The postmodern dialogue and the ethics of digital based learning

Abstract

The article discusses the ethics of digital learning. Starting point is a postmodern understanding of communication and the dialogue as idealimage of postmodern communication. The dialogue can be considered as postmodern ethics in communicative practice. Such a communicative practice is defined by a 'decentral' and 'polydirectional' dimension of communication. Web 2.0 tools provide the media-structure to realize a digital based postmodern dialogue. Formulated the other way round: the media structure of Web 2.0 tools bears ethical implications: The polydirectional and decentral structure of Web 2.0 media enables a postmodern dialogue-one might speak of the ethical implications of Web 2.0 tools. Consequently, E-Learning 2.0 which bases on Web 2.0 tools bear ethical implications. For the E-Learning practice, one challenge is, to transfer such theoretical reflections into learning-scenarios, which meet the requirements of a postmodern dialogue. As a proposal for such an transfer from theory-to-practice, a best practice example for a Web 2.0 based learning-scenario will be provided.