Ethical Use of Technology in Digital Learning Environments: Graduate Student Perspectives

Reviewed by Morris Thomas, Director, Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, & Assessment, Howard University on 2/8/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The book is comprehensive by providing content and context on the various issues involving ethical use of technology in digital learning environments. The authors covers information from admissions and access for the use and creation of technology in the digital learning spaces. However, more discussion or focus could have been placed on some of the topics covered and other topics could have been placed in another text. One could look at this as being an opportunity and a strength of this text, meaning it is so rich that it could have been expanded into another or possibly multiple texts. Nevertheless, the content provided is appropriately covered.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The text is up to date with the literature covered and referenced throughout the text. It is written from a research lens and therefore the voice of the text is unbiased and or is transparent about any posited positions presented throughout the text.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Any text involving technology could run the risk of being perceived as out-of-date due to the ever evolving technological landscape, however, this text will maintain relevance to the available literature due to its well contextualized presentation of the various aspects of ethical considerations for using technology in digital learning environments.

Clarity rating: 5

One of the strongest aspects of this text is its clarity. The text is well-organized and clearly explains all technical terms used throughout the text. The readers should be able to follow along with clarity and understanding.

Consistency rating: 4

The book is consistent as it pertains to the terminology used. However, the text is vast in content covered and the framework could have been strengthened by expanding on some topics and limiting the inclusion of other topics.

Modularity rating: 4

The text has clear readability. As it pertains to using this text in a course, it depends on the instructors' philosophy on reading assignments, if one simply assigns full chapters, this text certainly hits the mark. The text also includes clear smaller sections of text with subheadings and subunits. The subunits presented should not cause much disruption to the reader.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The text is well-organized. In the introduction of the text, its content is clearly described and then as you read the text you find the information provided in a manner that is clear and sensible. The layout of the text makes the information included accessible for the reader.

Interface rating: 5

I did not find evidence of any significant issues with the text's interface. The text was easy to read and navigate.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text is well edited and did not have evidence of any significant grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

There were no apparent instances of cultural insensitivity or offensive content throughout the text.

Comments

This book certainly has value and will be used by me in courses I teach but also has value to me as one who provides training on teaching and learning. The text provides a rich resource to employing the ethical use of technology in digital learning spaces. This is conversation is needed more than ever as learning spaces continue to digitize.