Keyword

Change in the educational system is a concept that must be thoroughly analyzed as it covers a wide range of aspects that impact the organizations in which they are implemented. According to Almog and Schechtman (2007), change can be defined as any significant difference in ideas, approaches, leaders, products, and technologies. Thus, change is a continuous activity of managerial positions in education. Successful change management requires first and foremost proper arrangement and preparation, and planned change is managed according to a clear and well-known strategy for its leaders and employees (Unger et al., 2011).

At the end of the twentieth century, Samuel (1996) suggested that the need for organizational change arises when a gap is created, a rather large implementation that cannot or should not be sealed by routine means; he added that changes do not occur under fixed and stable conditions but rather in response to values that threaten an organization’s functioning (schools are an example of an organization) in various aspects either in the present or in the foreseeable future. Alternatively, changes are a response to transformations of values that are interpreted as opportunities to improve an organization’s resilience and increase its achievements. Sarason (1995) claimed that any effort to bring a change that does not take into consideration an understanding of school culture will ultimately fail. Any change can be operated in the school if money is invested, but that is not enough. Investing money without understanding the school culture does not guarantee the success of such change. People, ideas, motivation, and resources are needed in order to create a significant change in an organization such as a school. The ideas should be translated into perceptions, lead people according to established guiding principles that transform them into action. For such a process to remain and to be maintained, change must become a part of the school’s language and tradition, so that it stems not only from the people, but is also assimilated into the spirit of the organization as a part of its identity, belonging, and main objective (Kfir, 1997). Moreover, Fox (1995) stated that the process of change is dynamic and has permanence as well as periodicity. For change to be successful, the conditions that allow it must be present, and if they do not exist, they must be created before the transition begins. Managing change is not a one-time action but rather a permanent action that occupies a significant part of the administrator’s day-to-day activities. In other words, a means (i.e., “how”) must be present such as an organizational backbone through which the change will be implemented and assimilated in practice in order to create a change (i.e., “what”).

In the twenty-first century, Cohen and Lechner (2011) established three main steps for a process of change to take place in the school:

  1. (i)

    First step: The stage of initiative for innovation and change. The initiative should come from the school administration or the teachers. A change originating from an external factor or one dictated “from above” is not an initiative.

  2. (ii)

    Second step: The implementation of change in a school depends on the type of change required (i.e., the implementation of technologies in teaching through the construction of “smart classrooms” equipped with interactive whiteboards). Teachers are the main actors of such change.

  3. (iii)

    Third step: Continuity. The school must maintain the change for a suitable and rather extended time because the effects of change begin to be reflected after a year or more. After the initial experience of such a change, the school will be able to consider its suitability and success and decide if proceeding with it is worthwhile.

Shamir-Inbal and Kelly (2011) showed that, when teachers are involved in implementing change, they can better cope with challenges and develop themselves professionally. For such involvement to be possible, the teacher must be surrounded by a learning environment, a supportive school, and a regional system. The acquisition of innovative pedagogical-technological knowledge requires systemic interventions and detailed planning of teacher-training activities in accordance with the school’s needs. Shamir-Inbal and Kelly (2011) addressed three aspects of systemic interventions for implementing a technological process into education:

  1. (i)

    The technological aspect: This refers to the number of computers in the school, their degree of integration, their availability to teachers and students, accessibility to the Internet, and availability of technical support for the teaching staff. A high level in each of these factors is necessary for implementing technology into teaching. Only when teachers feel comfortable using technology can they face the challenges of combining it alongside the appropriate pedagogy.

  2. (ii)

    The pedagogical aspect: A change in pedagogical rationale is also necessary in order for a pedagogical change to be effective and allow teachers to experience teaching methods combined with technology. Admittedly, teachers should develop some kind of willingness to accept changes by encouraging the integration of technology into their own learning process; this will lead to their involvement and create fruitful dialogue among teachers. In this way, cooperation among teachers may contribute both to learning novel content and adopting the suitable pedagogical approaches to apply when cooperation is not limited to time or space. The school should advise teachers on the necessary pedagogical changes so that teachers will learn specific teaching methods that incorporate technology, develop collaboration with other teachers, and encourage development of the teacher-student-parent relationship. A pedagogical change must be separated from the change in the level of teachers’ professional knowledge: They should be taught and trained to adapt to new and evolving technology.

  3. (iii)

    The organizational-administrative aspect: A school must constantly adapt to innovation for the success of both its programs and the school. Staff cooperation and provision of assistance for organizing and planning school policies is a method suitable for implementing information and technology (IT) programs (e.g., acquiring new computers).

Ertmer and Ottenbreit-Leftwich (2010) emphasized the effective change in a school to only be possible if the change is also operated on teachers’ personal level. Using the external tools provided by official institutions (e.g., Ministries of Education) tests the effectiveness (indicators of success), constantly presenting the benefits and gains from the change (increases motivation and willingness to help) and providing extensive, clear, and accurate information about the project and how its efficiency impacts the school management team and other teachers’ departments. Presenting a clear plan with measurable goals is very important for ensuring staff guidance and instruction and for building confidence against failure. In addition, both expected and existing difficulties should be presented to foster attentiveness toward problems and difficulties. The school administration should aim to create a climate where room exists for developing new ideas.

According to Guskey’s teacher growth model (2002), a change in teachers’ perceptions is firstly a learning-based process rooted in experiences and educational activities. Therefore, one can assume that during the teachers’ attempts to assimilate modern technologies in their teaching processes, they will expand and perhaps change their opinions and views on learning, teaching, and technology. Avidov-Unger (2011) affirmed cultural change to be an outgrowth of teachers and leaders’ desires within and outside the school to reshape the school’s reality and shift it from a “traditional” direction (frontal instruction, learning-focused teaching) to an innovative direction (student-focused learning combined with technology).

A number of theories exist that focus on schools as being organizations. Schools around the world are currently undergoing changes in relevant areas such as their social and educational mission, managerial methods, structure, connections with social communities, and more. For Nir (2017), these changes stem from a perception that sees schools as organizations for everything; this may help in understanding the nature of school functioning in terms of management style, teamwork, decision-making process, environmental relationships, teaching methods, and evaluations for academic and social achievements. According to Holt et al. (2007), schools that have adopted the culture of being a learning organization have found adapting to changes easier and are more successful than schools lacking such a culture. Such schools encounter no opposition from the teaching and administrative staff to a new technological culture because teachers participate in the processes of change and in constructing the necessary pedagogical knowledge. According to Mâță (2021, pp. 44–45), teachers can no longer close themselves off “in the ivory tower.” Such a move substitutes opposition with innovation, leading toward change and aiding in its success. Sharing strengthens the sense of control; it is perceived as a legitimate move at the same time as allowing for a better understanding of the change and increasing the sense of commitment. The components of dialogue, sharing, knowledge transfer, and knowledge preservation create the behavioral patterns in a learning organization that is essential for effectively implementing innovative technologies. A learning community is characterized by respect, sharing, and communication among peers when teachers take making the change upon themselves of their own free will. If they believe that change is necessary, they will make great efforts to implement it effectively in class and at school.

Technology, Change, and Teachers’ Ethics

An “online teacher” is an up-to-date teacher who uses information and communication technology (ICT) and routinely works online in their personal and professional works (Ham & Davey, 2005; Rotem & Oster-Levinz, 2007). A perceptual change in teachers’ role and working methodology focuses not only on integrating ICT but also on updating educational goals, adapting the skills graduates require, redesigning the learning environments, and implementing innovative teaching and learning processes (Loveless, 2011; Prensky, 2008; Rotem & Avni, 2011). Integrating technology in teaching involves personal, creative, and dynamic decisions made within the contexts of education, society, and community. The new possibilities that ICT calls for also entail dealing with the moral aspects that arise from the characteristics that technology has and the possibilities for its use (Koehler & Mishra, 2008; Loveless, 2011).

Decisions about ways to integrate change into teaching are part of the ethics of a teacher’s professionalism as an educational-social agent, one in which the teacher deals with complex and multifaceted innovations where ICT functions as a powerful and meaningful mediator (Fisher, 2006). In this process, the teacher undergoes both personal and professional changes as part of the process of development and growth that takes place over a lifetime (Hargreaves & Fullan, 1992). This change relies on practical experiences in unique situations based on time and context (Fox, 1995). Events teachers perceive as critical and formative, especially those that evoke negative feelings of panic, apprehension, and appeal, are the turning points in initiating change and development (Shapira-Lishchinsky, 2011). The search for and construction of a new path may be accompanied by resistance, apprehension, embarrassment, and coping with limitations and constraints (Bell & Gilbert, 1994, 1996; Jones, 2004). In the process of change, a teacher’s perception of their professional identity gets built into a creative and critical educator who works to shape culture in a changing learning environment (Loveless, 2011). The transformation an online teacher undergoes is perceived by the literature not only as streamlining and role shaping but also as a professional and moral renaissance (Fisher, 2006).

Morality and ethics are the valuable infrastructure of human existence and education. The moral dimension of teaching is the basis for a good teacher’s professional and personal identity (Clark, 1990; Sockett, 1993). The teacher as a moral agent has a double commitment: the commitment to their ethical standards as a moral person and moral professional and their commitment to guiding students to a moral life (Campbell, 2003). A teacher’s ethical behavior is derived from their ethical knowledge and personal, social, cognitive, and emotional abilities (Berkowitz et al., 2006; Hoffman, 2000). Ethical knowledge involves understanding the essence and role of morality, developing an inner conscience that guides to the right and the proper, the ability to listen, sensitivity to ethical issues, the ability to think and judge morally, the ability to make moral decisions, and moral cognition. A person’s ethical awareness is a significant part of their own development and the formation of their professional and personal identity (Scheffler, 2004). In contrast to approaches that perceive moral identity as an integral and complete self-understanding, other approaches can be found that view human ethics as a multifaceted, dynamic, and polyphonic being (Tappan, 2006; Turiel, 2006). A person who functions at a high and conscious ethical level is considered an autonomous person who takes responsibility for their ethical behavior as part of their identity, worldview, and lifestyle (Campbell, 2003). A teacher with a high ethical awareness is aware of their role as a moral agent and is able to apply ethical behavior in the practical aspects of daily life (Campbell, 2003).

Ethical dilemmas are part of teachers’ personal and professional lives and are seen as an important part of their function. An imbalance among ideal perceptions, personal voices, and considerations in practical applications can cause tension in a teacher’s ability to deal with dilemmas. Such situations can lead to a loss of focus where actions are justified through defense mechanisms and ethical decisions are compromised (Cherubini, 2008). At the same time, some teachers can clearly express the upcoming ethical awareness to be expressed in their behavior, especially in the aspects they believe in and value.

Ethical knowledge includes understanding the essence of morality and its role, the development of an inner conscience that guides to the right and proper, the ability to listen, sensitivity to ethical issues, the ability to think, moral judgment, the ability to make moral decisions, and moral cognition (Narváez, 2006). A person who functions at a high ethical and conscious level is considered to be an autonomous person who takes responsibility for their ethical behavior as part of their identity, their perceptions of the world, and their way of life. A highly ethical teacher is aware of their role as a moral agent and can implement their ethical behavior in practical aspects of everyday life (Campbell, 2003). Thus, the added value of the ethical responsibility imposed on each teacher is the behavioral summation of all teachers (Sichel, 1993).

According to Campbell (2003), teachers are unaware of the ethical disturbances involved in their work and their actions. Even if teachers are aware, gray areas in everyday experiences can disturb their intentions, the rationality of their decisions, and their emotional instincts (Campbell, 2008).

Ethical dilemmas are a part of teachers’ personal and professional lives and are perceived as an important aspect of their work (Campbell, 2008). An imbalance between the ideal concepts and inner voices regarding the teaching praxis can cause tensions in a teacher’s ability to deal with dilemmas. Such situations would lead to a loss of focus, justification of defense mechanisms and defensive actions, and compromises in ethical decisions (Cherubini, 2008). However, some teachers are able to clearly express the ethical awareness of their behavior, especially in the aspects they believe in and value (Campbell, 2008).

ICT not only increases the frequency and intensity of teachers’ encounters with ethical issues but also raises new questions about values, rights, laws, norms, and etiquette (Campbell, 2008). The transformation of information and communication is not only a technological revolution but also a social and ethical change in a complex weave between technologies and their creators, users, interactions, and social contexts. In this way, both digital culture and human behavior are designed in such a way where morality and ethics is an integral part of what the technology and online experience provides; they are also accompanied by the psychological effects that are unique to the online environment. All this creates a new reality characterized among other things by easy access to information, the ability to use information and copy it by means of producing and publishing personal and collaborative information, and communication channels that enable free expression on a variety of platforms and identities. In this reality, values and rights change their appearance and get renewed (Bynum & Simon, 2004).

The ethical issues arising as a result of the use of technology are related to technological systems (both hardware and software), information, and human and social interactions. Among other relevant topics, such issues concern accessibility, equality, digital disparity, freedom of information, intellectual property, copyrights, collaboration, fair use of information, reliability, credibility, freedom of expression, privacy, anonymity, security, control, power relations, hierarchical structures, online bullying, and enforcement. Just to quote a few examples, these issues also deal with the blurring and transgression of limits such as space, location, and time as well as the limitations of personal and professional presence (i.e., legal versus virtual entities).

In addition to general ethical issues, online teachers are faced with ethical issues in the professional context (Avni et al., 2010; Rotem & Avni, 2011). In this context, a teacher may behave properly and act out of ethical and legal awareness. Conversely, the teacher may break the law and not respect the rules of ethics, sometimes from lack of awareness and sometimes deliberately. Teachers may also discover they are a victim of illegal or unethical behaviors involving the use of technology. In regard to coping with such ethical issues, a teacher’s expertise and skills can be defined as complex and intricated. Teachers’ increasing use of ICT and their encounters with ethical issues summon and even force the awakening of ethical awareness (Brey, 2007).

Parallel to the development of personal ethical awareness, broad perceptions of ethics have been developed in the context of ICT. Gorniak-Kocikowska (2007) believes that local ethical theories will be replaced by a universal and global theory of the age of information that will address the whole of human relationships and actions in all cultures of the world. Bray (2009) believes that “netiquette” (network ethics) can develop only as an addition to the local ethics that resolve people’s local problems.

Dealing with ethical issues and legal questions is part of the reality of online teachers’ lives, and regarding technology, they function as a consumer and user in both their personal and professional lives. The teacher as a consumer takes advantage of software, digital means, and online services; uses online information and content; and maintains a variety of interactions. As an active user, the teacher provides information, publishes content, initiates interactions and message delivery, leads activities in digital environments, and takes an active part in their personal and social presence on the web. Furthermore, the teacher as a social agent creates a learning community and shapes messages; the way they guide and mediate among students is aimed at activism, collaboration, involvement, and higher-order thinking (Velmer, 2011).

Every teacher who integrates ICT technology in their work must consider its proper use, the proper behavior in its environment, and students’ education in this area (Beycioglu, 2009). Using the Internet for educational purposes means that ICT is integrated into controversial education such as learning on social networks (Velmer, 2011); this needs to be reconsidered.

As part of applying ICT in teaching and learning, the teacher faces ethical issues and legitimate questions that arise from various aspects of using technology. Some issues involve the use of hardware, software, digital tools, and online environments, while others involve information and rights over that information, intellectual property, copyright, sharing, information evaluation, and information security. Some issues also deal with interactions, presence in the online environment, ways of expression, freedom of speech, privacy, safety, and protection.

Although educators are generally honest and ethical, Johnson and Simpson (2005) argued that they very often break the law in copyright protection online. These researchers included lack of knowledge among the reasons for these offenses to be mainly due to two factors: (i) lack of sufficient information and difficulty in monitoring the complexity of the law and its interpretations, and (ii) lack of understanding and misconceptions. This is because educators treat information that is not marked with a copyright as free information for use, or they interpret “fair use” as any use made within the school or from which students can benefit.

The limits of the permitted use of law and the definition of fair use, especially due to the new Israeli copyright law (Israeli Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports [IMECS], 2012), are also flexible and subjected to interpretation. Hobbs et al. (2007) carried out a study among teachers in the USA; they found teachers to be frustrated and fearful due to lack of or conflicting information regarding copyright and the fair use of information and materials in education. As a result, these teachers restrict their use, which harms their new ability to exploit innovativeness, cooperation, advertising, and distribution of materials and deliverables. Beyond legal recognition and understanding, teachers are in conflict between policies and action (Hobbs et al., 2007). Thus, they might be torn between copyright protection and copying materials that could help their students gain higher achievements. According to Johnson and Simpson (2005), every educator involved in technology should understand the legal and illegal uses of intellectual property and whether to protect the school from lawsuits or serve as a role model for students. Elkin-Koren (2004) warned that uncertainty about the permitted uses of works may lead to a “cooling effect” in promoting online teaching.

A study on unethical behavior among 314 teaching students at a university in Turkey (Beycioglu, 2009) used a scale identifying unethical behavior in the use of computers. The scale had been formulated by Namlu and Odabasi (2007) and identified five main categories (see Table 1).

Table 1 Categories identifying unethical behavior
Full size table

Beycioglu (2009) found future teachers to be somewhat sensitive to the ethical use of computers, but their actual behavior undermines this. For example, they respect intellectual property, but in practice they use unlicensed software, usually due to financial considerations. In addition, female teachers were found to be more bothered than male teachers regarding ethical issues, and teachers who have more than five years of experience with a personal computer address ethical issues more than those with less experience.

Teachers have to deal with legal and ethical issues that arise from students’ behaviors. In a survey by the UK Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL, 2008), teachers raised the problem of pupils copying materials from the Internet without citing the source. In examining teachers’ awareness of school policy regarding the plagiarism, close to a third of teachers stated not knowing if their educational institutions had any policy, and less than a third stated their school had no policy to address the phenomenon.

Online harassment and cyberbullying are other issues that teachers address or find themselves victims of (Hinduja & Patchin, 2012). Gudmundsdottir et al. (2020) found a positive relationship to exist between perceived competence with privacy issues and the handling of cyberbullying. Williamson et al. (2007) found 32% of teens who use the Internet in the United States to have been harassed online by receiving threatening messages, sending emails or text messages without permission, uploading embarrassing images without consent, and spreading rumors: 13% were reported to have sent abusive messages; 45% had received abusive messages through instant messaging applications, 16% through chat, and 6% by email. 18% of the teens had reported being bullied on the net, 16% had experienced molestation on the net, and 38% of those receiving an abusive message indicated that they had replied with an abusive message. A survey the Geocartography Knowledge Group (Degani & Degani, 2012) conducted in Israel over 600 participants (200 teachers, 200 parents of children aged 8–18, and 200 students aged 13–18), 12% of the teens reported having been harmed on Facebook (8% of the abuse being verbal curses or insults, 3% being subjected to the spread of false rumors, and 3% had an insulting photo uploaded to Facebook). 21% of youths in Israel saw a video or photo on Facebook showing one of their friends or teachers in an awkward or humiliating situation (14% saw a video/picture of a friend, 5% saw a video of a teacher, and 3% saw a video/photo of both a friend and teacher). 13% of teachers responded that they’d received a request from parents or students regarding the abuse of their students through Facebook. 19% of the teachers indicated that they or one of their peers had experienced an assault by a student through Facebook (10% experienced insults, 7% were cursed at/verbally abused, 4% were humiliated, and 3% saw uploads of insulting images of themselves). The UK Teachers’ Organization (NASUWT) published survey results in 2007 (Coughlan, 2007), according to which 45% of teachers had received an email attack, 15% had received threats, and 10% were concerned about messages written about them on websites. This organization presented about 100 cases in which teachers had fallen victim to online mobile phone and email hacking, as well as malicious slander and accusations on websites and social networks (Keates, 2007). These events can adversely affect teachers’ health, safety, well-being, self-esteem, and even their careers (NASUWT, 2009). The organization has subsequently issued a public call for the UK government to take urgent action against online abuse and to protect the interests of teachers and other staff in the educational institutions who had fallen victim to this bullying (NASUWT, 2009).

Another important issue is information privacy. At all levels of the educational hierarchy, information can be collected, documented, and analyze in ways and on scales not previously possible. Information related to students (e.g., achievements, academic activity, hours of operation, frequency of activity on the learning site, student comparisons, sensitive personal information) requires security but also raises questions about its impact on teachers’ student evaluations. Through information management environments, parents and teachers can monitor students and strengthen their control. Principals can also monitor teacher activity in class and outside of the school boundaries. Since 2006, social networks, especially Facebook, have invaded the lives of both teachers and students.

Israel has an educational program for “safe surfing” (IMECS, 2012), the goals of which are to maintain children’s well-being and safety both in real and online environments, as well as to provide them with tools for intelligent conduct in cyberspace. This program generally deals with teachers’ exposure to the online environment and in particular to children’s world; parents’ exposure regarding the importance of being involved in their children’s surfing habits; students’ being educated to behave wisely online while maintaining ethics and safety, control, caution, intelligence, responsibility, honesty, and respect toward others and toward information; copyright protections; respect for privacy; and specifically being alert to dangers. Furthermore, the program provides behavioral and technological tools for dealing with online environments. Content deployment includes behavioral norms, cyberbullying, privacy, copyright, collaboration, online discourse culture, offensive content, online communication, and healthy lifestyle management while surfing the net. The program also includes guidelines for teachers and parents, activities, and tailored teaching and learning materials. The program exposes teachers to the subject but does not require them to acquire in-depth knowledge for assimilating it.

The study conducted in the United States by the National Cyber Security Alliance (2011) found 91% of the 1,000 teachers who participated in the study to have thought that ethics and safety should be taught in school while only half had thought their school to have prepared students properly. A little more than half of the teachers reported being willing to teach their students about ethics and safety online, but when asked what they actually taught in their classrooms, the most common answer was nothing. The issue of plagiarism was unusual, with about half of the teachers reporting to have talked to their students about it. The survey by the Geocartography Knowledge Group (Degani & Degani, 2012) found 25% of teachers to think the Ministry of Education should provide information or raise awareness about the harm done through Facebook, 15% to think that educational classes should be held on the subject, 6% to think that students should be punished for harm/abuse through Facebook, 22% do not know what the Ministry of Education should do, and 8% to think that the Ministry of Education is unable to do anything about it.

Discussion and Conclusion

As argued within this chapter, the massive change online teachers have experienced has had an impact on how they work and perceive their role and is described as part of the personal, professional, social, and cultural changes that ICT introduced into twenty-first-century life. As a result of the increasing and ongoing use of technology, teachers nowadays have to deal with a wide range of events and occurrences involving ethical issues in which the educational community is deeply involved. Although educators generally show a high level of ethical literacy (Frolova et al., 2020), the analysis of the literature shows that teachers find themselves to have broken the law (Johnson & Simpson, 2005) when their actions are related to technology being applied in education. Following Shin (2015, p. 181), “Participants’ awareness of critical, ethical, and safe use of information and communication technologies was raised through activities for evaluating and discussing the selection of instructional materials and the lesson activities associated with them.” Therefore, a training program specifically designed for raising teachers’ awareness of ICT, evaluating digital content, and learning the legal issues surrounding the use of technology for educational purposes could prove to be beneficial. Gudmundsdottir et al. (2020) stated that the ability to evaluate online digital content has a positive relationship with perceived competence in privacy issues. This means that specific training could help to improve their awareness not only of ICT and the legal uses of technology in educational settings but also of how it can impact their personal area. The mix of embarrassment and apprehension involved in teachers’ need to deal with technological issues and educate students on the proper use of ICT and online behavior should drive the development of ethical awareness.

Mâță (2021, p. 44) stated, “The use of new technologies has the potential to generate numerous ethical dilemmas.” Mass access to information has had humans take on the new role of an intelligent and active user who is responsible for personal information and should take care of information security and privacy. However, this also raises ethical decisions about what information to disclose and to whom, as well as what actions to take following the use of information. All this is especially important when teachers who must raise specific awareness on ICT usage, what it can or must not be used for, and how to teach ethical issues to their students regarding technology. Teachers are therefore responsible for educating students on how to intelligently use ICT, which entails safe surfing on the Internet (Rotem & Avni, 2011). Watty et al. (2016) showed one great challenge to not be technology itself but educators’ ability to embrace the technological revolution. Even more so, teachers are responsible for educating their students on online ethics, though many teachers have yet to adopt technology as part of their work routine (Avni et al., 2010). Online teachers operate in different worlds, use different languages, apply different teaching and learning materials, and hold different positions regarding integrating technology into teaching, as well as which norms and values to involve (Koehler & Mishra, 2008). Proper understanding not only of the benefits and challenges but also of the drawbacks and possible risks that technology places all on us is one of the main concerns of the political agenda of international institutions (e.g., UNESCO, 2006). Thus, training teachers in ethical issues regarding the use of technology should be also the priority of international educational policies to assure a better and more secure use of information for all.