IT, ethics and education: Teaching the teachers (and their pupils)

At colleges and universities, computer ethics has established itself as an integral part of computer science and information technology programmes, at least in principle. However, many of the issues involved are not only relevant to IT professionals, but also to IT users or even any citizens of our IT intensive society. It is therefore important that ethical issues in IT receive proper attention in secondary school, both in IT classes and other contexts. For this to be possible, firstly, educational policy and plans have to be adjusted. Secondly, teachers must get a thorough introduction to computer ethics, and learn appropriate teaching methods. Finally, teaching materials have to be developed and distributed. We describe ongoing efforts to help bring all this about.