Title:	AN ACTION RESEARCH APPROACH TO THE EFFECTS OF ETHICAL AND CULTURAL CONSIDERATIONSADJUSTING AN ONLINE COURSE
Author(s):	Nuno Silva , Simon Rogerson
ISBN:	978-972-8924-42-3
Editors:	Miguel Baptista Nunes and Maggie McPherson (series editors: Piet Kommers, Pedro Isaías and Nian-Shing Chen)
Year:	2007
Edition:	V II, 2
Keywords:	e-Learning, action research, ethic, culture, university
Type:	Poster/Demonstration
First Page:	371
Last Page:	373
Language:	English
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Paper Abstract:	The main objective of this poster is to show the application of an action research approach on the context of the implementation of an online course at university setting. Under the umbrella of ethical and cultural issues this practical approach offer new perspectives into the reasons for current delay on the evolution of these projects and deduce if the situation can be significantly improved. To this purpose the link between the concepts o e-learning, ethics and culture is explored to allow the development of the hypotheses that these issues are related to success or failure of the implementation of e-learning technology. Since part of the e-learning technologies is based on the Computer Mediated Communications we combine this approach with the culture of student population. Following Hofstede´s cultural studies, considers on focus of the teacher’s training should be on learning about his/her own culture, getting intellectually or emotionally accustomed to the fact that in different societies, people learn in different ways. Nevertheless, Sthal (2002) suggested framework to research ethics on e-teaching which will be considered under the ethical issues on this project. An action research method of problem solving was founded to take a valuable impetus to changing e-learning success through an iterative process of diagnosing, action planning, action taking, evaluating, and learning. An e-Learning development cycle of activities, was considered including problem diagnosis, action intervention, reflective learning, and encourages researchers to experiment through intervention and search the implication of new theories. The goal was to understanding a phenomenon from the point of view of the participants and its particular social and specific contexts. That means this empirical study evaluate the influence of culture for the decision process, in fact the technology configuration must be adjusted to the cultural environment of our target population, and a new culture of learning must be accepted.
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