EPS 415

EPS 415 - Information Technology Ethics

EPS 415, Information Technology Ethics, was the fifth course in the M.Ed. program, and focused on the continuing battle between ethics and technology. Oftentimes, technology stretches the limits of ethics or creates new challenges. This course, after introducing the basics of ethics, exposed those challenges, especially as they relate to education. This course required a variety of assignments, including a weekly discuss & debate session, weekly personal reaction/reflection, bringing forward a current event related to ethics & technology, and culminated in a group project which discussed a certain topic. In our group's case, the topic was privacy.

Goals & Objectives

Course Goals

The goals of this course include:

• To question conventional assumptions about new technologies.
• To identify flaws in claims, take stances on issues, and provide justification for those stances.
• To use the technology that we are learning about in this course.
• To engage in inquiry-based learning to stimulate critical thinking and discussion.

Course Objectives

In this course students will:

• Use and become comfortable with online learning tools.
• Comment on and critique each other’s opinions in a respectful way.
• Learn the best ways of collaborating online with a group.
• Analyze case studies and articles to improve their critical thinking and demonstrate that they have considered more than one point of view.
• Ask questions that show they have read the materials and are concerned about finding answers

Blog Postings:

• M1: Ethics & Personal Values

• M2: Web Accessibility

• M3: Fair Use

• M4: Critical Thinking

• M5: Internet Filters

• M6: Social Networking

• M7: Technological Literacy

• M8: Course Reflection