Abstract:

How could applied Ethics be modified by cyberspace? E-Ethics corresponds to a new environment for teaching and learning, where the information and communication technologies are essential. The question is - how to balance technology with interaction and, more important, the equity of access to online education? Now, Internet expands the traditional systems to produce and to acquire knowledge but, would it replace them? The paper examines some dimensions of online learning and teaching Ethics. In fact, applied Ethics in Internet could present an outlook of pros and cons on computer-mediated information and education.
How would Ethics adjust with online education? In this field and in this moment of transition, blended learning seems preferable to distance learning, in particular when ethical and bioethical debates are at stake. There are several reasons to defend this idea, because ethical deliberation requires more than information to get the right answer for specific cases or problems. It also requires practical reasoning and interaction, in order to get reasonable and acceptable solutions for agents. In this sense, interaction is essential. In education, blended learning could maintain an environment that combines a face-to-face communication and, at the same time, an expanded learning experience through digital technology. That seems coherent with practical reasoning and with the basic model that justifies the general acceptance of e-learning in higher education. This model presents learning and teaching as active processes and also responds to a specific idea of citizenship; consequently pedagogical innovations in the area have to go with equity, in order to distribute fairly the resources and the opportunities. The key argument here is that innovation and equity have to guide pedagogical changes in the field, applied Ethics

Keywords:

Ethics, Applied Ethics, Blended Learning.