PaulConway

SI410EthicsandInformationTechnology

EssayonPhilosophyandInformationTechnology [20%oftotalgrade]Eachstudentwillproduceanindividualessaythataddressesthequestion“AreEthicalNormsDifferentintheOnlineEnvironment?”Withinthisbroadtopic,studentswillidentifyaparticularissuediscussed(evenperipherally)withinthestructureofthecourse.Thepurposeoftheessayistoreadandassesssomeofthereadingsfromthefirstthreeweeksofclassandtomakesomeconnectionsbetweennewtechnologiesandethicalnormsthatmaynotbecoveredaswellorasdeeplyinin‐classdiscussions.Aslongasyoucantieyouressaytopicdirectlytosomeelementofthecoursesyllabus,youmaygetascreativeasyouwishregardingtopics,rangingintofilmandmusic,videogamesandsimulations,televisionandothermedia.Theessaywillcombinethreeelements:

(1)evaluationandinterpretationofsomeportionoftherequiredreadingsforthecourse,especiallythereadingsfromthefirstthreeweeks;

(2)incorporationofinformationbeyondthecoursereadings;and(3)personalreflectionontherelevanceofethicalissuestoyourpersonallifeandsocial

relationships.1.Thefirstelementcanbesatisfiedthroughtheselection,carefulreading,andinsightfulanalysisofatleastfiveoftherequiredcoursereadings.ThreeofthesereadingsmustcomefromtheselectionofresourcespostedattheCToolssiteunder“Resources/Readings/Foundation.”SeveralofthesereadingsarerequiredfortheclassandyoumayuseeithertherequiredortheoptionalreadingspostedtoCTools.Twootherreadingsmaybechosenfromanyoftheotherrequiredreadingsforthecourse.2.Thesecondelementcanbeaccomplishedeitherthroughtheuseofadditionalpublishedformalliterature(e.g.,scholarlyjournals),thecreativeuseofinformationfromthepopularpress(e.g.,NYTimes,Wired,NewYorker,People,etc.),arangeofcommunication/entertainmentmedia(TV,music,film,etc.),and/ortheuseofWeb‐baseddocumentationonparticulartechnologiesorapplicationsdiscussedaspartoftheclass.YouarewelcometouseWikipediaarticlestosatisfythesecondelement,butyoushouldexercisecautiontofindarticlesthatyoutrust(clearly,partofthefocusofthiscourse).3.Forthethirdelementoftheassignment,recountingyourpersonalexperienceorinsight,possiblycombinedwiththeexperienceoffriendsorfamily,willallowyoutotakeadryanalysisfromscholarlyorpossiblydisconnectedpublicationsandmakethemrelevantorpersonal.Theoverallessaywillrangefrom2,500to3,000words(ca.10–15pp.doublespaced),willbeproperlydocumentedwithcitationstoanysourcesused,pagenumbersforquotations,andcurrentlyactiveURLs.Theessaywillbefreeoftypographicalandgrammaticalerrors.Essaydocumentationmayconformtoanynumberofpossiblestyles[Chicago,MLA,ACM,etc.],butmustbeconsistentlyandfullypresented.Theessayshouldbesubmittedineither.doc,.docx,or.rdfformats.

PaulConway

Anin‐classwritingworkshopduringtheweek‐twolab/discussion(Wednesdaymorning),offeredbystafffromtheSweetlandWritingCenter,willpresentandmakeuseofseveralalternativemethodsfororganizing,balancing,andstructuringtheinformationthatyouwillmarshalforyouressay.StudentswillsubmitafirstdraftandwillreceiveindividualizedfeedbackfromtheGraduateStudentInstructoronthesubstanceandstyleoftheessay.Inyourfirstdraft,youshouldfocusongettingthemainideaexpressedandmakesurethatthemechanicsofyourpaper(citations,grammar,spelling,formatting)areinplace.Opportunitiestodiscusstheessayduringofficehourswillbeprovided.Studentswillreviseandextendtheiressaysbasedonfeedbackreceivedandwillsubmitafinalversionoftheessaybytheendofthestudybreak.Aswithallessayassessment,theassignmentofagradeissomewhatsubjective.Inkeepingwiththedeeptraditionsof“IronChefAmerica,”however,thetotaloftwenty(20)pointsfortheessaywillbedistributedasfollows.10pointsfortheclarityoftheargumentpresented,includingtheorganizationoftheessay,theflowoftheessay,andthepresentationofquotesandotherdirectevidencetomakethepointsofyouressay.5pointsforfullandaccuratecitations,consistentlyapplyingacitationstyleofyourchoice.5pointsforgrammarandspelling,includingtheavoidanceofpassivevoice.Deadlinestokeepinmind.Week2

ChooseapreliminarytopicfortheessayandsubmitbyemailtotheGSIbyThursday,16September16,4:00pm.Week4 SubmitfirstdraftofessaytotheCToolscoursesitebyuploadingintoAssignments.Donotusethedropbox.Week7 SubmitrevisedessaytotheCToolscoursesiteby5:00pm,Wednesday,October20.Revisedessayssubmittedafterthisdateandtimewillbepenalized10%ofthegradefortheassignment.