Bashar Deis

The integration of technology into education has changed the perception of the teacher's role as part of a social and cultural change, in which technology functions as a powerful tool and a significant mediator (Loveless, 2011). The teacher, who works in an online environment and uses communication technology as part of their personal and professional routine, meets with various ethical issues that arise from the characteristics of the technology and from the ways of using it (Seghedin, 2011). Thus, the teacher has to deal with, among others, the following issues: the changes of their role as an educator; the boundaries of their personal and professional identity in an online environment; teaching environment online, the nature of relationships with students online; students' boundaries of privacy; the limits of privacy expression and freedom of speech; using digital information and teaching materials while preserving intellectual property and copyrights; aspects of professional development and collaboration with the teachers community; the relationships with peer teachers; online bullying that comes from parents, teachers and students (Avidav-Unger, 2011).

Therefore, the teacher tackles ethical issues with embarrassment, lack of knowledge, fear and frustration since these are not usually found in their job setting or in their professional training. In addition, anchors of information systems and professional ethical codes are absent and sometimes there is no legal answer. These situations lead to a sense of a dispute within oneself and conscious contemplation upon the ethics in the personal and the professional aspects (Rotem & Avni, 2011).

This research examines how ethical awareness is being developed by East Jerusalem Palestinian teachers, and how technology influences teachers directly and the learning methods in the school system.