Pedagogical ethics in distance education

Abstract

2020 was a truly revolutionary year in terms of education – from the paradigm of predominantly traditional education, we had to rapidly “step” into a distance format, regardless of our desire and readiness. In 2020 two tectonic shifts happened at once: the shift from synchronous offline classes (education) to synchronous online and then from synchronous formats to asynchronous and mixed. In addition to issues related to the technical support of the educational process, the issue related to the development of new professional and pedagogical principles and rules that would contribute to the highly moral behavior and activities of the teacher in creating a comfortable environment for all participants of distance learning process, emphasizing that ethical requirements must reflect the relationship between teachers and learners. We conducted a research aimed at revealing the principles and values the teachers consider crucial to follow when conducting online classes, the skills they think they need master in order to raise the level of their professional expertise, improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning processes, and make their students self-confident and independent. The results of the survey can be used in designing special courses devoted to professional or pedagogical ethics in online learning.