Investigating Ethical Issues for Workplace Lifelong Learning Digital Technologies: A Survey Study

Abstract

Lifelong learning in the workplace has expanded rapidly, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI). While many studies explore the digital adoption using within the post-COVID periods, limited attention has been given to the ethical implications of these technologies used at the workplaces for lifelong learning, particularly with the increasing integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) usage. This paper investigates ethical issues surrounding digital technologies for workplace lifelong learning, focusing on Estonia, a digitally advanced society. Holistically, the research sought answers for questions bordering on i) main motivations underpinning the quest to pursue lifelong learning, ii) digital tools being used for lifelong learning at the workplace, and iii) ethical awareness, concerns or violations perceived or encountered in the use of digital technologies for lifelong learning. The study adopted a survey as the research design, using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. A total of 70 participants were engaged in the study, and they were recruited through purposive and snowball sampling techniques. The qualitative and quantitative data were collected using thematic and descriptive statistical approaches, respectively. The study established that i) upskilling, staying active, health, productivity and reskilling were the drivers for lifelong learning; ii) Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet were frequently used for virtual meetings; for MOOC platforms for lifelong learning, EdX, Coursera, Udacity and Udemy were technologies used; and for social media, YouTube, Facebook and WhatsApp are the topmost three digital technologies used. The study further established Ethical consciousness and accountability gaps in lifelong learning technologies are explained by three broad themes, namely i) awareness vs. perceived ethical violations, ii) caring about ethics vs. reported violations and iii) ethical violations vs. systemic issues. Based on the outcome of the study, the following recommendations were made: i) Increased awareness and training on digital ethics for employees and employers in organisations, and ii) structures to monitor ethical breaches and accountability are needed at the work settings.