Abstract:
The objective of this work is a reflection on the ethics of education on the net as a
contribution to the face-to-face interaction in the virtual world. We think the ethics
is a result of a process of responsible interchange with others. Two important
thinkers of the last few decades, Emmanuel Levinas e Paulo Freire contribute each
one with one’s unique approach to the questions surrounding ethic in the online
education: ethic of responsibility and humanist ethic. Almost no attention has been
paid to examining their views on ethic in online education, but this article, in part,
fulfills a gap and attempts to mediate their two positions towards a broader
critique of face-to-face in virtual world. This work shows some implications of
interaction in the virtual world and questions the possibility of the paradox of faceto-face being virtual. The experiences as a professor of web-courses about Paulo
Freire, at Latin American Council of Social Sciences and the theoretical revision
(Freire, 1970, 1999, Levinas, 1980, 1997, Gomez, 2004,) contribute to this
reflection. The results suggest that ethics of responsibility does not allow fleeing
from the Other who demands attention, listening and dialog to speed up the
learning process. By utilizing both Levinas and Freire, it is argued, against a
conservative pedagogy based on an instrumental ethic and in favour of a
participatory pedagogy that can help strengthen the learning.
