Tutorial One: Information Technology and Ethical Issues
Welcome to Participation in Occupation One blog. I have
created this blog as a requirement for the course I am studying, Bachelor of
Occupational Therapy. I am currently in stage two. This course is facilitated
through Otago Polytechnic and Waikato Institute of Technology. Participation in Occupation One looks
at the links between human occupation and technology and how mainstream
technology can be used as an Occupational Therapy tool.
This posting will focus on Information Technology (IT) and
the Ethical issues surrounding IT use. As stated in the Shorter Oxford English
dictionary (2002) Information Technology is defined as ‘Technology that deals
with the storage, processing and dissemination of information especially using
computers.’ From my understanding Information Technology may includes
computers, digital cameras, mobile phones, printers, external hard drives,
televisions and Internet.
As a student I feel it is essential to be familiar with the different
forms of information technology. Technology is become more common in society;
this may be due to the easy access of IT equipment. On a typical day I would
wake up to my alarm clock, check my phone, check my emails, head off to school,
while at school go on the computer, use my phone, draw money from the ATM, (all
this technology use within three hours). This has just become ‘normal’ in
today’s society.
As I am apart of the Y generation, I have grown up with
technology all around me. Therefore I find the use of IT devices and systems a
part of me. I use it everyday and very familiar with all kinds of technological
devices. I am comfortable using them and would continue using. I use technology
as my main source of communication. If I went into the desert I would be lost
without cell phone or Internet reception.
Information Technology can be used to engage in purposeful
occupation through the use of power point for presentations in the workplace.
Internet to organise appointments, money transfers. Therapists may use videos
to help engage clients.
Whilst on my fieldwork placements I saw a range of different
pieces of IT being used. The other health professionals were using computers to
keep record of client reports. The speech language therapist uses a lot of
electronic speech devices for help communicate with clients. According to
Stanford education Issues that may come with this are “when technology is
injected into a setting, the roles and responsibilities of those in that setting
change. What might have been obvious ways to assess responsibility in a less technologically
supported environment become obscured when the human-technology balance is
recalibrated with the introduction of new technology. In such cases the new
responsibilities and relationships need to be identified and articulated so
that people know what their new roles entails and the necessary requisites for
performing it.”
Below is a clip of how information technology can be of
assistance to occupational therapists.
In order for occupational therapist to use IT in their practice there are some ethical considerations that can arise through capturing, sharing and transferring information via devices and systems. This could be whether or not you are using your own work, copy right laws are important in transferring and capturing. A large factor in this industry would be privacy, so taking pictures of clients and showing the public. This can not be done without any permission. A large number of practices now have a no picture policy. Another example of this would be Google Earth, when they take the pictures of the street they have to be aware of people’s privacy. They aren’t allowed to take pictures within residence fences.
References:
Shorter oxford English dictionary: On historical principles. (2002). Auckland: Oxford Press
Retrieved February 14, 2007, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/computing-responsibility/
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