Ethics in Tech Education: Designing to Provide Opportunity for All
Summary
We know that ability is equally distributed among humans, but opportunity is not. As the need for skilled technologists grows, so must our ability to empower individuals with accessible tech training. The data that can be gathered about an individual’s learning patterns can help inform the ultimate personalized educational experience, accelerating the cycle from novice to master, or it could be weaponized – used to judge an individual and block opportunities for jobs and advancement. As we design experiences and systems, we become the ethical stewards of the impact we could have on millions of lives. It’s up to us to make the right, and often hard decisions. Hear from Mariah Hay, VP of Product at Pluralsight about her experience designing product for tech education, the choices her teams have made to avoid weaponization, and how human centered design can inform the ethical underpinnings of our missions, our companies, and our bottom lines.
Key Insights
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Human-centered designers have historically combined problem-finding with problem-solving, but must guard against becoming problem-creators.
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Ethical codes established in medicine, like respect for autonomy and non-maleficence, provide valuable frameworks for technology designers.
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Engineers take an iron ring as a symbol of ethical responsibility and personal fallibility, illustrating deep commitment to public safety.
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Software and design failures in areas like electronic medical records can cause fatal errors, underscoring the life-impact of design decisions.
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High-profile ethical breaches like Volkswagen’s emissions scandal demonstrate how deliberate unethical choices at multiple levels cause widespread harm.
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Cambridge Analytica’s misuse of personal data shows ethical risks when designers are disconnected from the societal impact of their work.
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In education technology, balancing individual learner privacy with enterprise client needs requires active ethical decision-making and compromise.
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Avoiding ‘weaponizing’ products means resisting the urge to implement features that could harm users, like forced assessments tied to promotions.
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Ethical design processes must include comprehensive user research to understand concerns, priorities, and the nuances of impact.
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Companies alone cannot have ethics; ethical responsibility lies with individual practitioners who must cultivate awareness and act courageously.
Notable Quotes
"We are problem-finders and problem-solvers, but if we’re not very careful, we can also become problem-creators."
"Ethics are the discipline of dealing with what is good or bad with moral duty and obligation."
"First-do-no-harm actually goes farther than just not causing harm; it involves striving for the best possible outcome."
"Engineers receive an iron ring to remind them of their fallibility and ethical responsibility to society."
"Medical errors should rank as the third leading cause of death in the US, many influenced by software and communication failures."
"Volkswagen’s leadership and engineers made conscious choices to break laws that harmed people’s health and our environment."
"Being far removed from the consequences of your design work can lead to apathy and a shrug of the shoulders."
"We made the conscious decision not to weaponize our product, even though it could have increased revenue and sales."
"Find your blind spots and be honest about your and your team’s abilities to avoid harm."
"Ethics must live in the practitioner; companies are not people and cannot embody ethics without individuals choosing to do so."
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