Cadre 11
Spring 2007
Ray Gen
AIM docraygen
Web Site
www.genconnection.com
Cell
Phone 310.908.1718
This course is
designed to introduce you to applied ethics. Because this course is part of the
Educational Technology doctoral sequence, special emphasis will be given to
ethical dilemmas that arise because of technology. You will learn about ethical
frameworks and the application of these frameworks to the cases presented. The
goal is to help you to develop the ability to make decisions grounded in your
personal ethical framework when you are faced with similar dilemmas. The course
will also increase your awareness of the ethical dilemmas caused by technology,
for which there might not yet be clear moral or legal answers, and enable you
to discuss these issues in ways that are less divisive and that lead to more
constructive problem-solving.
1.
Develop an understanding of the major
ethical frameworks.
2.
Develop an understanding of your own
personal ethical framework and its tenability when confronted with conflict and
ambiguity.
3.
Demonstrate an understanding of the
importance of sound ethical decision-making, both in your personal life as well
as in your professional life.
4.
Scrutinize your own ethical position on
controversial leadership or management issues and appreciate the point of view
of others who disagree.
5.
Demonstrate an ability to analyze ethical
dilemmas in a systematic manner.
Ermann, M. D., & Shauf,
M.S., eds
. (2003, 3rd ed.). Computers,
ethics, and society.
Winston, M. E., & Edelbach, R.
D., eds. (2006, 3rd ed.) Society, ethics, and technology.
Recommended:
Kurzweil, R.
(2005). The singularity is near.
In addition, you
will be responsible for selecting and reading one additional book plus
additional resources on a topic of your choice related to ethics and
technology. The selection of topics from which you might choose is widely
varied; you should choose something related to an area of concern for
you. Some examples might be topics such bioengineering of foods, cloning,
uses of medical databases, privacy issues, intellectual property rights,
equitable digital access, or outsourcing, to name just a few that have been in
the news lately. It would be highly desirable for you to choose two books,
each with differing points of view on your chosen topic, but that has become
increasingly difficult as books in these fields often tend to be composed of
edited selections from many points of view. The concept here is for you to
explore fully an area where ethical dilemmas are emerging. You must then be able to develop a scenario
that describes a realistic ethical dilemma that presents two equally viable
ethical points of view (in other words, points of view that you can document
and use quotes from your readings to support) as possibilities for us to
consider.
For many of you,
this may be an opportunity to explore a point of view where you are firmly
convinced of the basis for your own decision-making, based on your ethical
framework, but you realize that others hold equally firm beliefs. For others, this may be an opportunity to
explore the points of view in an emerging area of interest, an area that you
know you might face in your field but have not yet come to grips with.
Web Resources
These resources
may be helpful to you in finding information about topics we discuss throughout
this course. The content on their sites focus on topics of interest to
applied ethics and frequently relate to issues in the news regarding technology
and questions raised that cannot be easily resolved by current laws or moral
values. The Electronic Frontier Foundation was founded by Mitch Kapor, the founder of Lotus (an early software developer)
and it focuses on many of the issues raised by technology that the law does not
yet handle adequately.
Ethics
Update : http://ethics.acusd.edu/index.asp
Centre
for Applied Ethics :
http://www.ethicsweb.ca/resources/
Electronic
Frontier Foundation: http://www.eff.org/
Get your daily ethical decision making at
http://www.moralbliss.com/ (Thanks Kathleen)
This is my
suggested outline for the topics and timing of our use of Blackboard and TappedIn. Some of
this may change as groups sign up for case studies.
|
Date |
Topic |
Medium |
|
Jan.
16 |
Introductions
|
TappedIn (TI) BlackBoard (BB) |
|
Jan.
23 |
Ethical
Frameworks: What’s yours? |
BB BB |
|
F2F
Week Winston
& Edelbach |
Ethical
Frameworks: (continued) |
F2F F2F BB |
|
Feb.
6 Ermann & Shauf pp.23-81 |
Ethical
Issues |
BB |
|
Feb.
13 pp.
153-385 (selections) |
Cadre
Ethics Resource Wiki or Web Site Due Ethical
Issues |
TI
(office hour 6pm–7pm, stop by if you
want) BB |
|
Feb.
20 |
Ripped
- Group 1 (post night before for
discussion in BB on Feb 20) |
BB |
|
Feb.
27 Ermann & Shauf
pp. 85-133 |
Ripped
– Group 2 (post in BB night before for discussion in TI on Feb 27)
|
TI
& BB BB |
|
March
6 |
Case
Study Due |
BB
TI
(office hour 6pm–7pm, stop by if you
want) |
|
March
13 |
Case
Study Discussion |
BB |
|
March
20 |
Ethical
Issues |
|
|
March
27 |
Ripped
3 (post night before for discussion in BB on Mar 27) |
BB |
|
April
3 |
Ripped
4 (post in BB night before for discussion in TI on Ap
3) Ethical
Issues |
TI
& BB BB |
|
April
10 |
Work
on Ethical Dilemma Paper |
No
meeting |
|
April
17 |
Discuss
all final projects Paper
Due |
TI
(6 pm) BB
posted by midnight |
Subject
to change due to class needs.
TappedIn times will be at 6 pm (Pacific) on
Tuesdays. If this does not work for some we can negotiate another time. Our asynchronous work will be in Blackboard or
on a wiki.
|
Activities |
Due Date |
Points |
|
Participation |
Throughout
course |
30 |
|
Cadre Ethics Resource
Wiki or Web Site |
Feb 13 |
15 |
|
Case Study
(groups of 4) |
March 6 |
15 |
|
Ripped From
the Headlines |
Feb 20, 27;
Mar 27; Apr 3 |
15 |
|
Final Paper:
Ethical Dilemma Paper |
April 17 |
25 |
This is more
than just showing up for synchronous sessions and occasionally posting to the
forum in Blackboard. To be adequate in your participation you need to
demonstrate some deep reflection. Why do you have the ethical belief that you
do? How do you defend it? How do you deal with contrary points of view? Make
sure you ground your thinking with references to things you are reading. Give
complete citations. To be exemplary in your participation you should not only
cite the required reading but also other related resources. We are looking for
well-reasoned arguments, based in thinking that is grounded in ethical
frameworks.
Think of the
following in your discussion:
* Are specific alternative courses of
action identified?
* Do they respond specifically to the
issues in the case?
* Is there adequate ethical evaluation
of alternatives?
* Have
ethical principles (frameworks) used in the evaluations been clearly identified?
Cadre Ethics Resource
Wiki or Web Site
(Cadre Class
Project – each member of the class must participate)
Utilitarianism (consequentialism), Right Action (Deontologism
or Categorical Imperative), Virtue Ethics (Aristotle’s cardinal virtues),
or Relativism, among others, are some of the key ethical frameworks often
considered to be the key ethical frameworks. You may want to include others as
well. For this activity you will develop an evolving resource in a wiki, web site or Blackboard for each of these frameworks
(plus any others you wish to add). The goal is to help you develop a
deeper understanding of the concepts behind the frameworks and how the
frameworks are applied to contemporary ethical dilemmas. To do this, you need to think about what a wikipedia-like resource might include. What resources can you find that help you
most….and what might help others also find them useful?
At a minimum,
these pieces of information would be helpful in first establishing the basic
understanding of these frameworks.
* What are the key guidelines of this
framework?
* Who was the primary founder of this
ethical framework?
* What are the key books written about
this framework?
* What key quotes can help guide our
understanding of this framework?
* What is the history of this framework?
Using this as
the basic information then, you need to, as a larger group, come to a deeper
understanding of the meaning of these ethical frameworks as they apply to our
lives on a daily basis. Your understanding of this can develop through
your conversations with each other about these frameworks as you come to
understand them and understand how they can be used to make decisions when
faced with an ethical dilemma. Ethical frameworks are often part of our tacit
knowledge. To make tacit knowledge explicit we have to have
dialogue. So you will need to have some sessions where you use TI, AIM, Skype, or Blackboard itself to talk through your
understandings. The artifacts of this dialogue should also be stored in
the forum for others to see who didn't participate. You can add blogs or podcasts that show your
personal reflections as well. The idea is that we understand more when we
work through building our knowledge of these concepts together.
Concurrent with
developing your understanding of these frameworks we will be looking at some
ethical dilemmas in our TappedIn and BlackBoard discussions. We will use the ethical frameworks
to discuss possible solutions to dealing with the problems that arise in
dealing with these ethical dilemmas. In
this way we will be able to see how the application of these ethical frameworks
often helps us to deal with dilemmas when existing law or moral
guidelines/religion don’t offer guidance or the guidance is ambiguous.
In groups of no
more than 4, choose an ethical
dilemma that you envision being caused by the merging of technology with
everyday life, medicine
or biology.
In Blackboard,
create a case analysis. This analysis should follow this outline:
·
Problem
or Issue: one or two sentences. This might be in the form of a
question.
·
Analysis:
Elaborate on the problem or issue. Give actors, setting and background if
important. Explain why the problem is an ethical dilemma. Be clear in
describing the ethical principle or values at stake. Give all necessary
facts.
·
Alternatives:
Describe two or more reasonable alternatives. Analyze the alternatives
applying the ethical principles you said were at stake. Put yourself in
the actor's shoes and struggle with the dilemma. This should be a personal
confrontation with the dilemma
·
Recommendation:
Give a one sentence description followed by a more detailed elaboration.
Who is to do what, when, how, with what resources, and what cautions.
·
Rationale:
Give your reasons for the recommendation. Why is it the ethical thing to
do? Good arguments are critical. Anticipate reasonable objections.
·
Implementation:
Explain how your recommendation will be workable.
Post this case
to a forum you create in Blackboard. Be succinct; the case should be no more
than the equivalent of 2 pages.
Your group will
be responsible for leading a class discussion of this case that week in
TI or BB. You also
need to determine how best to make these sessions engaging and yet allow all to
participate fully and present their viewpoints.
It is your challenge as a group to set up the session in a way that will
be creatively engaging, but will also ensure that we are required to
demonstrate our understanding of ethics and to ground our discussion in more
than just personal intuition about the situation.
In groups of 3 create
one case analysis based on an ethical dilemma that you find in daily
headlines. To present this case, first
create a new thread under Ripped headline in Blackboard. Then follow the same format outlined for the case study that you will do as a group. This case analysis does not need to include
as many supplementary resources, but otherwise it should follow all the same
concepts as the Case Study activity.
Most importantly, be sure that the issue you choose from the headlines
is truly an ethical dilemma. In other
words, be sure that there are two equally competing frameworks that might
apply…and that this is an area where the law or religion is either ambiguous or
silent in telling us how to act.
Please present
the case analysis in such a way that we all are challenged to participate in
the decision-making as well and to participate in the discussion on the topic.
Part of your participation will include participation in these discussions as
well. Post one analysis by the end of
March at the latest.
As a final
project you will be responsible for selecting and reading one book on a topic
of your choice related to ethics and technology. The selection of topics
in applied ethics that is impacted by technology is widely varied; you should
choose something related to an area of concern or where you work. Some
examples might be topics such as bioengineering of foods, cloning, equitable
digital access , or outsourcing, to name just a few
that have been in the news lately. (Hint:
start researching early to see what is available for topics of interest so that you can get the book(s) and start reading.)
You will prepare
an 8 page paper (using APA style) that does the following:
1.
Creates
a scenario for the ethical dilemma as you see it. This scenario puts us
in a real life setting that allows us to see how this ethical dilemma plays out
in daily life.
2.
Indicates
why this is an ethical dilemma. In other words, show us why current laws
or religious principles are not adequate to guide us in our decision-making in
this instance because they are either conflicting or they simply don't address
this issue. Indicate how the situation
you present us with shows us two or more equally compelling possible actions,
actions that might be equally acceptable given certain ethical decision-making.
3.
Indicates
your analysis, based on a variety of ethical frameworks and on the reading that
you did. This should include any facts you have uncovered. It is
particularly important that you point us to any laws or religious principles
that might apply but are unclear in their application.
4.
Outlines
your ethical decision and gives the
ethical framework for your decision. At the conclusion of your paper you MUST
indicate the decision you came to in resolving the dilemma you present in the
scenario you open your paper with AND you must give the ethical framework that
is the basis of that decision-making. Further, you must indicate what
steps you would take if you were in a position of leadership and had to
personally guide the resolution of this ethical dilemma. Preferably, the paper would be written as if
you were responsible for handling the situation and had to deal with the issue
so that in the end you are responsible for the resolution.
In addition,
add to your wiki/web pages issues that you have come
across in your study. This page is NOT a summary of your paper. It should give the
reader the resources available to
those who might find themselves confronted with a similar dilemma. In
other words, this could be very similar to a resource page from Wikipedia.
CODE OF CONDUCT: The Graduate School of Education and
Psychology strives to create a learning environment which is respectful of the
rights and dignity of all members of our learning community. Students are
expected to conduct themselves in a collegial, respectful, and professional
manner while participating in all activities associated with this course.
Students are expected to exhibit behaviors and attitudes consistent with
appropriate ethical-legal standards, and to refrain from any fraudulent,
dishonest, or harmful behaviors such as plagiarism, cheating, or harassment,
which compromise the integrity of the academic standards of the university
and/or impact the safety and security of fellow students, staff, and faculty.
Failure to comply with appropriate standards of conduct may result in a grade
of “F” in the course and dismissal from the program.
DISABILITY STATEMENT:
Any student with a documented disability (physical, learning, or
psychological) needing academic accommodations should contact the Disability
Services Office (Malibu Campus, Tyler Campus Center 225, 310.506.6500) as early
in the semester as possible. All
discussions will remain confidential.
Please visit http://www.pepperdine.edu/disabilityservices/ for additional information.