Syllabus

COSC 105: Everyday Computing and Social Responsibility

Winter 2012

Instructor: Dr. William Sverdlik
Office: 512 E Pray-Harrold
Office Hours: (tentative) MW 1:00pm-3:00pm, W 3:00pm-5:00pm. Other times by appointment. 
Phone: 734-487-7081
e-mail: wsverdlik@emich.edu

Meeting Times:     MW 8:00-9:50 217 PH
                              

Textbook:  Baase, A Gift of Fire - Social, legal, and ethical issues for computers and the Internet, 3rd Edition; by Sara Basse; Prentice Hall; ISBN 0-13-008215-5. Please Note: we will be using the third edition!

Objectives:
-The primary goal of the course is to provide students with practical knowledge of everyday computer use and a more complete understanding of global issues arising
from computer technology beyond the general use of application programs.
-This course combines extensive exploration of social, political, legal, and ethical issues faced by everyday computer users with hands-on practice using a broad variety of
online and computer productivity tools to support socially responsible computer use in a diverse environment.
-In addition, the class includes diverse topics such as the Internet, personal liberties, privacy, information acquisition, process, and information security, from both a the-
oretical and a hands-on perspective. To fulfill this objective, the class utilizes access of vast information resources of the Internet and employs quantitative reasoning tools
(such as spreadsheet applications) where data is collected, analyzed, findings are in-terpreted and conclusions are provided.
-Overall, the class increases global awareness stemming from use of computer technology, positions its students to identify pertinent ethical, legal as well as social computing
issues while enabling them to develop solutions within the context of information management in an ever-changing world.

What we'll do:

1) You will form small groups (3 students) to present a selected reading from the textbook. Your group must lead a discussion on the readings, as well as post a web page outlining the pertinent points. This web page will become a study quide for the entire class. The web page MUST be posted by the time you make your presentation. The rest of the class will grade the quality of your web page ; it is your respondibility to correct any major shortcomings pointed out to you. (25% of your grade)

2) I will post various newspaper articles/topics relating to ideas we are discussing in class. Again, a small group (3 students) will be assigned to research the topic, present it to class and post a web page outlining the important points of the article. This web page will be graded by the rest of the class and should be updated as inidcated by others. This page must be posted by the day you present your talk.(25% of your grade)

     This is unbelievable!!

    Germany and the Right to Privacy
    Digital Lipstick - text messaging
    Taylored Web Searches
    
       Electronic Medical Records
        Does it save money?
        Privacy issue (HIPA)
        Privacy and the Patriot Act  
        Net Neutrality 

3) Final exam! (25% of your grade)

4) Participation (including attendence and homework- 25% of your grade)
1/9-1/11
Overview 
1/16-1/18
1/16 (Monday) MLK Day - No Classes  // Intro to HTML
1/23-1/25
Searching the Internet
1/30-2/1
Chapter 1 - Simon//  Tom - Mobile Phone Security
2/6-2/8
Chapter 2.1 - 2.3 - Travis // Sharry - Music and the Internet
2/13-2/15
Chapter 2.4-2.5 - Tim //  No Class Wednesday 2/15
2/20-2/22
Chapter 3.1 - 3.2 - Tom(cancelled) // Travis - Technology in the Classroom
2/27-2/29
BREAK
3/5-3/7
Chapter 3.1 - 3.2 - Tom //  Tim - Social Media Advertising   
3/12-3/14
Chapter 3.3 - 3.6 Erik // Cymon- Electronic Cars
3/19-3/21
    // Tyler - Renewable Energy
3/26-3/28
Chapters 4.1-4.2 Sharry  // Jerome - Airport Security
4/2-4/4
Chapter 4.3-4.4 Tyler// Chris- WATSON
4/9-4/11  Chapter 4.5-4.7 Jerome// Tom and Cymon - Internet Gaming
4/16-4/18
Study Session //Erik - phreaking and hacking
4/23 Last day of Classes





How attendence will impact your grade:
every 2 classess missed will lower your grade by a half grade (e.g. B to a B-, or B- to a C+, etc.)


Results from these evaluations (including the teacher evaluation) can alter your grade up to a half grade.

Web Page  Evaluation Form Download

Attendance: I will randomly take attendence in this class, typically at the start of class. It is suggested that you not arrive late to class as you may be counted as absent. Attendance is required, not just because you are paying for your classes, but because there may be material discussed in class that is not in the textbook. There is also groupwork in this class; others depend on you being here. Your attendance will impact your participation grade. Missing too many classes will be subject to a severe grade penalty. If you plan on missing 4 or more class, I would suggest you drop the class. If for extreme situations (such as illness, death in the family, and car breakdown, etc) that you will be absent, you are required to notify me beforehand and bring legal support documents afterwards.

Late Hand-Ins: Assignments will be due at 8am on a given day. Late submissions are penalized 50% per late class period. This means that if you hand in the program at 8:05am on the due date, it will lose 50% of total credit.If you do not hand in your assignment on time, you will have until 7:59am the following class meeting day to hand it in and receive at most 50% credit. PLEASE NOTE: I enforce this rule strictly; this means you will not be able to print off your assignment on the due date. In other words, don't leave your homework until the last minute!

Cheating: It violates University policy, you know....so don't do it. Cheating is defined as representing all or part of someones elses work as your own. While you are certainly encouraged to seek the advice of others in this class on assignments, the work you hand in should represent your own efforts. Violation of this rule will be dealt with according to University policy. If you are really stuck on a problem, come see the instructor!

Some guiding principles for this class:

- I do not accept homework or programs submitted electronically
- I do not debug programs via e-mail
- I start class on time. I appreciate students being on time for class as well
- I am happy to discuss any grade you have received; however, I ask that you wait at least one day after you receive a graded assignment to discuss the grade with me.
- If you miss class, please don't ask me if we did anything important. IT IS IMPORTANT. Please don't ask me what we covered. GET THE PHONE NUMBER AND E-MAIL OF A CLASSMATE.
- Please turn off your cell phone before entering class.