ETHICAL PERSPECTIVES IN OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUATION SYSTEM

Today, e-learning and various online education applications are used in many countries and educational institutions than ever before. Ethics deals with the principle governing ideal or good behavior, it focuses on what is right or what is wrong. Although in education, the ethical issues that they may be facing are not about of life and death issues. An ethical dilemma will take place when the educator faced with a decision that maybe incongruent with the organization’s values and policies. There are several examples of ethical issues in education. In this reason, the educator must be guided with the appropriate decision-making strategies. With the increasing use of new communication technologies, adoption of distance education by traditional educational institutes and owing to growing demand on the part of learners, it becomes more important to discuss the ethical issues. This important title provides academicians, students, and professionals with ethical insight into the world of e-learning through fascinating case studies that elucidate the issues through real-world examples. Pioneer’s experience in the field of distance education indicates that the profile of distance learners varies, cutting across barriers of gender, class and caste. The distance learner may be suffering from a sense of isolation as he/she makes a return to study after a gap of time or while working. It is there that the distance educator makes a positive, ethical and interventionist role by helping the student to learn beyond the stereotypical classroom situation and can act effectively as the friend, philosopher and guide of the learner. However, the industry of education is a serious one, requiring well defined ethics and values, well bound in visible legal outlines to regulate its exchange and distribution. Because as the industry grows, so do the issues of ethical concern such as plagiarism, electronic voyeurism, and licensing. The objective of this paper is to raise awareness of additional ethical issues in order to encourage further debate and consideration of these importance issues. The present paper will focus on the ethical values to be followed and implemented in the open distance education syste