When technology, teaching and evaluation intersect ethical dilemmas arise: student evaluation of online teaching

Teaching online is part of the everyday practice of many academics and student evaluation of that teaching is an expected activity of both individuals and institutions in today’s higher education context. Yet, conversations about the ethical questions raised when technology, teaching and evaluation intersect in the online learning context are rare. This paper employs an ethical framework composed of three interacting dimensions—people, principles and power—to raise ethical questions about privacy, consent, interpretation, authorship and ownership and accessibility in relation to student evaluation of teaching in a digital environment. The paper concludes with some examples of institutional and individual responses to these questions.