes I will break the tasks that I must complete into small lists so that I do not overwhelm myself right away. I will try to make the best use of my time which I have not done a very good job with during this course. I will also always seek the help of my classmates so that they can help me with a topic that I am struggling with or so they can simply support me by saying they do not understand a topic either and we can seek understanding together helping to relieve frustration causing a lack of motivation. In my education and in my career, I have really taken a liking to the intrinsic/extrinsic theory. I want to make sure that the reasons I want to do certain things in my life are to make me happy

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and not simply to achieve a goal or check a box like getting promoted or getting my masters degree.

ETHICAL TECHNOLOGY LEADER References AECT. (2013). Code of Professional Ethics. Retrieved from http://aect.siteym.com/?page=code_of_professional

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Integrity (defined). (2013). Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/integrity Leadership Central. (2013, August 1). Expectancy Theory of Motivation. . Retrieved from http://www.leadership-central.com/expectancymotivation.html#axzz2alOciLDE Schunk, D. H., & Meece, J. L. (2014). Motivation in Education: Theory, Research, and Applications (4th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson Education, Inc. Tavani, H. T. (2011). Ethics and Technology (3rd ed.). U.S.: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. theory-of-