SOME ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING THE USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN OUTCOMES-BASED EDUCATION AND A WORKING MODEL FOR PROMOTING OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION

This paper aims to explore and highlights the relationships between outcomes-based education facilitated by a technology-mediated environment and some of the ethical considerations involved, and to present a working model that promotes the development of technology-mediated pedagogy for outcomes-based education.

Outcome-based education defined as learner-centered education that focuses on measuring learners' performance, which are called outcomes is continuously gaining popularity. Most accreditation criteria for higher education degrees are based on it. Outcome-based education is integrated in the whole education process; it is in curriculum design, content delivery, learners' assessment, and interaction between learners and instructors. The effective use of electronic media or information technology became an integrated part of any good teaching process. However, the use of information technology is even of more importance when it comes to outcomes-based education which calls for using a diversity of techniques and assessment methods to suit learners. This means moving from traditional assessments methods (e.g. paper-based examinations) to other methods of assessments (e.g. research papers, projects, … etc.) where technology would play a critical role (e.g. using the internet, online resources, on-line libraries). This role of technology raises many ethical considerations.

This paper aims to explore and highlights the relationships between outcomes-based education facilitated by a technology-mediated environment and some of the ethical considerations involved. The paper will firstly and briefly outline the main characteristics of outcomes-based education. Secondly, a discussion of providing a suitable technology-mediated environment for outcomes-based education will be presented; thirdly, ethical considerations of technology-mediated education will be discussed. Fourthly, the overlap between the three areas (outcomes-based education, technology-mediated education, and ethics) will be addressed. Finally, a working model that promotes the development of technology-mediated pedagogy for outcomes-based education will be presented. The paper concludes with a summary of the main ideas discussed.