Problems that can Arise in an Online Environment
Harassment
As many instructional
opportunities and conveniences as it may offer, internet communication can also
create spaces and discourses that can put individuals at increased risk of harassment.
Factors like the relative anonymity of the harasser and the mistaken belief
that "it's only email" all contribute to the creation of those discourses.
The suggested readings below help to create a picture of the causes and consequences
of online harassment, as well as the steps we can take to prevent it.
- Virtual Harassment:
Women and Online Education - This piece is interesting in its attempt
to theorize the forces and spaces that make harassment as likely as it is
in computer-mediated communication. The focus is obvious from the title.
- A Rape in Cyberspace
- A pretty famous chapter of Julian Dibbell's My Tiny Life, this article
is a narrative of a MOO-savvy ne'er-do-well sexually assaulting people in
a LambdaMOO environment. There's a lot to learn here about how muddy the distinction
becomes between virtual and actual reality when Bungle's victims' feelings
and safety were violated the way they were. Even though Mr. Bungle's attacks
are made in a virtual reality, their consequences are all too actual.
- Social and Technical
Means for Fighting Online Harassment - (from the abstract) Reports of
online harassment of women have caused concern to many and have led some to
advocate government control over the internet. This paper describes social
and technical - rather than legal - defenses already used by women online
or that will soon be available.
Plagiarism (top)
Obviously, in online environments where information flows as freely and easily
as possible, information is just as likely to flow into the hands of the plagiarist
as those of the principled scholar. Beyond the simple temptation of cutting and
pasting the words of another into your own work, now plagiarists have an entire
cottage industry of "paper
mills" built to serve them. It would be foolish to limit our understanding
of the internet's potential to the assumption that it's best at assisting students
in deceit, but an awareness of the possible abuses is crucial.
- Student
Plagiarism in an Online World - Plagiarism is alive and well on campuses
and in cyberspace. But educators should take some solace in the fact that
while the internet is a useful resource for plagiarists, it is also an excellent
tool to use against them. This article describes techniques useful to both
sides.
Matrix
- The Center for Humane Arts, Letters, and Social Sciences Online
http://matrix.msu.edu
Creation Date: 8/4/01
Last Updated: 8/4/01