A Study of the Lived Experience of Ethics in e-Learning

With the onset of the corona disease and the development of e-learning environments and the incompatibility of moral development with this environment, it seems necessary to address ethical issues in the field of e-learning. With the understanding of this importance, the present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the lived experience of e-learning ethics.               

The current research was conducted with a qualitative approach of the phenomenological type, the research population was all the incoming Bo Ali Sina University master's degree students (97, 98, 99), which was a purposive sampling and the criterion of passing a semester was electronically available for selection and tools. A semi-structured interview that was conducted in 25 saturation interviews. The data obtained from the interview were coded and categorized with Maxqda software.

By analyzing the findings, 23 sub-categories and 7 main categories in the teachers' dimension, 7 sub-categories and 2 main categories in the learners' dimension, 4 sub-categories and 1 main category in the technology dimension, 25 sub-categories and 7 categories in university dimention were obtained.

The results show that having a process-oriented teaching approach, providing the fields of interactions (cognitive, social, emotional) and also the experience of working with technology are effective in e-learning ethics. Finally, there were differences between the views of students who started their studies with electronic education and the views of students who were transferred from face-to-face education to electronic education during their studies and due to the Corona pandemic, in terms of evaluating ethics in electronic education; So that the second group compared electronic education with their lived experiences during face-to-face education.