BellaOnline Forums Education Distance Learning The Ethics of Posting Class Questions

My boyfriend brought up an intriguing question.

I've been posting in essence questions from a book I own, for us to discuss. It happens to be questions we're talking about in my ethics class.

I am only posting about them *after* all my posts in the class forums are done. That is, I'm not posting them here, gathering your answers, and then going to make my class post. So I'm doing this completely "after the fact" after my homework is all submitted, so to speak.

But even so - is there an ethics issue involved in talking about what a for-pay class teaches you? That is, does Northeastern have some sort of a sole right to talk about these questions, and by revealing the essays looked at by the class, am I improperly "re-teaching" the class I suppose?

To me, if I learn something, I feel free to then help others learn it. That's what I do all day every day. I read books on topics and then help others learn what I've learned. I think of that as normal and natural.

But maybe there is something to consider in there? Should I instead be saying "Everyone go buy book X" and "everyone go take class Y" and send people to the source?

Heh, no. You are not teaching us, you are having personal discussions based on insights from a class. Those insights are yours to do with what you will.

Even if you were 'teaching' i don't think that could be legally begrudged. We are not earning credits from you.

Dear jilly - that was my thought too but I'm trying to see all angles I know I tend to lean heavily on the side of teach everything I find out. I have been scolded for example that my self help book reviews give away too much of the book's theory.

I certainly don't think that the university or anyone else can say that you can't discuss your learning. However, if you are quoting specifically from a book in your examples, I think that would be an ethical issue. You would need to talk about the issue in your own way using your own words which is what I am assuming you are doing.

How could any organization that teaches you expect you not to use that information in life? Is that not the purpose of learning? It is completely different when one works for a company that has a special formula they use for producing their product. That is not learning that you do to take into the world and share with others.

I do think it would be an issue as well if you were providing a formal class which others had paid for and you were using the same information that your instructor used in the course. But even then if you have assimilated some of that knowledge you would be using it in your course in your own way - in the way that you now perceive it. That would be OK. You just couldn't use his lecture notes, syllabus etc. without her permission and attribution.

Ethics is such a fascinating topic and there are so many facets to discuss about it. You've started some great threads about it Lisa.

Dear Elizabeth -

Oh definitely I wouldn't cut and paste the chapters or examples from the book for everyone to read