As an educator, graduate student, and technology consultant, I’ve spent a great deal of time online in the past 12 years. Internet safety issues have certainly evolved during this time, and despite my best efforts, I have fallen victim to a few viruses. Even though I run updated firewall, anti-virus, and spyware software on my machine, my laptop acquired a virus two months ago. I spent countless hours trying to rid my machine of the virus and all of the issues associated with it. I finally gave in, and handed my laptop over to the Geek Squad. After totally wiping my hard drive clean, I was back in business. Frustrated and lighter in my wallet, I began the process of reloading software and files to my computer.

I currently work as a faculty technology consultant. Therefore, finding myself in a position as a helpless victim of a computer virus was a bit humiliating to say the least. I’m always careful about what I download or access from the Internet. I keep my security software up-to-date, and try to be careful with passwords and personal information. I’m still not sure how I acquired such a malicious virus. My point is you can never do too much to protect yourself against online threats.

I am active on several social media sites including Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and Diigo. I try to keep my personal information limited on sites that are open to the public such as my Twitter account. In reality though, just performing a Google search on my name can come really close to providing my life story. Anyone in the world can locate my address, get a map to my house, locate where I work…all in probably less than 10 minutes via Internet resources. A great deal of my information is made available through public online sources which I have no control over. However, I can control the information I choose to personally share online. I shop only on sites that I know have security measures in place to protect my personal and financial information. I also change my passwords and protect my profiles on specific sites as necessary.

As a graduate student, I conduct a great deal of online research and utilize many Internet resources in my work. I commit myself to ensuring that my sources are noted and properly cited. This not only applies to printed materials, but any multimedia sources I use as well. The University of Memphis does a sound job of presenting an acceptable use of information technology resources policy for both students and faculty members. The acceptable use policy includes links and examples to support the policies set forth. This information can be viewed at: http://policies.memphis.edu/UM1535.htm.

In my role as an Academic Technology Consultant for the University of Memphis, I have served on the Academic Integrity Task Force and also as the lead TurnItIn administrator for the campus. TurnItIn is anti-plagiarism software which allows instructors to check students’ work against a large database of archived internet information, student papers, and various other electronic resources. I believe when TurnItIn was first introduced on our campus that it was mainly viewed as a policing tool. In the four years that we have used TurnItIn, I believe it has evolved from mostly being used as a policing tool to now being used as a teaching tool. Instructors are increasingly allowing students to submit drafts and receive reports back that allow them to edit and revise their papers before submitting the final version. You can see more information regarding our campus use of TurnItIn at: http://www.webjam.com/alcelearning/turnitin_academic_integrity.

What will my strategies be for maintaining online ethics and safety in my future teaching endeavors? I think the most important strategy is to be a role model for my students. I should expect the same of myself as I do my students in regards to online ethics and safety practices. Just as Dr. Bill Taylor did in his letter to his students, I will also continue to clearly outline my expectations for my students beginning with the first day of class. New online threats will also continue to develop on nearly a daily basis. Therefore, it will be important to stay up-to-date on these threats as well as keeping computer security software updated. An instructor’s online security and ethics policy should be reviewed and revised on a consistent basis in order to remain current with the ever changing online and educational environment.