CIS 490/590 Computer Ethics
Final Projects
Winter 2008


Final Projects give us the opportunity to explore the issue areas in greater depth. We will be
relying primarily on the text for our weekly assignments and discussions, but there are many,
in-depth discussions of these topics on the web and in books, etc.
We will split the class into groups of undergrads or 3 grads,
to be determined alphabetically. I will post the groups during week 3.

Each group will a submit a one-page project proposal on 12 February, which will indicate the topic
and provide a list of references. The topic can be any issue falling within the broad scope of the course
- ethical issues and social impacts of computing and networking.


A final project will consist of two things:

(i) An annotated web page , consisting of an essay with links to relevant resources available on the web
regarding the topic. The essay will present a general analysis of the ethical issue(s) addressed by your project.
Each link is to be annotated with a brief paragraph, indicating what can be found at the site
and why it is relevant. Limit the external links to at most 6 key resources.
Your essay will be of 4-6 pages.

(ii) A fifteen minute presentation to be given during the time for the final exam (8am Tuesday, 18 March).
The presentation will be in the form of a debate. One group member will act as moderator and introduce the debate topic,
including general background for this issue and the specific scenario and ethical questions(s) to be addressed by the debate.
The rest of the group will be split into two (or more) sides, expressing their points
of view on the question raised through a "staged" debate. Leave a few minutes for questions/comments from the "audience" at the end.