Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ The UTS “EdTech Ethics” Deliberative Democracy Consultation: Rationale, Process and Outcomes

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

The full report (33 page PDF) is worth a read as it's a good description of what the authors are calling a 'deliberative democracy' process. The idea is to create a 'Deliberative Mini-Public' (DMP) representing various segments of the society (in this case, University of Technology Sydney) to discuss and agree on outcomes. The DMP is governed by a selection process and set of principles that "produces a certain mindset in the room, which is very different to that resulting from
a selection process governed by election." To my mind, the process pretty much ensures that the results will be mostly what the organizers desire because any actual conflict of personalities and politics has been eliminated by definition. I say this from experience, having participated in many such meetings over the years in various capacities. In any event, the ethical principles that emerge as an outcome are completely unsurprising: accountability, fairness, equity and access, safety and security, human authority, justification and evidence, and consent.

Today: 2 Total: 1411 [Direct link] [Share]


Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

Copyright 2024
Last Updated: Apr 29, 2024 12:18 p.m.

Canadian Flag Creative Commons License.

Force:yes