D. Acknowledgement of Ideas and Information

Digital citizenship is an essential element of technology and engineering literacy. As rapid technological advances have increased people's capacity to access and share information anytime and anywhere around the globe, there is increasing concern about the misuse and abuse of information. Some of the ethical and legal concerns were described under "Technology and Society" and include worries about such issues as providing false information, invading people's privacy, "hacking" into secure networks, and using ICT tools for industrial espionage. There is therefore a certain amount of overlap between that sub-area and this one, but this sub-area is focused specifically on an especially important category of ethical issues: the appropriate use of intellectual property in the context of digital media.

For many students the first opportunity to learn about the ethical implications of intellectual property appears in discussions about classroom cheating, in which a student looks at someone else's test paper and writes down answers and ideas as his or her own. At the highest levels of academia, this practice is known as "plagiarism," and allegations of plagiarism can lead to criminal as well as ethical sanctions. On the other hand, it is not cheating to incorporate other people's ideas as long as credit for the source of the ideas is given at the time they are used. It is therefore essential that students know the conventional methods for appropriately crediting others' ideas, words, and images, both verbally and in the form of writing and other media.

A closely related issue is the use and misuse of copyrighted material. Even at the elementary level it has become so easy to copy and share digital information that children need to understand the importance of respecting copyrighted materials so that they will be more likely as adults to continue to honor intellectual property rights and laws protecting patents, trademarks, copyrights, music, and video. Although technological safeguards may be developed in future years, individual respect for the intellectual property of others will continue to be an important ethical imperative.

Key principles in the area of Acknowledgement of Ideas and Information that all students can be expected to understand at increasing levels of sophistication are as follows:

• Copyright laws and policies are designed to protect intellectual property.
• Fair use guidelines are designed to support the use of copyrighted materials for academic purposes and for journalism and other forms of writing and commentary.
• There are multiple guiding principles (laws, policies, and guidelines) that govern the use of ideas and information.

Fourth-grade students should understand that it is permissible to use others' ideas as long as appropriate credit is given. This ethical guideline that one should give credit where it is due holds true not just for tests and homework, but also even in everyday conversation. They should also know that copyrighted materials cannot be shared freely.

Eighth-grade students should be aware of general principles concerning the use of other people's ideas and know that these principles are the basis for such things as school rules and federal laws governing such use. They should know about the limits of fair use of verbatim quotes and how to cite sources in papers or other media productions. They should understand the importance of giving appropriate credit for others' ideas and contributions, and they should know how to give such credit.

Twelfth-grade students should understand the fundamental reasons for intellectual property laws and should know acceptable practices for citing sources when incorporating ideas, quotes, and images into their own work.