Job Ethics in Distance Education: Teachers' Responsibilities and Contributions

Abstract

The rigorous consideration of ethical principles at every stage of educational practice is an important factor determining the quality of learning. Ethical approach in education contributes positively to students' character development. It enables students to grow up as honest and respectful individuals. In this context, the study aimed to determine the ethical principles that a teacher should consider in the stages of planning the teaching, preparing course content, teaching the course and testing situations in the distance education process. In the study, phenomenology, one of the qualitative research method designs, was used. In this direction, interviews were conducted with 12 teachers working in different schools and having experience in teaching distance education courses. The interview data were analyzed by content analysis method. In this framework, principles were determined, and categories were created from similar codes. In the analysis process, 4 themes were created based on the interview questions. Under the theme of instructional planning, three main categories were identified: planning, communication and students. Under the theme of course content development, two main categories were created: scientificity and intellectual property rights. Under the theme of course teaching, two main categories were identified: teacher roles and teacher qualifications. In the theme of exam situations, the categories of feedback, timeliness, student readiness, reliability and validity were formed. The results of this research will be an important guide to improve the quality of distance education by determining in which areas teachers should be careful in order to create an educational environment based on ethical values.