Academic Freedom in Online Learning

In the context of academic freedom, online learning can present specific challenges. This chapter will provide an overview of some key risks to academic staff and students in tertiary education. We will attempt to point to challenges across a range of contexts, from the use of online learning in HEIs that may be otherwise free, to specific threats that arise from the use of online learning in oppressive contexts. Given our focus on learning, we will also briefly outline what we see as the international norms that protect the right of students to academic freedom, which are not always clearly articulated. Finally, the chapter will end with a review of some practices that can be adopted in both democratic and authoritarian states to counter threats to academic freedom in online learning. While online learning does present new ethical considerations in terms of pedagogy, these go beyond the scope of the present study.