Special Session 2: Relational Ethics, Constitutive Obligations, and the Future of Online and Distance Education
Description: This session explores the ethical
foundations of online and distance education through the lens of
relational ethics and constitutive obligations, drawing on
philosophical traditions from across the world. It moves beyond
procedural and technical questions — data privacy, regulatory
compliance, platform design — to examine the inherent moral
relationships among learners, teachers, institutions, and
technologies, and the role-based obligations that constitute
what it means to be an educator, learner, or institution in
digitally mediated environments. The session welcomes
contributions grounded in Western relational philosophies (care
ethics, dialogical philosophy, communicative ethics) alongside
African (Ubuntu, Ònyéàyànà - Igbo onomastic ethics, Asouzu's
Ìbùànyịdàndà), Asian (Confucian role ethics, Buddhist relational
thought), indigenous, and other philosophical traditions.
Methodological contributions on how relational and constitutive
frameworks can be recovered, developed, and operationalised for
online distance education are also welcome.
Session organizer
Dr. Jude Dunkwu, University of London, UK
The topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
▪ Philosophical foundations of relational ethics in online and
distance education (Western, African, Asian, indigenous, and
other traditions)
▪ Constitutive obligations of institutions, teachers, learners,
and technology providers
▪ Care, responsiveness, and the moral architecture of online
learning environments
▪ Algorithmic accountability and the redistribution of
constitutive obligations
▪ Technology-mediated moral relationships (AI, VR/AR, learning
analytics, generative AI)
▪ Cross-cultural and pluriversal perspectives on relational
ethics in distance education
▪ Methodologies for recovering and operationalising relational
ethical frameworks
▪ Reciprocal obligations among students, teachers, and
institutions
▪ Embedding relational ethics into policy, quality assurance,
and system design
▪ Case studies of relational ethics and constitutive obligations
in practice
Submission method
Submit your Full Paper or your paper abstract-without
publication (200-400 words) via
Online Submission System, then
choose Special Session 2 (Relational Ethics, Constitutive Obligations, and the Future of Online and Distance Education)
Template Download
Introduction of Session organizer |
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Dr. Jude Dunkwu
University of London, UK
Bio: Jude Dunkwu is an AI ethics theorist who recovered
the Igbo philosophical principle Ònyéàyànà from Nigeria, used it
to identify the Ought Is metaethical category, developed the
Generative Constructive Decolonisation (GCD) methodology, and
operationalised the principle into Relational Obligation (RO)
and its AI extension, Algorithmic Relational Obligation (ARO).
He holds a PhD from UCL in strategic management of online
learning, a PhD from the University of Plymouth in corporate
governance, an Oxford AI certificate, a Cambridge MEd, an MBA,
an MILR, and a BSc in Physics. He is a Fellow of CODE
(University of London), FRSA, FHEA, FCMI, and FSET. He currently
serves as Editor in Chief of the SAGE Handbook of African
Epistemologies and Qualitative Research (2027), Global Editor
of SAGE Business Cases: Emerging Economies of Africa, CODE
Fellow and Convener of the Decolonising the Curriculum SIG at
the University of London, Visiting Professor at the University
of Ibadan, Online Tutor for the University of London Global MBA,
and Lecturer at QAHE. He has two forthcoming monographs with
OUP/CUP/Routledge and published in African Notes (2026). In 2026
he is presenting invited papers at seven international
conferences (including ISA, EDEN, World Congress of Bioethics,
ISBEE, ICDLE, AIES, and Absa BEN Africa) and chairing a special
session at ICDLE. He also leads the 50 chapter SAGE Handbook,
pioneered SAGE Business Cases for Africa, and consults for
several UK and Nigerian universities.
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