Ethics
The basic tenets of ethical research include the “fundamental rights of human dignity, autonomy, protection, safety, maximization of benefits and minimization of harms, or, in the most recent accepted phrasing, respect for persons, justice, and beneficence” (Markham & Buchanan, 2012, p. 4). Farrow (2016) outlines an ethical framework when considering research into OER and OEPr which includes respect for participant autonomy, avoiding harm and minimizing risks, considering full disclosure, establishing privacy and data security parameters, integrity, independence, and informed consent. These elements are woven into the considerations and decisions I have made for/during this research. Additionally, using and referring to the Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS-2) on the Ethical Conduct for Research with Humans (Research Council of Canada, 2014) and the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) recommendations (franzke et al., 2020; Markham & Buchanan, 2012) ensures my awareness and compliance with current recommended ethical guidelines for Canadian and digital contexts. The ethical considerations for this proposed research are premised on my beliefs about respect and relationship. While doing no harm is implied when following the TCPS-2 guidelines, it is important to be explicit to participants and readers that care and respectful practices are foremost considerations. While allowing for participant agency and voice through open sharing with informed consent (Moore, 2012) may appear self-evident, I err on the side of caution by maintaining a strong stance of anonymity for participants. In this way, I hoped to capture an honest and open story in the sharing of challenges that point to systemic and institutional barriers to becoming media and digitally literate open education practitioners.
Ethical decisions are based on “norms, values, principles and usual practices” (Markham & Buchanan, 2012, p. 4). Privacy and confidentiality of web-based information such as social media accounts, course syllabi, and university specific data available on the internet is considered non-intrusive, since there is no direct interaction with the researched individuals. Such data gathering does not require research ethics board (REB) approval (Research Council of Canada, 2014). These digital artifacts can reveal the participant’s openly available OEPr and MDL as revealed in their internet related “documents, records, performances, online archival materials or published third party interviews” (Research Council of Canada, 2014, p. 16). This initial examination of participants’ open and online digital artifacts can be conducted prior to REB approval, but will be held in confidence pending the signed consent form. Data from these sources can be assembled and analyzed.
While being vigilant to data engagements as being “inevitably cultivated and curated by serendipitous algorithms and other computational logics” (Ellingson & Sotirin, 2020, p. 75), these early data making explorations will assist in the formulation of points of conversation for the semi-structured interviews that follow the REB approval and receiving the signatures for informed consent. While examining participants’ web-based information, there may be content that reveals an individual’s identity, or specific text from blog posts that may be searchable and relevant to this research. While this type of data can be crystallized into other genres to anonymize the data e.g. creating a word cloud from a participant’s blog post, I will err on the side of caution, and only use this information once REB approval and informed consent has been acquired (Seko & Lewis, 2017).
As I shift into subsequent data entanglements while applying interactive online research methods, I will ensure that participants are treated fairly, equitably, and justly (Gupta, 2017). The research ethics approval and informed consent will ensure participants know that: a) data will be treated anonymously by default but will provide opportunities to de-anonymize; b) that information will not be share openly without informed consent; c) that the data will only be used for scientific and non-commercial purposes; and that d) they can withdraw their consent to access the data at any point during the research (Caliandro & Gandini, 2017; Saunders et al., 2015). I will verify and make explicit the procedures for privacy, informed consent, anonymity, confidentiality, security of data, and transparency. These will be reviewed and enacted, as I initiate direct contact with the research participants during interviews and story-telling reflections. With internet-based research, participants will be made aware of cookie policies, terms of service, and privacy statements of the web-based services being used throughout the research.
Prior to beginning to collect participants’ demographic data or interviewing them for their stories of OEPr and MDL, I will ensure transparency and autonomy in my recruitment of participants by clearly describing the research purpose, details, and any perceived risks and benefits (Gupta, 2017). This will not only be provided in text based documentation and an informed consent letter, that applies readability designs (Gupta, 2017), but also in a pre-recorded video message which will allow participants this first opportunity to see me as the researcher. I will pilot the semi-structured interview questions with two teacher educators whom I consider critical colleagues, and who meet the selected criteria, prior to using the interview protocol for this research. While I don’t perceive this will be a primary concern, but in order to manage potential identity fraud (Gupta, 2017), I will use multiple means of contact such as email, direct message in Twitter, instant message in What’s App, and consistently use an identifying secure-code, such as those used by Captcha.
To address potential concerns of internet breaches of data, I will maintain an external data storage device such as a dedicated USB drive which will be locked in a secure location. This will be used for the storage of all research data such as video interviews, data analysis, and media creations and act as backup files for this research. I will ensure privacy and anonymity by asking participants for a suggested pseudonym and a graphic avatar representation to be used when recording and reporting the results. The anonymity of web-based data (e.g. blog sites, tweets, posts) will be ensured through the use of this pseudonym as an identifier. Since the research summary will be shared in an Alt-Diss format such as Scalar, one that is openly available within an online location, when screen images or other recognizable information is captured, all identifying details and meta-data will be pixelated or removed prior to being used in the research report. Direct hypertext links to participants’ web-based data will not be included in the research report or the Alt-Diss location without full informed consent.
In summary, “ethical decision-making is best approached through the application of practical judgment attentive to the specific context (what Aristotle identified as phronesis)” (Markham & Buchanan, 2012, p. 4). All potential ethical guidelines for the context of this online and web-based research will be reviewed and enacted, with a consistent schedule throughout the research project and within five years of completing the project when data management and storage will be maintained in secure, private and confidential locations. While the purpose and intention of this research is for opening discourse and research results using an accessible web-based portal, the Alt-Diss format of reporting research results will require continual vigilance to maintain anonymity, privacy, security, and autonomy of participants’ data.