Ethical Framework

for professional practice in Learning Technology

2021

This document and images are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0) licence. If you adapt it for your own purposes please acknowledge this document as your source. The Association for Learning Technology (ALT) is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). Registered Charity (UK): 1160039

​

Work in ALT’s new ethical framework has progressed well since October 2020.

�Following the initial period of establishing the working group and holding regular meetings, we have now collected input and feedback which will inform the next phase of work.

​

Over the next six months, we will draft, consult on and the finalise the framework and tools for launch at the Annual Conference in September.

Progress to date (June 2021)

Important dates for 2021

What the ALT Ethical Framework for Learning Technology will do for:

We conducted an open consultation from 7 May - 9 June 2021 and received 165 responses - thank you!

​

The consultation asked for feedback and input about different elements of the framework:

​

• Ethical principles for professional practice in Learning Technology
• Putting principles into action - reflective practice, practical tools and a checklist

Consultation and Testing - 7 May - 9 June 2021

Who responded? 165 responses in total

75% of respondents are Members of ALT, and includes individuals working in all education sectors, including 12% of responses from industry, with the majority being from Higher Education.

Reviewing Ethical principles for professional practice in Learning Technology

Ethical principles for professional practice in Learning Technology�Examples of suggestions for changes

• “Be more explicit and direct. Not just "being mindful" of accessibility, but "applying best practices" in accessible design, and actions that lead to continuous education to stay up to date rather than "be mindful". I like skillful, careful, rigorous, but needs a bit more explanation.”
• “Ethically appraise software and web applications prior to use, revisiting decisions at points of significant vendor or institutional change.”
• “the issue of criticality is of crucial importance to the statement about working ways that are lawful and accountable […] a statement about being able to critically examine the relationship between what is lawful and what is ethical should be included in the framework.”
• I suggest 'Be mindful of accessibility and inclusivity, digital divide and equity'
• Diversity should be included; either in a separate point or by including in 'Be mindful of accessibility, diversity and...'

Adopting Ethical principles for professional practice in Learning Technology

Putting principles into action - reflective practice

One outcome of the work to date has been to identify elements of the framework and to draft these, including tools, including for example a reflective questionnaire, to help individuals, institutions and industry to see how these principles are put into action aligned with ALT’s CMALT accreditation framework.

​

• Reflective self-assessment tool with questions/prompts to reflect on the ethical use of Learning Technology
• Examples from accredited CMALT portfolios
• Case studies from different contexts with reflective prompts
• Prompts to facilitate conversations with users and colleagues
• Self-guided reflective prompts for personal reflection

​

Putting principles into action - reflective practice

Putting principles into action - practical tools

Which of these practical tools would be helpful to you?

​

• List of example policies from other institutions
• Prompts for discussion with vendors/suppliers
• Prompts for discussion with users including students
• Case studies from institutions
• Case studies from vendors/suppliers
• Mappings to other professional/ethical frameworks

​

Putting principles into action - practical tools

Putting principles into action - checklist

One approach we are exploring to help put the framework into practice, is to design a checklist that acts as a prompt for professional practice and institutional policy making. Below we have included one example of what that may look like, modelled on the DELICATE checklist for Learning Analytics with kind permission from the authors.

​

The purpose of such a checklist would not be to encourage a 'box-ticking' approach to ethical professional practice, but to bring together key questions and considerations to prompt discussion.

Putting principles into action - checklist

Other comments from the consultation

• This would be really a useful guide for practical implementation.
• I think a sustainability/circular focus should be added to this checklist.
• very useful indeed and could be embedded in training sessions/learning design sessions
• feel like there is an insufficient of emphasis on Equity issues
• Checklists are great - much prefer this over the statements.
• A possible forum or quarterly event to discuss concerns/issues. Or a series of workshops/events to launch this and look at case studies etc.
• Worthy effort - and one that will add value to the role of the Learning Technologist in any institution
• I really welcome this work and it is an area that has been missing for a while within the sector.

​

What’s next