Moral Dimensions and Ethical Issues

This was quite possibly my favorite class of the semester. Although I read the article by Osguthorpe before class, it was not until our class discussion that I realized how many different contexts could use these same principles. Here are my notes from class, which describe my thoughts on the topics discussed:

• Conscience of Craft

  - As a student, with PLEs—having ownership of what you create and making it good

  - When people do something they’re proud of, they have conscience of craft

  - Limitations of resources--using them to the best of your ability.

  - Can be limiting- there are times when good enough has to just be good enough.

  o * I like this, because I feel that this is so true! Although idealistically, we all want to do our best all the time, there is just so much to be done that we must prioritize.

  o Larger problem to do your best work?

  § *interesting- I don’t believe it is responsibility or duty that drives someone to do something; they have to desire it. A good project is good because I enjoy that project, because it’s fun for me.

  Conscience of Membership

  - What do I owe my profession?

  - In our field, a lot of people don’t feel like a “member” of Instructional Design

  - Important, because for instance in the example, people made judgments about online courses because the Instructional Designers put deadlines over quality.

  - Have to feel that the profession is important in order to represent it well

  - Instructional Design is an individual thing, but you have to feel membership in order to help give it a good name.

  - Example: Chiropractors-

  · *With IPTSO we try to develop this conscience of membership. If this is an important part of the moral dimensions of instructional design, we need to emphasize this more.

  o Conferences

  o Networking

  o Outlets for display of student work

  o Contributions

  o Volunteering

  Conscience of Sacrifice

  - People who left at closing time vs. people who knew what would make the project better who sacrificed to achieve the better quality product

  - Giving of yourself, putting yourself on the line

  Conscience of Memory

  1) Building on traditions of the past- “Rootedness”

  2) Looking at own talents, strengths, desires and goals and using them in your work—giving of yourself as opposed to just jumping through hoops. Personal strengths can contribute.

  - ex) Dani with music education- brought her interest and her history to try to craft an issue discussion to benefit all of us.

  Conscience of Imagination

  - Thinking outside of the box—doing things that haven’t been done before and exploring those avenues

  - Doing what you’ve always done really well vs. coming up with new ideas—doing something differently or more effectively

  - Ex) 3^rd Grade teaching- getting bored doing the same thing, so coming up with new ways to do things. Jeopardy- gave each group whiteboards, every group member had to write the answer down so that everyone, not just the smart ones, would contribute

  - Oftentimes we get into a routine. It might not seem that there’s room to innovate and work out of the box. Efficiency vs. creativity.

  * I think this is a very powerful concept.

  * I see this as a pattern for the moral dimensions of my own family:

  - Craft is what we produce as a family- food, community service, academic success, political involvement, arts, sciences, etc.

  - Membership is the family name—what it means to be a Chapman. This includes chores, contributions, and reputation.

  - Sacrifice is putting forth extra effort to create the best product or the best relationships—putting family first

  - Memory is the acknowledgement of and respect for family traditions and the recognition of what each member of the family contributes to the family.

  - Imagination is exercising your authority of your family to do things differently than anyone else—come up with new ideas, new rules, new traditions, new discussions, new ways of setting up your home, etc. I think this is why family council is so important, because it gives family members the opportunity to discuss this.

  I think exercising these moral implications is what makes being a part of anything fun. It is what guides our development and progress.