When I was speaking to librarians in Marlborough, MA, last week, one of the librarians asked if I knew of any existing curriculum for teaching "cyber ethics." I wasn't able to point her anywhere in the moment, but I went back to my hotel and began searching online. I found one pretty cool link that aggregates quite a few resources (I'm sure there are more) that I thought was worth sharing. Most of what I found seems to focus on copyright, safety and security. What appears to be missing from the links I visited is more meat around actual ethical issues related to the public nature of the internet (i.e. should I post camera phone pics without my friends' permission?) as well as curriculum emphasizing information literacy. Francis Jacobson Harris, the librarian I interviewed for Totally Wired, has her computer literacy curriculum online as well (which DOES emphasize information literacy).

I think it would be cool if in order to use the computer at the library (or school), teens had to participate in an hour long seminar covering this type of stuff. Same with Computer Clubhouses or other after school programs where teens go online. Ideally the seminar would be fun and engaging with real world examples that inspire lively discussion and debate (less lecture, more interactivity). I know there's more than an hour to cover, but I think that's all you can ask teens to sit through (especially at a library or after school program, maybe even a little shorter). Sounds like a great project for someone in the educational technology space. If this sort of thing exists already, let me know and send a link!

The Totally Wired Parent/Educator Tour is being sponsored by Beinggirl.com.