Ethics training is not a conventional college course. The classes for online ethics training are offered on the basis of continuing education units (CUEs) or modules, where one continuously gains knowledge on a particular coursework. These classes are not offered by conventional colleges or universities but mostly through virtual or accredited institutes. A good example is the Global Ethics University, which is an online university that offers courses in business ethics, workplace ethics and compliance courses.
Common types of online ethics training include business ethics, which deals with human resources, employer-employee relationship and ethics of the workplace. Police ethics enable a police officer to make decisions that are professional and that put human life first. Other examples may include respect and fair treatment of all people, responsibility, honesty, email and Internet usage and harassment.
The process of registration varies at different institutions. Register for a course by sending an application and requisite fees. Upon completion of each module, a form is filled to verify that one has trained on that particular module. The server at the online site responds by sending receipts of completion to the candidate's email address and the candidate is then requested to print out a copy of the receipt received through the email. This document is the verification that one successfully completed a particular module.
The most attractive benefit is the convenience of flexibility. A student has the privilege of learning anywhere without being constrained to the classroom environment. He is also free to use the type of learning style he prefers. In addition, online ethics training is interactive and personal, allowing the student to freely present questions to the instructor without fear of what the next student thinks of him. Thirdly, the student can take the course on his own time. This is vital considering people have different working schedules, some of which may be overwhelming.
There is a high temptation on the student's part to behave unethically through copy-pasting information straight from the Internet sources. This is because the student/candidate is not under direct supervision, like he would be in the classroom. The tutors, too, are challenged by the situation because they do not know the candidate personally. They have to counter-check work submitted by the candidate because they cannot gauge the student's academic abilities online. To limit cheating, the tutors are encouraged to regularly advise the candidates to act ethically in their academics.