CS300T Computers in Society
Spring 2012
Course Syllabus
Course Text

A Gift of Fire: Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues for Computing and the Internet(3rd
Edition); Sara Baase, Prentice Hall, ISBN 978-0136008484
Course Objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, the student will have gained an increased
awareness of the relative impact that the technological development of the digital
computer has had and is expected have on society. The primary focus will be on the
problems posed by and benefits offered by computers. Students will research areas of
computers in society to include technological hardware advances, as well as software
packages. Students will study the history of computers and the Internet and evaluate
the impacts of computers on societal issues, communication and social networks,
computer crime and fraud, intellectual property rights and constitutional issues, the
importance of studying reliability and encryption and ethical behavior. They will create
wiki posts and manage and respond to blogs on these topics. Students will explore the
applications of computers in education, medicine, transportation, finance and business,
entertainment, and marketing and trade. Students will be assigned to teams that will
research aspects of these topics and the members of these groups will make
presentations on their research either being on the pro- and con-side of a group
selected thesis. Finally, students will individually write a research paper on a topic of
their choosing relevant to this course.
Web course specifics:
An email will be sent to all students enrolled in the course a week before the semester
begins. The email (both through Leo and Blackboard) will welcome the students to the
course, and point them to the syllabus and Blackboard content. Students MUST use
odu.edu email addresses throughout the course – use ‘CS300’ as prefix in subject line.
All “lectures” are provided to students as content modules in Blackboard and students
are responsible to complete all modules according to the schedule/calendar provided.
The first two modules will be revealed before class starts; the 3rd is revealed at end of
week 2. At beginning of week 3, the modules (8-13) needed for the group project will be
revealed and the remaining modules (4-7, 14) will be revealed at end of week 3.
The key to success with this web course will be a thorough familiarity with the task
list/schedule at the end of this syllabus and the calendar of events provided in
Blackboard. It is your responsibility to comply with all the deadlines for submissions of
the assignments. Please note that assignments and tasks begin in the first week.
Any of the TAs listed at the beginning of the syllabus can be contacted online during
their stated office hours.
Questions?
If you have any technical question such as: “I cannot get my wiki file uploaded, what do I
do?” You should first check the available online documentation and tutorials in
Blackboard. If you still have problems, contact next a TA who specializes in the area of
your problem (see the mapping at the beginning of the syllabus). We have four
specialization areas: wiki, blog, written project, group project. Finally contact the faculty
member specializing in your problem area (again see beginning of syllabus).
If your question concerns anything that will affect your grade directly such as: “I am sick
and will not be able to do wiki 3, what do I do?” You should contact the instructor of
your section.
Course Limitations
The subject area of "Computers in Society" is so vast that CS 300T can do nothing more
than scratch the surface. We will aim for breadth rather than depth in the “lectures”
and for depth rather than breadth in the group projects and written assignments. We
will strive to strike a balance between a systematic approach provided through the
textbook and a current-event dominated approach that will be used in the research
oriented parts of the course.
Course References
In addition to the required text, students will use the World Wide Web in their research.
In Blackboard, we will provide a syllabus, guidelines for the various assignments, a
grading scale, a course calendar and the “lecture” materials associated with each of the
14 modules.
Course Topics
Following the textbook:
 History of computers and definitions of a society
 History of the Internet and current uses
 Societal issues due to computers
 Communications and social networks
 Crime and Prevention



Intellectual Property/Constitutional Issues
Reliability
Professional Ethics and Responsibilities
Research for group project using the Internet:
 Education
 Medicine
 Transportation
 Finance and Business
 Entertainment
 Marketing and Trade
Course Requirements
1. Wiki Posts: Students must perform unbiased Internet research on each of the first 8
topics of the course (see above under ‘textbook’) pertaining to a given societal area.
The results of the research must be summarized and documented with appropriate
online references. The summaries are to be submitted in the format of a Wiki post
in Blackboard. Eight posts will be required of each student.
2. Blog Posts: Students will be asked to contribute to the more biased, or personal
opinion/experience, aspects of the course. In the first week, students will start a
blog with a description of them and continue with their viewpoints on a self-selected
theme from an assigned topic. These documents will be submitted as a personal
blog in Blackboard. The students will be required to monitor the responses made to
their blog by others in the course. It is expected, as the author of that blog, that
reasonable updates are made to the at least one comment. Students are required to
read the blog posts made by other students and provide comments to at least one
blogger each week. We ensure that the responses are distributed equally to all
blogs. Blog writers can earn extra credit by stimulating lively and extensive
discussions.
3. Research Paper: Each student will complete a research project that will consist of a
final written paper. The project must address issues relevant to the spectrum of
course topics.
4. Group Project: Students will be placed into groups of ten or fewer with other class
members. The student groups will be required to complete a group project related
to the assigned topic area. The project will require research on a current use of
computers in one of the following topics: education, medicine, transportation,
finance and business, entertainment, or marketing and trade. The group will decide
on the thesis to be researched and assign individual members to research specific
pro and con aspects. Each student will then individually prepare a presentation (for
web courses, students have to augment the PowerPoint presentations with audio
(preferred) or with a transcript indexed to the individual slides) the rest of the
students will listen to and then critique it. The presentation should be in the range of
5-7 minutes with room for a short questions and answers (1-2 minutes) session.
5. Critiques: Students are required to critique all the student project presentations,
incorporating what they have learned from the corresponding module in
Blackboard. Students also evaluate the presentations and collaboration effort of the
members of their own group.
Group memberships
At the end of the 1st week, the instructor will post a master list of all Blog and Project
groups in the Course Information section; the list will be updated as the groups are
finalized by the end of the 2nd week.
Course Evaluation
Final grades will be based on the following weights:
Graded Element
Wiki Posts – 8 required of each student
Blog
- Creation of personal blog and at least one entry
- Monitoring of Blog comments with at least one response
- Commenting on another blog
Group Project
- Individual’s group self-critique, collaborative contributions
- Individual student presentation
Group Project Critiques – of all other 5 groups required
Research Paper
Total Percentage Points
Bonus – Up to 10 additional points may be awarded to those
students whose online discussions exceed expectations
Points towards
Final Grade
20
10
5
5
5
20
10
25
100
10
Course Schedule and Tasks
Module
Topic
Textbook-Based
1
History of
Computers
2
History of the
Internet
3
4
Societal Issues
Communications
5
Privacy, Crime
and Prevention
6
Intellectual
Property
7
14
Reliability
Professional
Ethics
Group #
Research-Based
Student Assignments
Wiki Post
Blog Post
Group
Project
Create and
Submit Student
Bio
Request
Group
Assignment
Module 1
Specialists
One Post Assigned
Per Week Remaining
Teams
(Total 8) Specialists
Assigned
Assigned
Research and
Submit/monitor/r Collaboratio
espond post
n
based upon
Select Topic,
Theme Specialist ID Pro/Con
Assignment
Members
Instructor
Approval
Respond to other Provided
blogs
Prepare
Individual
Presentation
s
Group
Research Paper
Individual
Research on
Topic
Selection,
Thesis, Outline,
and References
Thesis, Outline
and References
Due
Instructor
Approval
Research Paper
Project
8
9
10
11
12
13
Education
Medicine
Transportation
Finance and
Business
Entertainment
Marketing and
Trade
Student Requirement
Instructor Provided
Presentation
s and
evaluation of
own group
Critique
other
presentation
s
Due for
Indicated
Group
Marketing
Entertainment
Finance
Transportation
Medicine
Education
Student Deadlines (All must be complete by Midnight EST of Date Due)
Assignment
Deadline
Student Bio
Friday of Week 1
Wiki Submissions
Friday of each Week
Blog Specialist Posts
Wednesday of Assigned Week
Blog Comments to Specialist Posts
Friday of each Week
Blog Specialists Responses to Comments
Sunday of Assigned Week
Group Project Thesis and Pro/Con
Monday of Week 5
Assignments
Group Project Presentations
Monday of Assigned Week
Group Project Team Member Evaluations
Wednesday of Assigned Week
Group Project Critiques
Friday of Each Week
Written Project Thesis, Outline, and
Monday of Week 6
Reference List
Written Project
Friday of the Week Assigned – See above
table
Instructor Deadlines
Assignment
Deadline
Blog Theme Specialist Assignments – Module Sunday of Week 1
2
Blog Theme Specialist Assignments –
Sunday of Week 2
Modules 3-7,14
Group Project Team Assignments
Sunday of Week 2
Approval of Group Project Thesis, Pro/Con
Wednesday of Week 5
Selections
Approval of Written Project Thesis, Outline,
Friday of Week 6
and Reference List
Course Policies
If the files for the written assignments and the presentation are not turned in on or
before the designated due dates, a grade of ZERO will be assigned for the missed
grading element unless the instructor has given prior permission. Any student who fails
to perform in a satisfactory manner on the course project may possibly not pass the
course regardless of the student's overall point total.
Every communication provided by a student must be professional and respectful. All
course related communication has to be done through Blackboard and will be read by
the instructor and/or the teaching assistant. Any deemed unacceptable can result in a
grade penalty and may be reported as a violation of the Honor Code.
Any plagiarism will be dealt with severely with a minimum penalty of a grade of ZERO
for the assignment. This is considered a violation of the Honor Code and could result in
formal charges.
All students are expected to abide by the ODU Honor Code. This means that all exams
and assignments are to be the exclusive work of the student. For more details on the
ODU honor code, refer to the Honor pledge posted at
http://orgs.odu.edu/hc/pages/Honor_Code.shtml.