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Liliana Mât,aEditor

Ethical Use of InformationTechnology in HigherEducation

EditorLiliana Mât,a“Vasile Alecsandri” University of BacauBacau, Romania

ISSN 2522-8595 ISSN 2522-8609 (electronic)EAI/Springer Innovations in Communication and ComputingISBN 978-981-16-1950-2 ISBN 978-981-16-1951-9 (eBook)https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1951-9

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Preface

The unethical use of technology in education has become a topic of current interestto researchers in the fields of social sciences, ethics, and computer science. Althoughthe investigation of ethical issues generated by computer use appeared in the 1980s,it grew in importance in the following decades [1]. The ethical questions posed by themassive introduction of technology cover topics such as confidentiality, neutrality,the digital divide, cybercrime, and transparency [2]. If ethics and technology areanalyzed in close connection with education, even more questions arise. The use ofinformation technology in educational activities raisesmore andmore difficulties andproblems. In the context of the increasingly frequent use of technology in education,the issue of ethical responsibility has become a serious problem.

Students and teachers use information technology daily in the academic environ-ment to achieve different educational activities. The introduction of new informationtechnologies in the academic environment determines a “wave effect” [3], whichleads to the emergence of new ethical, social, and political issues, which must beaddressed at the individual, social and political levels. The use of information tech-nologies has raised new ethical issues [4]. These technologies provide many benefitsbut give rise to the danger of their use for dishonest purposes such as piracy, invasionof privacy, unauthorized access to data. In this situation, there are favored unethicalbehaviors, especially among students [5]. Unethical IT use by students and teachersis a major challenge in educational institutions [6–7]. The impact of unethical useof information technology is obvious for the academic institutions in general, byincreasing the knowledge base about areas of cyber-ethics and professorial ethics.

In the current context of the pandemic period, some authors [8] have identifiedthe extent to which the types of digital public health technologies determine ethicaland legal considerations that are specific to the field. These considerations are basedon the moral considerations of public health ethics and data ethics, in particular theprinciples of autonomy, justice, non-malice, privacy, and solidarity. It is very impor-tant to formulate principles and values in the context of digital technologies in highereducation, which help to clarify ethical issues for students, teachers, researchers, andpolicymakers. Themoral dimensions regarding the use of information technology arethe following [3]: information rights and obligations, property rights and obligations,quality of a system, quality of life, and responsibility, and control.

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This book provides a current perspective on the ethical problems and solutionsinvolved in the use of information technology in higher education. The issuesregarding the ethical use of digital resources are analyzed in a holistic vision, bycombining the perspectives of education specialists and those in the field of computerscience at the level of higher education. Built out of the need to respond to the ethicalchallenges of using technology in academia, the book is an innovative and currentapproach.

The Challenges

The main ethical issues that arise from the impact of technology use in educationalactivities are the following [9, 10]: privacy, security and ownership of personal data,hacking, intellectual property, netiquette, vandalism, access, the accuracy of infer-encing, the effect of personalization on individual capability, the commodification ofeducation, improper use of computer resources, academicdishonesty in online assess-ment, anonymity and pseudonymity, online harassment and hate speech, academicfreedom and free speech online. Olcott [2] believes that the ethical challenges ofusing information technology affect people both individually and collectively. Thesechallenges are multiple and range from digital identity and reputation to criticalinformation use, technology abuse, and online security and privacy.

The data of studies conducted in higher education show that students havemiscon-ceptions about ethics in IT use [11], as well as the fact that they lack knowledge in thisfield [12]. The possibility for various types of academic dishonesty, such as fraud-ulence, falsification, plagiarism, delinquency, unauthorized help to occur followingthe use of digital resources in universities is high [13]. Some authors [14] point to theemergence of ethical issues at the level of higher education institutions in the fieldof engineering and applied sciences. In this context, several specific problems arehighlighted at technological universities, which concern the relations of institutionswith industrial partners. It also highlights the issue of educating the new genera-tion of engineers and scientists to meet the future challenges facing humanity, whilerespecting the highest moral standards of academic conduct and research integrity.

In most cases, academic dishonesty has been addressed unilaterally, only from theperspective of students. Teachers have been ignored in research, although educationis achieved through partnership. The attitudes of teachers toward cheating are lessinvestigated. Teachers have reacted to academic cheating more like “detectives” andless as “educators” [15]. The main problems of unethical information technologyuse by teachers from academia cover issues like plagiarism, ignoring copyright,file sharing, posting incorrect information, cyber-bullying, delivering courses andexams in laboratories with IT equipment, distance learning, use of licensed soft-ware, communication through Facebook and YouTube, lack of academic integrity[7, 16]. Teachers prepare courses by downloading materials on the Internet, applyassessments online, use email to send and receive feedback, provide students withCDs andweb links related to the course content so that all these activities raise ethical

Preface vii

issues of which teachers and students should be aware [17]. According to Akdemiret al. [18], prospective teachers are more prone to unethical behavior in the virtualenvironment than in real life. Kuzu [19] proposes solutions regarding the problemsrelated to computer ethics through the help of practitioners with an information andcommunication technology background.

The analysis of current studies reveals that some of these are focused onresearching ethical or unethical behavior related to computer and information tech-nology use [18, 20–23], while others aim to identify attitudes towards ethicalcomputer and information technology use [6, 11, 13, 17, 24–25]. In terms of studiesconducted in the academic environment, there may be observed the fact that thereis increased interest in investigating students’ attitudes towards ethical informationtechnology use in particular [5, 11–13, 24–27] and less those of teachers [17, 27].There is an extension of exploring such issues at elementary school teachers also [6].The analysis of research in the field of ethical issues of the use of information tech-nology indicates the need to design new studies that primarily target the perspectiveof teachers in higher education. Another finding from the analysis of the researchis the fact that there are no studies in the field of information technology ethicsin education in recent years, which shows that a signal must be formulated to allinterested researchers. Therefore, this book covers these gaps and complements thetheoretical approaches with new current models, as well as with research of interestamong students and teachers in academia.

Solutions

The novelty aspects of this approach are multiple. Firstly, the concept of unethicalinformation technology use is defined following the latest studies. Secondly, thereare presented the results of scientific research on the current problems of unethicaluse of information technology in academia and the rules of online communicationbetween teachers and students. Thirdly, there are developed models for the ethicaluse of information technology in higher education. Not least, pertinent solutions foruniversity students and teachers regarding online communication, online teaching,and evaluation are outlined.

Through the new approach, the book supports students, teachers, and researchersto recognize and raise awareness of the ethical issues involved in the transfer of tech-nological resources in educational activities. The development of ethical attitudesand behaviors for the beneficiaries of education represents an important strategy ofthe current educational policies. Johnson and Simpson [28] highlighted the impor-tance of understanding the legal and illegal use of computers by students and teachersin the academic environment, and the ethical role models that teachers should repre-sent for students. Igwe and Ibegwam [16] highlight the importance of cyberethicseducation as it facilitates the development of moral and responsible behavior in infor-mation technology use by citizens. The priority is for teachers to feel responsible foreducating students about “what is right and what is wrong” in the use of information

viii Preface

technology [29–30]. The responsibility of academic teachers is to contribute to thetraining of students to understand and apply the ethical rules underlying the use oftechnologies both in the institutional setting and outside the educational organiza-tions. Soon, it is expected that study courses dedicated entirely to the ethical issuesof information and communication technology in universities will be created [31].

Olcott [2] formulates a set of valuable principles of action that helpmake decisionsabout the use of information technology in education and society. The proposedprinciples are formulated in the form of five premises:

• premise 1—“Training in the responsible, secure and ethical use of technologiesmust reach all members of society”.

• premise 2—“Education is based on values, and education is provided in, with andfrom values”.

• premise 3—“Technologies should be used appropriately (judiciously and respect-fully), not just used”.

• premise 4—“Individual and collective commitment determines the responsibleand exemplary use of technologies”.

The knowledge of ethical rules by students and teachers has become increasinglystringent as the educational activities moved beyond the boundaries of schools, inthe informal context. The use of technologies by students to study at home and byteachers to teach in the online environment has given rise to wide-ranging ethicaldilemmas. The adoption of new technologies in higher education institutions impliesgreater “corporate responsibility” [32], as technologies require increased attentionto ethical issues during design, and design choices are governed by corporations.One of the basic solutions is the introduction of an ethical code of conduct regardinginformation technology use at the level of higher education. Sensitizing teachersand students to these ethical issues of using information technology can contributeto their awareness [33] to successfully carry out educational activities, but also aresponsible practice in research and innovation.

Organization of the Book

The book is organized into thirteen chapters. Three coordinates of this book canbe delimited. The first of these is found in chapters one, two, and three, whichinclude recent theoretical approaches in the field of the ethical use of informationtechnology in higher education. The second coordinate extends from chapter fourto chapter ten and addresses the ethical issues that students face in terms of theincreasing use of technological resources. The last chapters form the third coordinateof the book, which illustrates the perception of university teachers towards the ethicalrequirements of the use of digital technologies, as well as the ethical competenciesthat are involved in online teaching and evaluation. A brief description of each of thechapters follows.

Preface ix

The first chapter “Academic Integrity in the Technology-Driven Education Era”,systematizes the current challenges of academic integrity from the perspective of thedigital age. Also, there are highlighted a series of specific and general measures toreduce the forms of academic dishonesty.

The second chapter “Unethical Information TechnologyUse inHigher Education:A Review of Literature in Sub-Saharan Africa”, provides a current perspective on theexamination of the key factors allowing the rise of unethical practices in informationtechnology in sub-Saharan Africa.

In the third chapter “A Model for Ethical Behavior in the Use of IT by Academi-cians in Mali”, there are highlighted the main factors that may affect the ethicalbehavior in the use of information technology. The results of the study indicate thatthe attitude, subjective norm, and perceived control were the factors that affect theethical behavior of academics.

The fourth chapter “Raising Students’ Awareness of Unethical Information Tech-nologyUse”, presents issues related to unethical information technologyuse in highereducation as a theoretical basis for providing practical suggestions on how academicteachers may raise students’ awareness of unethical information technology use.

The fifth chapter “Investigating the Relationship Between Internet Ethicsand Motivational Orientations in Higher Education”, includes innovative researchbased on the investigation of the correlation between the students’ type of motiva-tion (extrinsic/intrinsic) and their attitude towards the ethics of the use of informationtechnologies, as well as the individual differences in students’ unethical Internet useconcerning intrinsic and extrinsic motivational orientations.

The sixth chapter “Students’ Attitude Toward the Unethical Use of Informa-tion Technology”, integrates the coordinates of research focused on the analysis ofstudents’ attitudes towards the unethical use of information technology as educa-tional actors benefit from increasingly sophisticated technology. There was used aquantitative research methodology, based on a questionnaire.

In the seventh chapter “Ethical Rules of Online Communication Between Univer-sity Teachers and Students”, there are presented the theoretical considerations anda qualitative research referring to the students’ perceptions of the ethical issuesinvolved in online communication with the university professor.

The eighth chapter “Ethics and Privacy in Learning Analytics: The Rise of ChiefPrivacy and Chief Ethics Officers”, outlines the ethical and privacy issues and chal-lenges of using learning analytics, the frameworks proposed for the trustworthyutilization of learning analytics, as well as the learning analytics policy progresses.

The ninth chapter “Evaluation of Text Entities for Redundancy Detectionon Written and Multimedia Contents”, focuses on the determination of intrinsicand extrinsic redundancy on text entities for the study of information replication.Redundancy presumes on the one hand that different entities behave in the same waywhen we talk about software and on the other hand, it contains the same informationwhen we talk about data structures.

The tenth chapter “CriticalMedia Literacy: AComprehensiveApproach EnablingStudents (as Citizens) To Use ICT in the Quest for a Just Society”, includes a reviewof the benefits and perils associated with ICT and discuss the importance of Critical

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Media Literacy: a comprehensive approach that teaches critical skills and enablesstudents-as citizens to use ICT as instruments of social communication but also astools for change.

The eleventh chapter “Current Issues of Ethical Use of Information Tech-nology from the Perspective of University Teachers”, is a reference point forresearch of the teachers’ perception regarding the ethical problems of the useof information technology in higher education teaching-learning-evaluation andresearch-development.

In the twelfth chapter “Ethical Responsibility of the University Teachers in OnlineTeaching and Evaluation”, there are described the ethical competencies of the univer-sity teachers regarding the achievement of online teaching and evaluation. In the firstpart of the chapter, there are presented the current meanings of the concept of ethicalcompetence and in the second part, there are analyzed the main digital and ethicalcompetencies that university teachers must possess.

The thirteenth chapter “Responsible Online Ethical Teaching in Higher EducationDuring the COVID-19 Pandemic”, represents a challenge to identify the problemsconnected to online (un)ethical teaching and to propose a series of guidelines to beincluded in the teacher training curriculum as soon as possible.

All the chapters of the book are an invitation for all educational actors to knowthe problems, but also to apply the rules regarding the responsible ethical use ofinformation technology.

Bacau, Romania Liliana Mât,a

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2. Olcott Jr., D., Carrera Farran, X., Gallardo Echenique, E.E., González Martínez, J.: Ethicsand education in the digital age: global perspectives and strategies for local transformationin Catalonia. RUSC. Univ. Knowl. Soc. J. 12(2), 59–72 (2015). http://dx.doi.org/10.7238/rusc.v12i2.2455

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6. Özer, N., Ugurlu, C.T., Beycioglu, K.: Computer teachers’ attitudes toward ethical use ofcomputers in elementary schools. Int. J. Cyber Ethics Educ. 1(2), 15–24 (2011)

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9. Ashman, H., Brailsford, T., Cristea, A.I., Sheng, Q.Z., Stewart, C., Toms, E.G.,Wade, V.: Theethical and social implications of personalization technologies for e-learning. Inf. Manage.51(6) (2014). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2014.04.003

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13. Hosny, M., Fatima, S.: Attitude of students towards cheating and plagiarism: university casestudy. J. Appl. Sci. 14, 748–757 (2014)

14. Taebi, B., van den Hoven, J. Bird, S.J.: The importance of ethics in modern universitiesof technology. Sci. Eng. Ethics. 25, 1625–1632 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-019-00164-6

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16. Igwe, K.N., Ibegwam, A.: Imperative of cyber ethics education to cyber crimes preventionand cyber security in Nigeria. Int. J. ICT Manage. 2(2), 102–113 (2014)

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31. Pólkowski Z.: Ethical issues in the use and implementation of ICT. In: Khajuria, R., Banerjee,R., Sinha, K. (eds.) 4th International Conference on “Business Ethic for Good CorporateGovernance & Sustainability”, Gujarat Technological University, Ahmedabad 2–5 (2015)

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Acknowledgments

The volume is an important result of the research project, PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2016-0773, with the title “Factors influencing teachers’ attitudes towards the unethicalinformation technology use in higher education” (TAUITUHED). The project wasfunded by The Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development andInnovation Funding (UEFISCDI).

The main goal of the project was to assess the influence of a set of factors on theattitudes of teachers towards unethical information technology use in higher educa-tion. From the theoretical perspective, there were analyzed the current approachesand studies on ethical issues of information technology use and there was elaboratedan initial theoretical model on the factors that influence attitudes towards uneth-ical information technology use. Regarding the research methodology, there wasproposed a mixed exploratory sequential approach based on qualitative and quan-titative data collection in two phases. In the first phase of the research, there wasused a qualitative approach to explore the ethical issues of information technologyuse. There were conducted semi-structured interviews with at least 31 teachers fromhigher education with experience in this field. Data analysis supported the develop-ment of the framework matrix with the categories of ethical issues of informationtechnology use in higher education. In the second phase of the research, there wasdesigned a quantitative study to measure the attitude of teachers towards unethicalinformation technology use in higher education.

Bacau, Romania Liliana Mât,a

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Contents

Academic Integrity in the Technology-Driven Education Era . . . . . . . . . . 1Venera-Mihaela Cojocariu and Gabriel Mares

Unethical Information Technology Use in Higher Education:A Review of Literature in Sub-Saharan Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Richard Afedzie and Paul Adjei Onyina

A Model for Ethical Behavior in the Use of IT by Academiciansin Mali . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Macire Kante

Raising Students’ Awareness of Unethical Information TechnologyUse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Ioana Boghian

Investigating the Relationship Between Internet Ethicsand Motivational Orientations in Higher Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Otilia Clipa, Nuri Balta, and Liliana Mât,a

Students’ Attitude Toward the Unethical Use of InformationTechnology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Alexandra-Georgiana Poenaru

Ethical Rules of Online Communication Between UniversityTeachers and Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Liliana Mât,a

Ethics and Privacy in Learning Analytics: The Rise of ChiefPrivacy and Chief Ethics Officers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113Roxana S. Timofte

Evaluation of Text Entities for Redundancy Detection on Writtenand Multimedia Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127Cosmin Tomozei

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Critical Media Literacy: A Comprehensive Approach EnablingStudents (as Citizens) To Use ICT in the Quest for a Just Society . . . . . . . 145Lefkios Neophytou

Current Issues of Ethical Use of Information Technologyfrom the Perspective of University Teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163Liliana Mât,a, Alexandra-Georgiana Poenaru, and Ioana Boghian

Ethical Responsibility of the University Teacher in OnlineTeaching and Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181Alexandra-Georgiana Poenaru

Responsible Online Ethical Teaching in Higher Education Duringthe COVID-19 Pandemic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195Ioana Boghian, Carmen-Violeta Popescu, and Roxana Ardeleanu

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Bibliography of Selected Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Editor and Contributors

About the Editor

Liliana Mâta is a Ph.D. in Educational Sciences andAssociate Professor at the Teacher Training Depart-ment of the “Vasile Alecsandri” University of Bacau,Romania. She has published books, book chapters, andarticles in international journals on current issues in thedomain of Educational Sciences. She also worked as aresearch expert, member, and director in national andinternational research projects on current educationalthemes: pedagogical competences, curricular innova-tions, ethical use of information technology in highereducation. Also, she is the Chief Editor of the Journalof Innovation in Psychology, Education and Didactics(JIPED). e-mail: liliana.mata@ub.ro

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xviii Editor and Contributors

Contributors

Richard Afedzie, Ph.D. is a Lecturer of HumanResource Development at the Pentecost University,Accra, Ghana. He has published several academicjournals and book chapters on Disaster Management,Business Ethics, Organisational Development, HumanResource, and Environmental Sustainability. Richardhas also participated in several academic conferencesin Europe and North America over the past decade.

Elena Roxana Ardeleanu is a Ph.D. in Mathematicsand Associate Professor at the Mathematics—Infor-matics Department of the “Vasile Alecsandri” Univer-sity of Bacau, Romania. She has published books andarticles in international journals on current issues in thedomain of Mathematics and Educational Sciences. Herexperience includes Mathematics applied in Biology,Probability and Statistics, and Mathematics for teachereducation. She alsowas involved as a researchermemberin national research projects on current educationalthemes: pedagogical competences, curricular innova-tions, ethical use of information technology in highereducation.

Nuri Balta is a Physics Professor at the SuleymanDemirel University, Almaty, Kazakhstan. He receivedhis BA in Physics Education from Bogazici University,Istanbul, Turkey, and his Doctorate in Physics Educa-tion from Middle East Technical University, Ankara,Turkey. He has taught Physics at high schools in Turkey,Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan for more than 20 years, andprepared students for international Physics Olympiads.His research areas include physics teachers’ profes-sional development, counterintuitive physics problems,and technology integration.

Editor and Contributors xix

Ioana Boghian holds a Ph.D. in Philology; she is aLecturer at the Teacher Training Department of the“Vasile Alecsandri” University of Bacau, Romania. Shehas published books, book chapters, and articles ininternational journals on current issues in the domainsof literary and cultural studies, and the sciences ofeducation: the didactics of foreign languages (Englishand French), intercultural education, teacher training.She also worked as a research expert and member innational and international research projects on currenteducational themes: pedagogical competences, curric-ular innovations, ethical use of information technologyin higher education. e-mail: ioana.boghian@ub.ro

Otilia Clipa is Head of the Science of EducationDepartment and Associate Professor with a Ph.D. inthe Sciences of Education, at the “Stefan cel Mare”University of Suceava. She has a BA in Pedagogyand Psychology and MD in Integrated Pedagogy. Shepublished and/or coordinated over 12 books and manyarticles in international journals (over 70 articles). Also,she is involved in many research projects (national orEuropean) in the domain of the Sciences of educa-tion. Areas of interest: preschool and primary education,assessment in education, teacher education, and didac-tics for university teachers. email: otilia.clipa@usm.ro

Venera-Mihaela Cojocariu is a Ph.D. in EducationalSciences and Professor at the Pre- and In-ServiceTeacher Training Department, the “Vasile Alecsandri”University ofBacau,Romania. She has publishedbooks,book chapters, and articles in international journals oncurrent issues in the domain ofEducational Sciences: thephilosophy of education, training theory, and method-ology, student-centered educational strategies, teachereducation. She also worked as a research expertand member in national and international researchprojects on current educational themes: the axiologicuniverse of the teacher; interactive teaching strategies;teaching strategies used in higher education. e-mail:venera@ub.ro

xx Editor and Contributors

Macire Kante achieved his Ph.D. in InformationSystems at the University of Nairobi (Kenya). Heworked as a Research Associate at the National Centerfor Scientific and Technological Research in Mali.Currently, he is pursuing a postdoctoral fellowship at theUniversity of Johannesburg (South Africa). His recentwork is largely in the area of Information and Commu-nication Technology for Development in the followingthematic areas: ICT for Agriculture and Health Infor-matics and Knowledge Management for Development.

Gabriel Mares has a Bachelor‘s Degree in Educa-tional Sciences and in Psychology, a Master‘s Degreein Communication and a Ph.D. in Educational Sciences.His research is in experiential education, adult andparent education, therapeutic relationships, therapy andeducation of people with special needs. His research isreflected in articles and chapters of books, textbooks,and course materials, participation at conferences. Hehas clinical expertise in working with HIV infectedpeople and autistic children, also he has experience astrainer in life skills development programs for chil-dren and young people, critical thinking and careercounseling.

Lefkios Neophytou has been working, since 2019, asan education officer at the Cyprus Quality AssuranceAgency in Higher Education (CYQAA). He attendedundergraduate and graduate studies at the Univer-sity of Cyprus (B.A. in Educational Sciences, 1999;M.A. in Educational Administration and CurriculumDevelopment, 2004; Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruc-tion, 2009). He also worked as an educational officerat the Cyprus Pedagogical Institute and as Commis-sioner for Children’s Rights. He is a board member inacademic/research organizations and has participated inad hoc scientific committees in Cyprus and abroad. He isactively involved in research projects funded by the EUor the government of Cyprus. His research interests andpublications focus on effective differentiated instructionand teacher professional development.

Editor and Contributors xxi

Paul Adjei Onyina holds a Ph.D. in Economics fromthe Macquarie University. He is a Senior Lecturer at thePentecost University, Sowotoum-Accra, Ghana. He hasauthored a book, book chapters, and articles on contem-porary issues in international journals to his credit.His writings cover finance, corporate governance, andgender issues.Additionally, heworks as an administratorand a dean, ensuring that lecturers are well informed andhave currentmaterials in teaching students of the faculty.e-mail: paonyina@pentvars.edu.gh

Alexandra-Georgiana Poenaru is a Ph.D. student atthe “Alexandru IoanCuza”University of Ias, i, sociology,with the thesis “Discrimination and social inequitieson the labor market. The case of Romanian migrantsfrom Italy”. She has participated in national and inter-national conferences and has published many researchstudies, book chapters, and articles in professional jour-nals on various issues related to international migra-tion: social representations of migrants, discriminationagainst Romanian migrants in Italy, international labormigration in Europe, migration, and entrepreneurship,the political participation of Romanian migrants fromDiaspora, the cultural projects developed by Romanianassociations in Tuscany, the exploitation of Romanianmigrants on the labor market in Italy. She also involvedin a research assistant in a national project on the ethicaluse of information technology in higher education.

Carmen-Violeta Popescu holds a Ph.D. in Mathe-matics, she is an Associate Professor and Head ofthe Teacher Training Department of the “Vasile Alec-sandri” University of Bacau, Romania. Her mainsubjects/occupational skills covered are NumericalAnalysis. Mathematics. Mathematical Software. Didac-tics ofMathematics. She also was involved as a researchexpert, member, or director in national and interna-tional research projects on educational themes such ase-learning, innovative teaching, or training of teachersfrom the preuniversity education system.

xxii Editor and Contributors

Roxana Timofte is a Lecturer at the Babes-BolyaiUniversity, the Faculty of Psychology and EducationSciences, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. She achieved a Ph.D.in Organic Chemistry from Southampton University inthe UK and a Master’s degree in Education Sciencesat the Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.Her interests span from Chemistry Education to theutilization of new technologies for the improvement ofeducation at the university level.

Cosmin-Ion Tomozei is Lecturer Ph.D. at the “VasileAlecsandri” University of Bacau, Faculty of Sciences,Department of Mathematics and Computer Science.He holds a Ph.D. in Economic Informatics, from theBucharest University of Economic Studies, Facultyof Economic Cybernetics, Statistics, and Informatics,achieved in 2012. His research area is centered onthe field of software engineering and reengineering,applied to Government, Education, and Health. In thelast years, he has been an IT Expert, researcher, or teamleader in many European funded research and develop-ment projects. He gained international expertise in thedefinition and implementation of smart specializationsstrategies for regional development.