Ethical Considerations in Instructional Design
Overview
Ethical considerations play a vital role in instructional design, especially when developing courses for adult learners. Central to this is ensuring accessibility and inclusivity for everyone, including those with disabilities (Banduri, 2023). By adhering to accessibility standards like the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and employing universal design principles, instructional designers can create materials that cater to people of all abilities, making necessary accommodations to support everyone (Power, 2023).
Equally important is respecting the diverse backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives of learners. This involves crafting culturally responsive content that honors diversity and actively addressing implicit biases that might influence the design and delivery of instructional materials (InstructionalDesignCo, 2023).
2024 |Photo by Edho Pratama | Unsplash
Honesty and transparency about learning experiences and objectives are essential for building trust with learners. Providing clear information about the course's purpose, expectations, and outcomes ensures learners are well-informed about the content, assessment methods, and the use of their data (Peck, 2023).
Protecting learner privacy and data security is another fundamental ethical consideration. Instructional designers must comply with data protection regulations, ensuring that personal information is collected, stored, and used securely, with robust measures in place to prevent unauthorized access and breaches (InstructionalDesignCo, 2023).
Upholding professional integrity is crucial, involving the avoidance of conflicts of interest, plagiarism, and other unethical behaviors. Instructional designers should properly credit sources, ensure originality, and avoid any practices that could compromise the quality or credibility of the instructional materials (Peck, 2023).
Finally, the continuous improvement of learning experiences is critical. Gathering and analyzing feedback from learners and other stakeholders allows instructional designers to make informed decisions for enhancing courses. This iterative process ensures that the learning experience remains relevant and effective (Peck, 2023).
By addressing these ethical considerations, instructional designers can create engaging, fair, and effective learning environments that respect and support all learners.
Key Learnings
Below are the ethical considerations learned during the Week 1 lesson that emphasize the importance of creating learning experiences that are accessible, inclusive, respectful of diversity, transparent, secure, and continuously improving to meet the needs of all learners.
| Key Lesson Learnings | Importance |
|---|---|
| Accessibility and Inclusivity | Ensuring learning materials and platforms are accessible to all learners, including those with disabilities. This involves using technologies and design principles that facilitate access, such as alternative text for images, closed captions for videos, and accessible navigation options. |
| Respect for Diversity | Recognizing and respecting learners' diverse backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives. This includes avoiding biases in content and presentation, and promoting diversity to prevent discrimination or exclusion. |
| Honesty and Transparency | Providing accurate information about the learning experience, including learning objectives, assessment criteria, and any potential costs or time commitments. This ensures learners have a clear understanding of what they're signing up for. |
| Privacy and Data Security | Protecting learner data and privacy, complying with data protection regulations, and ensuring personal information is collected, stored, and used ethically and securely. |
| Professional Integrity | Avoiding conflicts of interest, plagiarism, or using others' work without proper attribution. This also involves ensuring high-quality learning materials that meet educational standards. |
| Feedback and Continuous Improvement | Seeking feedback from learners and stakeholders to continually improve the learning experience, being open to constructive criticism and making necessary adjustments. |
| Universal Design for Learning (UDL) | Implementing UDL principles to create flexible and inclusive learning environments that accommodate diverse learner needs and preferences. |
| Performance-Based Solutions | Focusing on addressing real performance issues rather than defaulting to course creation, ensuring relevance for adult learners in professional contexts. |
| Ethical Use of Technology | Considering the ethical implications of educational technologies, including AI, to benefit learners without compromising their privacy or autonomy. |
| Learner-Centered Approach | Prioritizing individual needs, preferences, and goals, which is especially important for adult learners with specific professional or personal objectives. |
Implications
The ethical considerations outlined here have significant implications for instructional design, especially for learners. They necessitate a learner-centered approach that focuses on individual needs, preferences, and goals, which is crucial for adult learners with specific professional or personal objectives (Peck, 2023). Ethical instructional design also emphasizes performance-based solutions that address real issues rather than defaulting to course creation, ensuring relevance for adult learners in professional contexts (Peck, 2023).
Implementing Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles ensures accessibility and inclusivity, accommodating diverse learning styles common among adult learners (Rao, 2021). Ethical use of learner data can inform personalized learning experiences, particularly beneficial for adult learners with varied backgrounds (InstructionalDesignCo, 2023).
Transparency in communicating learning objectives aligns with adult learning principles, helping learners understand the relevance and application of content (Peck, 2023). Finally, considering the ethical implications of educational technologies, including AI, ensures that adult learners can benefit from innovative approaches without compromising their privacy or autonomy (Gibson, 2023).
These ethical considerations and their implications underscore the importance of thoughtful, learner-centered design that respects the autonomy, diversity, and privacy of adult learners while leveraging technology and data responsibly to enhance learning outcomes.
Resources for Further Understanding
| Journals |
|---|
| Educational Technology Research and Development | https://link.springer.com/journal/11423 |
| Articles |
|---|
| Instructional Designers as Ethical Mediators by Colin M. Gray (nd) | DOI: https://doi.org/10.59668/270.13282 |
| Inscribing ethics and values in designs for learning: a problematic by Colin M. Gray and Elizabeth Boling | Vol. 64, No. 5, Special Issue: Exploring the Relationship of Ethics and Privacy in Learning Analytics and Design: Implications for the Field of Educational Technology (October 2016), pp. 969-1001 |
| Surveying the Landscape of Ethics-Focused Design Methods by Chivukula, S. S., Li, Z., Pivonka, A. C., Chen, J., & Gray, C. M. (2021) | http://arxiv.org/abs/2102.08909 |
| Technology problems and student achievement gaps: A validation and extension of the technology maintenance construct by Gonzales, A. L., McCrory Calarco, J., & Lynch, T. (2020) | Communication Research, 47(5), 750–770. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650218796366 |
| What Kind of Work Do “Asshole Designers” Create? Describing Properties of Ethical Concern on Reddit by Gray, C.M., Chivukula, S.S., Lee, A. (2020) | Conference Paper |
| Books |
|---|
| Ethics and Education by R.S. Peters ©2015 |
| Handbook of Ethics, Values, and Technological Design | Reference work ©2015 Springer Link | https://link.springer.com/referencework/10.1007/978-94-007-6970-0 |
| Design for How People Learn by Julie Dirksen ©2015 (relevance to learner-centered design) |
| Associations & Networks | Webinars |
|---|
| Website: Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) Code of Ethics |
| Webinar: Ethical Considerations in Learning Design by The Learning Guild |
| Network: Ethical Guidelines for Educational Developers by the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education |
References:
Bhaduri, S. (2023, May 31). Accessibility in learning design: Delivering inclusive learning for your workforce. eLearning Industry. https://elearningindustry.com/accessibility-in-learning-design-delivering-inclusive-learning-for-your-workforce
Gibson, R. (2023, August 14). 10 ways artificial intelligence is transforming instructional design. Educause Review. https://er.educause.edu/articles/2023/8/10-ways-artificial-intelligence-is-transforming-instructional-design
InstructionalDesignCo. (2023, July 13). Ethical Design Considerations in Instructional Design. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJlesN6YJww
Peck, D. (2023, May 5). The Ethics of Designing Training. Devlin Peck. https://www.devlinpeck.com/content/ethics-of-designing-training
Power, R. (2023). Accessibility in Online Learning. In R. Power (Ed.), Everyday Instructional Design: A Practical Resource for Educators and Instructional Designers (Chapter 17). Pressbooks. https://pressbooks.pub/everydayid/chapter/accessibility-in-online-learning/
Rao, K. (2021). Inclusive Instructional Design: Applying UDL to Online Learning. The Journal of Applied Instructional Design, 10(1). https://dx.doi.org/10.59668/223.3753