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Week #
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Topic(s)
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Activities
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Reading
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Due Dates
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Possible Participation
Activities
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1
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Introduction to course.
Introduction to issues and problems. Benefits of computers. Discussion of assignments. (See
presentation assignment and term paper assignment)
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Guest Lecture: CSRC & Service Learning
Opportunities
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Read: A Gift of
Fire, Chapter 1
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2
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Presentation & writing tips
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Student presentations (5):
Privacy: introduction; new
threats and issues. Consumer data and privacy. Internet issues. Government use
of and personal data. Surveillance technologies.
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Read: A Gift of Fire, Sections
2.1-2.4
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Essay #1 Due end of
week
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-
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3
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Guest Lecture: Resume Development
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Student
presentations (3):
Technical methods of
privacy protection. Philosophical views of privacy. Policies for privacy
protection
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Read: A Gift of Fire, Sections
2.5-2.6
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Resume & Cover
Letter due end of week
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-
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4
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Guest Lecture: Interviewing
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Student presentations (3):
Communications issues.
Interception of communications. Cryptography and encryption
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Read: A Gift of Fire, Chapter 3
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-
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5
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Guest Lecture: Industrial Affiliates Panel Discussion.
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Student
presentations (3):
Computer errors and failures. Therac-25
Case. Responsibility for failures.
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Read: A Gift of Fire, Secs. 4.1-4.3
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Term Paper topic description
due end of week, see
http://courses.cs.vt.edu/~cs3604/fall03/Writing/spec_termpaper.html for
more info.
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6
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Student
presentations (2):
Risk, comparisons with other technologies,
importance of good professional practices. Evaluating computer models.
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Class Activity: Mock trial for the Therac-25 deaths
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Read: A Gift of Fire, Secs. 4.4-4.5
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Mock Trial
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7
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Student
presentations (3):
Freedom of speech and attempts to censor
the Internet. Filters in libraries. International issues;
Student
presentations (2):
Anonymity; spam
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-
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Read: A Gift of Fire, Secs. 5.1-5.2;
Read: A Gift of Fire, Secs. 5.3-5.5
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8
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Student
presentations (5):
Intellectual property issues, copyright and
fair use. "Piracy" of software, music, movies, etc.
Copy protection techniques (controversies about digital rights management).
DMCA controversies. Free software
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Class Activity, Chapter 6
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Read: A Gift of Fire, Secs. 6.1-6.4
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Class Activity
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9
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Student
presentations (4):
Hacking. Online scams. Other computer
crimes. Crime fighting
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Class Activity,
Chapter 7
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Read: A Gift of Fire, Chapter 7
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Essay #2 due end of week
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Class activity
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10
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Student
presentations (4):
Computers in the workplace: effects
on employment. Telecommuting. Employee monitoring. E-mail privacy
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Class Activity, Chapter 8
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Read: A Gift of Fire, Chapter 8
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Debate Topics due
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Class Activity
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11
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Student
presentations (5):
General social issues. Impact on community;
access to computing. Gender and ethnic issues. Overall evaluations of
technology; Luddites. The difficulty of predicting benefits and problems
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Class Activity, Chapter 9
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Read: A Gift of Fire, Chapter 9
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Draft of Term Paper Due
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Class Activity
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12
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Student
presentations (3):
Ethics. Ethical issues for computer
professionals. Professional codes, guidelines, and responsibilities;
Student
presentations (2):
The Software Engineering Code. The ACM
Code.
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Read: A Gift of Fire, Secs. 10.1-10.2; Read: A Gift of Fire,
Sec. 10.4, Appendix A.1 and A.2
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-
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13
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Student
presentations (5):
Chapter 10.3.1-.5 Cases
Student
presentations (5):
Chapter 10.3.6-.10 Cases
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Term Papers (Final copy due)
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14
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Debates.
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15
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Debates (cont.);
Review for Final
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Final Exams
Section I:
Wednesday, December 17th, 7:45-9:45AM
Section II: Friday,
December 12th, 7:45-9:45AM
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