Digital ethics in higher education: Modernizing moral values for effective communication in cyberspace

Ekaterina Zvereva 1 *
More Detail
1 Foreign Languages Department, Law Institute, Рeoples' Friendship University of Russia - RUDN University, Moscow, RUSSIA
* Corresponding Author
Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, Volume 13, Issue 2, Article No: e202319. https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/13033
OPEN ACCESS   2075 Views   3061 Downloads   Published online: 06 Mar 2023
Download Full Text (PDF)

ABSTRACT

The digitalization of education is critical to transforming the education system in the face of the challenges of the post-pandemic technologized world. This research aims to determine the content of digital ethics and its role as a tool of effective communication in the cyberspace of each college, suitable for the practical solution of the assigned educational tasks. The data come from a questionnaire of 150 students and 60 faculty members in bachelor's and master's degree programs, conducted in April-May 2021 as part of a distance learning program. In addition, 30 administrators and 20 graduates were interviewed. The research results show that traditional moral values are undergoing significant change and must be modernized and codified. Relationships in the digital environment should be based on moral norms: duty, the self-discipline of the actors involved, mutual responsibility, and respect. The moral qualities displayed by individuals in the digital environment using digital technologies are the leading indicators of their professional suitability. The article mentions the main problems faced by the actors: digital literacy, personal image, place of implementation of pedagogical interaction, and rules of remote dialog. The study will contribute to further analysis and evaluation of the adequacy of specific measures taken by higher education institutions to develop and implement programs for ethical modernization of the educational process within the tasks of state educational reforms.
Keywords: digital ethics, digitalization of education, communication, distance learning, educational process, virtual space, competence

CITATION

Zvereva, E. (2023). Digital ethics in higher education: Modernizing moral values for effective communication in cyberspace. Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 13(2), e202319. https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/13033

REFERENCES

  • Abdelhafez, A. (2021). Digitizing teacher education and professional development during the COVID-19 pandemic. Academia Letters, Article 295. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL295
  • Atabekova, A. (2021). Employers' contribution to law students' multilingual communication skills training in remote mode due to pandemic emergency: Pilot study. Journal of Social Studies Education Research, 12(3), 396-431.
  • Atabekova, A., Belousov, A. & Yastrebov, O. (2021). Tracks for Russian university students' multilingual development within remote education during the pandemic. The world universities' response to COVID-19: remote online language teaching (pp. 217-233). Research-publishing.net. https://doi.org/10.14705/rpnet.2021.52.1274
  • Atieku-Boateng, H. (2021). An evaluation of the effectiveness of online education and the extent to which online education will be replacing traditional classroom teaching. Academia Letters, Article 2806. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL2806
  • Avdeeva, I. (2014). Information, computer, and applied ethics as theoretical components of the ethics of the global communicative space. Vestnik TSU, 9(137), 7-12. https://doi.org/10.3402/egp.v7.24942
  • Aznarte, J. L. (2020). Consideraciones éticas en torno al uso de tecnologías basadas en datos masivos en la UNED [Ethical considerations around the use of technologies based on massive data at UNED]. Revista Iberoamericana de Educación a Distancia, 23(2), 237-252. https://doi.org/10.5944/ried.23.2.26590
  • Baburajan, V., e Silva, J. D. A. & Pereira, F. C. (2020). Open-ended versus closed-ended responses: A comparison study using topic modeling and factor analysis. IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, 22(4), 2123-2132. https://doi.org/10.1109/TITS.2020.3040904
  • Baeva, L. (2019). Formation of ethics of digital society [Paper presentation]. XI International Conference Theoretical and Applied Ethics: Traditions and Prospects – 2019. The coming of digital society: a venture in ethics forecasting, Saint Petersburg State University. St. Petersburg, Russia.
  • Baeva, L. (2020). Information ethics in the context of the development of electronic culture. Information Society, 6, 36-46.
  • Basford, L. (2021). "COVID keepers": The teaching strategies we should hold onto after the pandemic ends, Academia Letters, Article 2332. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL2332
  • Bayanova, A. R., Sivova, I. V., Kamasheva, Y. L., Popova, O. V., Semyanov, E. V., Shagieva, R. V., & Yusupov, I. M. (2020). Student online services consumption: Routine practices or mistrust to digital service? Contemporary Educational Technology, 11(1), 47-54. https://doi.org/10.30935/cet.641767
  • BCG. (2020). Digitization as a paradigm shift. https://www.bcg.com/ru-ru/about/bcg-review/digitalization.aspx
  • Beauchamp, T., & Childress, J. (1999). Principios de ética biomédica [Principles of biomedical ethics]. MASSON.
  • Betancur, G. (2016). La ética y la moral: Paradojas del ser humano [Ethics and morality: Paradoxes of the human being]. Revista CES Psicología, 9(1), 109-121. https://doi.org/10.21615/cesp.9.1.7
  • Brooks, S. K., Webster, R. K., Smith, L. E., Woodland, L., Wessely, S., Greenberg, N., & Rubin, G. J. (2020). The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: Rapid review of the evidence. The Lancet, 395, 912–920. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30460-8
  • Capurro, R. (2006). Towards an ontological foundation of information ethics. Ethics and Information Technology, 8(4), 175-186. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-006-9108-0
  • Capurro, R. (2008). Intercultural information ethics. Wiley.
  • Capurro, R., Eldred M., & Nagel D. (2013). Digital whoness: Identity, privacy and freedom in the cyberworld. Ontos verlag. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110320428
  • Carretero, S., Vuorikari, R., & Punie, Y. (2017). The digital competence framework for citizens. DigComp 2.1: The Digital Competence Framework for Citizens with eight proficiency levels and examples of use, EUR 28558 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. https://doi.org/10.2760/38842
  • Charbaji El-Kassem, R., Lari, N., Al-Thani, M. F., & Al-Khelaifi, B. (2021). A path analytic investigation of teleworking challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic in Qatar. Academia Letters, Article 2616. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL2616
  • Chigisheva, O., Soltovets, E., Dmitrova, A., Akhtyan, A. G., Litvinova, S. N., & Chelysheva, Y. V. (2021). Digital literacy and its relevance to comparative education researchers: Outcomes of SciVal analytics. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 17(10), em2017. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11183
  • Cifuentes-Muñoz, A. (2019). Epistemología implícita en el código de ética profesional del colegio de psicólogos de Chile [Implicit epistemology in the code of professional ethics of the College of Psychologists of Chile]. Cinta de Moebio, 64, 51-67. https://doi.org/10.4067/s0717-554x2019000100051
  • Dedyulina, M. (2016). Computer ethics: Philosophical analysis. Philosophical Problems of Information Technologies and Cyberspace, 1, 79-90.
  • Delors, J. (1996). Los cuatro pilares de la educación [The four pillars of education]. In La educación encierra un tesoro. Informe a la UNESCO de la Comisión internacional sobre la educación para el siglo XXI (pp. 91-103). Santillana.
  • Díaz, S. (2014). Los métodos mixtos de investigación: Presupuestos generales y aportes a la evaluación educative [Mixed research methods: General assumptions and contributions to educational evaluation]. Revista portuguesa de pedagogía, 48(1), 7-23. https://doi.org/10.14195/1647-8614_48-1_1
  • European Commission. (2006). Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the council of 18 December 2006 on key competences for lifelong learning. Official Journal of the European Union, 394, 10-18.
  • Gagliardi, V. (2020). Desafíos educativos en tiempos de pandemia [Educational challenges in times of pandemic]. Question/Cuestión, 1(1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.24215/16696581e312
  • Galeano, M. (2004). Diseño de proyectos de investigación cualitativa [Design of qualitative research projects]. Fondo Editorial Universidad EAFIT.
  • Gariepy, L. W. (2021). Acceptable and unacceptable uses of academic library search data: An interpretive description of undergraduate student perspectives. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 16(2), 22-44. https://doi.org/10.18438/eblip29923
  • Giorgi, A. (2012). The descriptive phenomenological psychological method. Journal of Phenomenological Psychology, 43(1), 3-12. https://doi.org/10.1163/156916212X632934
  • Gómez-Martín, E. (2020). Educación para un mundo incierto [Education for an uncertain world]. https://ethic.es/2020/09/formacion-mundo-incierto/
  • Gordon, N. (2021). A permanent pivot to online learning, or will universities bounce back to normal? Academia Letters, Article 2394. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL2394
  • Habr. (2021). Ethics in the digital space - the basic rules of international digital relations. https://habr.com/ru/post/439602/
  • Hortal, A. (2000). Docencia. In A. Cortina, & Y. Corrill (Eds.), 10 palabras claves en etica de las profesiones (pp. 55-78). Verbo Divino.
  • Intriago-Loor, M. E., & Calle-García, R. X. (2021). Análisis psicosocial de la educación virtual en tiempos de pandemia, en estudiantes de básica superior [Psychosocial analysis of virtual education in times of pandemic, in upper basic students]. Polo del conocimiento, 6(2), 618-640.
  • Ivanov, A. (2020). Digital ethics and law. https://zakon.ru/blog/2020/12/07/cifrovaya_etika_i_pravo
  • Ivanova, S. S., Aksoy, Y. Ü., Krasilnikova, Y. S., Mashkin, N. A., Chizh, N. V., & Knyazeva, S. A. (2022). People’s views of hygiene and personal care during COVID-19 outbreak. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 18(4), em2101. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11944
  • Klyueva, N. (2014). Electronic culture and communication. Man and culture, 6, 107-120.
  • Kommersant. (2019). Digital education: Let no one remain superfluous. https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/4171063
  • Kozyakova, M. (2016). Etiquette as a cultural phenomenon. Electronic Journal Culture of Culture, 4, 1-16. https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/etiket-kak-fenomen-kultury/viewer
  • Kryukova, N. I., Chistyakov, A. A., Shulga, T. I., Omarova, L. B., Tkachenko, T. V., Malakhovsky, A. K., & Babieva N. S. (2022). Adaptation of higher education students’ digital skills survey to Russian universities. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 18(11), em2183. https://doi.org/10.29333/EJMSTE/12558
  • Kubalkova, V. (2021). A letter from the IR pandemic "zoomroom". Academia Letters, Article 140. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL140
  • Kuzembayeva, G., Umarova, A., Maydangalieva, Zh., Gorbatenko, O., Kalashnikova, E., Kalmazova, N., & Chigisheva, O. (2022). Content and language integrated learning practices in Kazakhstan secondary schools during COVID-19 pandemic. Contemporary Educational Technology, 14(2), ep362. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/11733
  • Lezama, J. (2008). Tecnología, naturaleza humana y ètica [Technology, human nature and ethics]. In La dimensión ètica de las ciencias y la tecnología. Editorial Melvin.
  • Lolas Stepke, F. (2020). Perspectivas bioéticas en un mundo en sindemia [Bioethical perspectives in a world in syndemic]. Acta Bioethica, 26(1), 7-8. https://doi.org/10.4067/S1726-569X2020000100007
  • Malkova, E. (2001). Principles of virtual ethics. Symposium Series, Religion and Morality in the Secular World, Proceedings of the Scientific Conference, 20, 112-115. St. Petersburg Philosophical Society.
  • Mamina, R. (2020). The art of self-presentation in the era of numbers. Petropolis.
  • Mamina, R., & Pirainen, I. (2020). Digital business etiquette in the distance format of higher education. Studia Humanitatis Borealis, 4, 15-20. https://doi.org/10.15393/j12.art.2020.3662
  • Maner, W. (1996). Unique ethical problems in information technology. Science and Engineering Ethics, 2(2), 137-154. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02583549
  • Manzhueva, O. (2014). The main components of information ethics. World of Modern Science, 3(25), 106-110.
  • Marinoni, G., van't Land, H., & Jensen, T. (2020). The impact of COVID-19 on higher education around the world. IAU Global survey Report. International Association of Universities: UNESCO House.
  • Márquez-Ramos, L. (2021). Does digitalization in higher education help to bridge the gap between academia and industry? An application to COVID-19. Industry and Higher Education, Online First article, 0950422221989190. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950422221989190
  • Martínez Negrete, E. (2014). Hacia un código de ética para la educación virtual, basado en las cinco mentes del future [Towards a code of ethics for virtual education, based on the five minds of the future]. Revista mexicana de bachillerato a distancia, 6(11), 127-134. https://doi.org/10.22201/cuaed.20074751e.2014.11.65017
  • Masalimova, A. R., Erdyneeva, K. G., Kislyakov, A. S., Sizova, Z. M., Kalashnikova, E., & Khairullina, E. R. (2022). Validation of the scale on pre-service teachers’ digital competence to assist students with functional diversity. Contemporary Educational Technology, 14(4), ep382. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/12301
  • McCarty, S. (2021). Online education as a discipline, Academia Letters, 434. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL434.3
  • Meeroff, M., & Candioti, A. (1996). Ciencia, tecnologia y etica [Science, technology and ethics]. In Ciencia, tecnica y humanismo: Una propuesta a la sociedad (pp. 65-76). Biblos.
  • Mitcham, C. (2011). La Tecnología y el peso de la responsabilidad [Technology and the weight of responsibility]. In Valores y ètica para el siglo XXI. BBVA. TF editores. https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/libros/valores-y-etica-para-el-siglo-xxi/
  • Moustakas, C. (1994). Phenomenological research methods. Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412995658
  • Nadikattu, R. R. (2020). Information technologies: Rebooting the world activities during COVID-19. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3622733
  • Novoa, P. A., & Pirela, M. J. (2020). Acompañamiento desde una ética de la vida: Para educar en tiempos de pandemia [Accompaniment from an ethic of life: To educate in times of pandemic]. Revista Internacional de Filosofía y Teoría Social, 25(4), 11-24. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3931040
  • Olcott Jr, D., Carrera-Farran, X., Gallardo-Echenique, E., & González-Martínez, J. (2015). Etica y educación en la era digital: Perspectivas globales y estrategias para la transformación local en Cataluña [Ethics and education in the digital age: Global perspectives and strategies for local transformation in Catalonia]. RUSC.Universities and Knowledge Society Journal, 12(2), 59-72. https://doi.org/10.7238/rusc.v12i2.2455
  • Otyutsky, G., & Shchipunov, O. (2016). Information ethics as a concept and as a social phenomenon: methodological analysis. Historical, philosophical, political and legal sciences, cultural studies and art history. Questions of Theory and Practice, 3(1), 132-136.
  • Parra, J., Chaves, R., & Villa, M. (2020). Ética y calidad en la educación virtual [Ethics and quality in virtual education]. Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas.
  • Participants in an Ethics of Digitalization Research Sprint. (2021). Digital ethics in times of crisis: COVID-19 and access to education and learning spaces. Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. https://cyber.harvard.edu/publication/digital-ethics-times-crisis-covid-19-and-access-education-and-learning-spaces
  • Peters, M. A., Rizvi, F., Mcculloch, G., Gibbs, P., Gorur, R., Hong, M., Hwang, Y., Zipin, L., Brennan, M., Robertson, S., Quay, J., Malbon, J., Taglietti, D., Barnett, R., Chengbing, W., Mclaren, P., Apple, R., Papastephanou, M., Burbules, N. C., & Misiaszek, L. (2020). Reimagining the new pedagogical possibilities for universities post-Covid-19: An EPAT Collective Project. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 1-45. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2020.1777655
  • Piña, E., & Padrón-Nieves M. (2020). Teaching in times of Covid-19. Ethical aspects. Revista Espacios, 41(42), Article 15. https://doi.org/10.48082/espacios-a20v41n42p15
  • Platonova, R. I., Khuziakhmetov, A. N., Prokopyev, A. I., Rastorgueva, N. E., Rushina, M. A., & Chistyakov, A. A. (2022). Knowledge in digital environments: A systematic review of literature. Frontiers in Education, 7, 1060455. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.1060455
  • Qarkaxhja, Y., Kryukova, N. I., Cherezova, Y. A., Rozhnov, S. N., Khairullina, E. R., & Bayanova, A. R. (2021). Digital transformation in education: Teacher candidate views on mobile learning. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning, 16(19), 81-93. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v16i19.26033
  • Radić, N., Atabekova, A., Freddi, M., & Schmied, J. (2021). Introduction to the world universities’response to COVID-19: Remote online language teaching. In N. Radić, А. Atabekova, M. Freddi, & J. Schmied (Eds), The world universities' response to COVID-19: Remote online language teaching (pp. 1-30). Research-publishing.net. https://doi.org/10.14705/rpnet.2021.52.1261
  • Regalado-Espinoza, E.L. (2011). Educación a distancia y calidad ètica [Educación a distancia y calidad ètica]. EspamCiencia, 2(2), 37-41. http://190.15.136.171/index.php/Revista_ESPAMCIENCIA/article/view/40
  • Reimers, F., & Schleicher, A. (2020). Uma estrutura para orientar uma resposta educacional à pandemia 2020 COVID-19 [A framework to guide an education response to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic]. Organización de Estados Iberoamericanos, OEI.
  • Ribot, V., Chang, N., & González, A. (2020). Efectos de la COVID-19 en la salud mental de la población [Effects of COVID-19 on the mental health of the population]. Revista Habanera de Ciencias Médicas, 19(Supl), 1-11. http://www.revhabanera.sld.cu/index.php/rhab/article/view/3307
  • Rivera-Piraguata, J., & Minelli, J. (2017). El problema ético de la identidad digital en la educación virtual [The ethical problem of digital identity in virtual education]. Revista Iberoamericana de Educación, 75(2), 41-58. https://doi.org/10.35362/rie7522633
  • Rugeles, P., Mora, B., & Metaute, P. (2015). El rol del estudiante en los ambientes educativos mediados por las TIC [The role of the student in educational environments mediated by ICT]. Revista Lasallista de Investigación, 12(2), 132-138. https://doi.org/10.22507/rli.v12n2a14
  • Sanromán, R., González, I., & Villa, M. (2015). Los principios éticos y las obligaciones civiles [Ethical principles and civil obligations]. Boletín Mexicano de Derecho Comparado, 48(142), 313-337. https://doi.org/10.22201/iij.24484873e.2015.142.4922105
  • Sarka, D. (2021). Descriptive statistics. In Advanced analytics with Transact-SQL. Apress. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-7173-5_1
  • Sekyere-Asiedu, D., Mashkin, N. A., Mochelevskaya, E. V., Petrova, M. G., & Zheltukhina, M. R. (2022). Determining the readiness of the mechanical engineering programme candidates for distance education. International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy, 12(2), 101-114. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijep.v12i2.29319
  • Shaidullina, A. R., Zakirova, V. G., Kashurnikov, S. N., Arestova, E. N., Shmidt, A. N., & Kovaleva, N. I. (2018). Students training for innovative entrepreneurial activity: Social responsibility competences. Espacios, 39(02), 15-26.
  • Shilova, O. (2020). Digital educational environment: Pedagogical view. Man and Education, 2(63), 36-42. https://doi.org/10.54884/S181570410020772-4
  • Siedlecki, S. (2020). Understanding descriptive research designs and methods. Clinical Nurse Specialist, 34(1), 8-12. https://doi.org/10.1097/NUR.0000000000000493
  • Silver, D. (2004). Internet/Cyberculture/Digital culture/New media/Fill-in-the-blank studies. New Media & Society, 6(1), 55-64. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444804039915
  • Soltovets, E., Chigisheva, O., & Dmitrova, A. (2020). The role of mentoring in digital literacy development of doctoral students at British universities. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education. 16(4), em1839. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/117782
  • Soltovets, E., Chigisheva, O., Dubover, D., & Dmitrova, A. (2021). Russian digital education landscape during the current pandemic: is the impact felt? E3S Web of Conferences, 273, 12026. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202127312026
  • Soper, P. (1995). Fundamentals of art of speech. Progress Academy
  • Strelkova, I. (2021). Actual aspects of digitalization of Russian education, Social innovations and social sciences, 1, 96-106. https://doi.org/10.31249/snsn/2021.01.08
  • Strielkowski, W., & Chigisheva, O. (2019). Research and Academic Leadership: Gaming with Altmetrics in the Digital Age. In Sustainable Leadership for Entrepreneurs and Academics. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics (pp. 307-313). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15495-0_32
  • Tarman, B. (2020). Reflecting in the shade of pandemic. Research in Social Sciences and Technology, 5(2), 4-6. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.05.02.ed
  • Tarman, B., Kilinc, E., & Aydin, H. (2019). Barriers to the effective use of technology integration in social studies education. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 19(4), 736-753.
  • Toufique, M. (2021). Making online teaching effective: A few suggestions from a developing country’s perspective. Academia Letters, Article 2489. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL2489
  • UNESCO. (2016). Competencias y estándares TIC desde la dimensión pedagógica: Una perspectiva desde los niveles de apropiación de las TIC en la práctica educativa docente [ICT competencies and standards from the pedagogical dimension: A perspective from the levels of appropriation of ICT in the teaching educational practice]. http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/FIELD/Santiago/pdf/Com-petencias-estandares-TIC.pdf
  • Uzunboylu, H., Prokopyev, A. I., Kashina, S. G., Makarova, E. V., Chizh, N. V., & Sakhieva, R. G. (2022). Determining the opinions of university students on the education they receive with technology during the pandemic process. International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy, 12(2), 48-61. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijep.v12i2.29329
  • Volchenko, L. (1982). Etiquette as a subsystem of morality and the subject of ethical reflection. Knowledge.
  • Vygovskaya-Kazarina, O. A., Kutieva, M. V., Orekhova, E. Yu., & Safronova, V. A. (2018). Factors contributing to teachers' job satisfaction: The case of Russian universities. Edulearn18. Conference proceedings (pp. 11083-11090). https://doi.org/10.21125/edulearn.2018.2739
  • Wiener, N. (1948). Cybernetics: Or control and communication in the animal and the machine. Hermann & Cie.
  • Wiener, N. (1950). The human use of human beings: Cybernetics and society. The Riverside Press.
  • World Health Organization. (2020). Mental health and COVID-19. WHO.
  • Zapata-Ríos, M. (2018). Gestión del aprendizaje y web social en la Educación Superior en línea [Learning management and social web in online Higher Education]. Revista de Educación a Distancia, 57(7), 1-34. https://doi.org/10.6018/red/57/7