Awareness and knowledge of cyberethics: A comparative study of preservice teachers in Malta, Norway, and Spain

Abstract

This paper explores the knowledge and understanding of cyberethics held by preservice teachers across three European countries. The study was conducted via an online survey and yielded a total of 1,131 responses from preservice teachers in Spain, Norway, and Malta. The facets of cyberethics included in this study were specifically related to behaving responsibly online, safeguarding privacy, respecting copyright, seeking consent of third parties before posting images or videos on social media platforms, and considering their own professional identity as future teachers when posting images or videos online. The findings indicate that preservice teachers reported similar levels of competence in both applying copyright and respecting privacy rules. However, this varied across countries, with preservice teachers in Malta and Norway reporting higher levels of knowledge and awareness than their counterparts in Spain. Malta had the largest number of participants who reported that they ‘always’ considered the potential impact that posting media online may have on their careers, followed by Norway. Spain had the largest number of preservice teachers who stated that they rarely or never thought about this impact on their teaching career. Our findings highlight the need for student teachers’ knowledge of cyberethics to be prioritised during ITE, especially within the framework of developing a professional digital identity. In light of our findings, we recommend that all ITE programmes include digital competence and cyberethics components in their curricula. This would enable preservice teachers to develop an emerging professional and digital identity to face the challenges of becoming teachers in the 21st century.

Social media and data privacy in education: an international comparative study of perceptions among pre-service teachers

“…Similarly, a survey study, focused on copyright and privacy in social media carried out with PSTs in Malta, Norway, and Spain ( N = 1,131), found that, overall, participants from the three countries showed a lack of awareness of responsible behavior and of knowledge in terms of copyright and privacy in social media, but with significant differences in awareness between countries (Milton et al, 2021 ). The authors of this study recommend that all teacher education programs should include copyright and privacy in social media contexts in their curricula.…”

“…Teachers’ and PSTs’ social media use, and associated data privacy issues, can be related to contextual norms and backgrounds (e.g., university and schooling context, local context, teacher’s values; see Prestridge et al, 2021 ; Greenhalgh et al, 2021 ; Milton et al, 2021 ), and national cultural values and variables (Hofstede, 2001 , 2010 ; Ronen & Shenkar, 2013 ). To shed light on differences related to the countries of the PSTs in our sample, in what follows we make cautious use of Hofstede’s ( 2001 , 2010 ) cultural dimensions to explain some cultural differences in educational contexts, acknowledging the existence of diverse cultural backgrounds beyond Hoftstede’s dimensions.…”

“…Investigating PSTs’ perceptions and expectations is important because PSTs’ beliefs and intentions related to technology inform their actions (McGarr & Gallchóir, 2020 ; Nelson & Hawk, 2020 ), and are key in order to consider the impact of technology on students’ learning and performance (Ertmer & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, 2013 ; Tondeur et al, 2019 ). In addition, even though some research considers cross-cultural comparisons (Milton et al, 2021 ), cultural differences are still under-addressed in the literature regarding social media and data privacy issues in education contexts, despite likely playing a key role in such settings.…”

“…Future teachers will likely need to teach about, with, and against social media (Krutka et al, 2019 ), while also attending to related matters of data privacy for themselves and their students (Milton et al, 2021 ; Vartiainen et al, 2022 ). Data privacy relates to the rights of citizens to control how their personal information is collected and used.…”

“…Although some recent studies address related matters, we aim to provide further insights into a topic that is still in its infancy. Our research focuses on the understudied areas of educational use of social media by PSTs, and data privacy policies in the context of education (Milton et al, 2021 ; Vartiainen et al, 2022 ), includes cross-cultural comparisons between PSTs from different countries and areas than previous studies (Milton et al, 2021 ; Vartiainen et al, 2022 ), and features a bigger sample for quantitative analysis than prior qualitative studies (Prestridge et al, 2021 ; Vartiainen et al, 2022 ). In addition, we contribute to the literature by discussing the findings in light of a comprehensive framework that considers legal frameworks, user attitudes, and cultural values.…”