Presentation from ethics workshop at the CDE’s Research and Innovation in Distance Education and eLearning conference, held at Senate House London on 19 October 2012. Conducted by Ormond Simpson and Gwyneth Hughes.

1. ‘You be the judge –
ethical dilemmas
in open and distance
learning’
Gwyneth Hughes
Ormond Simpson

2. Increasing interest in ethical issues in UK?
Recent issues in UK TV broadcasting
News International phone hacking saga
The global banking crisis

3. Ethical issues in Distance Education
‘…search of the literature reveals little concern
with ethical questions among the community of
professionals in distance education and open
learning’ (Visser, 2001)
Increasing use of IT in DE may actually enhance
unethical behaviours because of ‘psychological
distance’ (Gearhart 2001)

4. Commitments and ethical reasoning
(Pratt 1998)
Two types of commitment
to guide ethical reasoning:
1. commitment to justice
2. commitment to caring

5. Ethical issues in distance learning
Example 1
Moving into E-learning
 care 

6. UK household internet access
Social classes A-B twice the access of classes D-E

7. Ethical issues in distance learning
Example 1
Moving into E-learning
 care 
 justice ?

8. Ethical dilemma 1
Is it right to insist that distance students study by e-
learning and must have access to the internet to study?

9. Ethical issues in open learning
Example 2
Using the ‘predicted probability
of success’ (pps) model
 ‘Binary regression statistics’ based on results
of previous students, attaches a ‘predicted
probability of success’ (pps) to new UKOU
students.
 Predictions are accurate to 1-2% for any
reasonable sized group of students

10. The ‘’predicted probability of success’ (pps) model
- new UKOU students entering in 2004
number of students in band
9000
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
0-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90 91-100
Predicted probability of success (pps) band %

11. The ‘’predicted probability of success’ (pps) model
- predicted success vs. actual
100
80
60
40
20
0
0 to 10 to 20 to 30 to 40 to 50 to 60 to 70 to 80 to 90 to
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
predicted probability of success actual success rate

12. Pps model – the ethical issues
1. targeting support?
2. disclosure?

13. Pps model – the ethical issues
2. Disclosure
 Commitment to justice?
- student entitled to know to avoid wasting
his time and money [UK Data Protection Law]
 Commitment to care?
- but what would be the effect of being
told your prediction?

14. Ethical dilemma 2
Should we tell someone they have a low chance
of success or not?
10000
number of students in
8000
6000
band
4000
2000
0
0-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90 91-100
pps band

15. My Ethical Dilemmas
1. Should we insist on e-learning?
2. Should we tell students their chances of success?

16. The beehive metaphor

17. The hive as learning
environment
• Queen Bees- Fed by workers. Purpose is reproduction
• Worker Bees – collect pollen and make wax
• Drones – Fed by workers and cannot survive outside the
hive. One will fertilise the Queen.
•
Hughes, G. (2011) Queen bees, workers and drones: gender performance in virtual learning
groups. In Kirkup, G. (Ed) Gender issues in learning and working with IT IGI Global,
Pennsylvania.

18. The hive as learning
environment
• Queens-leaders of an online discussion who produce a
product or joint assignment
• Workers – gather and contribute knowledge to the
discussion
• Drones – are largely absent from the discussion
although occasionally provide a new idea often late in
the day
• Is this just and fair?
Hughes, G. (2011) Queen bees, workers and drones: gender performance in virtual learning
groups. In Kirkup, G. (Ed) Gender issues in learning and working with IT IGI Global,
Pennsylvania.

19. To modify the hive behaviour
• Compulsory contribution-all are workers
or queens
However from a care perspective:
• Students may have good reasons not to
participate: busy lives, illness, feel
excluded by others, arrived late to the
discussion, do not know what is going on
etc.

20. • “There was a „sell by date‟ to the
contributions … As much as I appreciated
I could go to the discussion board at any
time, it appeared late entrants rarely got
any feedback…”

21. Ethical dilemmas
1. Should we insist on e-learning?
2. Tell students their chances of success - or not?
3. Is compulsory participation in online discussions
necessary to prevent some learners depending on
others to do all the work, or is it unfair on those
who cannot easily take part?
Members of the jury - you decide….

22. HOW GOOD ARE YOUR CHANCES OF PASSING?
Initial Score : 60points
1.Are you male or female? Revised Score: points
Male : Subtract 5 Female: No change
2. How old are you? Revised Score: points
Under 30 : Subtract 13
Age 30 or above : No change
3. What level is this course? Revised Score: points
Level 1: Add 23 Level 2 : Add 11
Other: No change
4. What Faculty is this course? Revised Score: points
A : Add 16 D or L: Add 8
E or K: Add 7 M : Add 6
S : Subtract 3 T : Add 1
Other: No change

23. 5. What is the credit rating of this course? Revised Score: points
15pts : Subtract 23 30pts : Subtract 9
60pts : No change
6. How many courses are you taking in total Revised Score: points
this year?
1 course : Add 5 2 or more : No change
7. What are your current highest educational Revised Score: points
qualifications?
Degree or equivalent : Add 17
A-level or equivalent : Add 12
O level, GCSE or equivalent : No change
None to CSE : Subtract 2 Other : No change
8. How would you classify your occupation? Revised Score: points
Working- professional occupation : Add 10
Working- other occupation : Add 5
Not working or other: No change
FINAL SCORE pts

24. How did you score?
• 100 or above: (70%+ chance of success) The outlook is
very bright for you. You‟ll undoubtedly have your share of
challenges but you should be able to get things off to a good
start.
• 75 to 99: (50-60% chance of success) This will be a
challenge you‟ve taken on and it will be useful to see if you
can increase your point score in some way. For example do
think about changing to a lower level course just for the first
year – you can step up the pace later on. If you are taking
more than one course then again do think of switching to just
one.
• Under 75: (50% or lower chance of success) You‟ll still be
able succeed but if you can increase your score that would
really improve your chances. You may not want to change sex
(!) but you could change your course, increase your current
educational qualifications by taking a short course of some
kind – the „Openings‟ courses are ideal – and so on.

26. Ethical issues in distance education