CS 105 Computer Ethics and Society

Fall 2013, 1 Credit - George Mason University

This is a 10-week course and the final exam will be in class on the 11th week.

Lecturer Fred Geldon fgeldon@gmu.edu 301-424-4554

No office hours; available before or after class or by appointment.

Teaching Assistant Office Hours available by appointment

Contact
We strongly encourage you to contact the instructor or UTA if you are experiencing difficulty with the course. We are here to help you learn.
For all e-mail communications, please include the course and section number in your e-mail subject line to avoid being flagged as spam. For example

Subject: CS 105 Section 004 Question about Kantianism

Materials

• Textbook: Quinn, Michael J., "Ethics for the Information Age" 5th Ed., Addison-Wesley, 2013. The textbook is required and students are expected to keep up with readings

• Web: Blackboard at mymasonportal.gmu.edu. Be sure to look for the link to the combined sections (both 004 and 008) of CS 105. Additional materials (readings, slides, announcements) will be available through the web site. Use this for syllabus, schedule, submitting assignments, posting discussions, and Q&A. User ID and password are same as GMU email login.

Course Description
Legal, social, and ethical issues surrounding use of computers and the internet. The course will stress ethical decision-making as well as legal and social responsibility in connection with technology-related concerns. Issues such as security, crime, privacy and intellectual property will be examined in the context of computer use. Students may be requested to conduct research on the internet in any of these areas and/or learn to use practical technological tools related to privacy and security.

Learning Outcomes

1. Students will understand many of the key ethical, legal and social issues related to information technology and how to interpret and comply with ethical principles, laws, regulations and institutional policies.

2. Students will understand the essential issues related to information security, how to take precautions and use techniques and tools to defend against computer crimes.

Prerequisites: None
General Education: This course has been approved to satisfy the GMU General Education requirement for one credit of IT Ethics.

Course Work
This is a discussion-based course. You are expected to attend all course meetings and participate in conversations about course material as well as in-class activities relevant to the course. To facilitate this, assigned readings are to be done before class.

There are two major writing assignments to be done outside of class which comprise a substantial portion of the overall grade. Additional work such as outside research or contributing to discussion board topics may be assigned.

It is important that you attend class on a regular basis. You may attend an alternate lecture session presented by the same instructor if you miss your own. However, unless you obtain advance approval from your instructor, you may not receive credit for class participation when attending a section by a different instructor.

Grading and Evaluation
Grading will be based on two major assignments, in-class quizzes, overall in-class participation, and the final exam. These are weighted as follows:

Policies
Unless otherwise specified, all papers and other written assignments are to be individual efforts. Certain portions of group assignments may require individual efforts as well. Be careful to follow instructions regarding acceptable group efforts. Plagiarism is governed by the GMU Honor Code and will not be tolerated. Instances of cheating and/or plagiarism will be referred to the Honor Committee.

Absences and Participation Credit - Absences from class for health or emergency reasons are excusable only if notice is provided, in advance if possible, or as soon as possible otherwise.

Late Work - Unless an extension has been given, late assignments will carry a daily penalty (typically 5-10%) for every day late (up to 50%). Pay attention to deadlines!