Related Resources

Textbooks and Websites

A Textbook that Emerged from the Course. From 1988, when the course first was taught, until the mid 1990s, the instructor tried a variety of teaching strategies, assignments and pedagogical materials. The result was a set of readings, slide presentations, class activities and assignments that worked reasonably well. Beginning in 1997, students in the course were asked to evaluate materials, exams, writing assignment and teaching methods. They also were invited to suggest alternative readings, study questions, and cases for analysis.

By 2002, classroom-tested materials for an excellent textbook had been identified, developed and refined. At that time, Professor Simon Rogerson of the Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility at De Montfort University in England (with whom the instructor had collaborated for many years) was asked to join the textbook project as co-editor. A first-class textbook was created containing "classic" readings by major figures in the field of Computer Ethics, plus basic study questions, realistic cases for analysis, and helpful lists of additional study materials. The book was published in 2004 by Blackwell of Oxford, England:

Terrell Ward Bynum and Simon Rogerson, Editors,
Computer Ethics and Professional Responsibility,
Blackwell, 2004, xviii and 358 pp., ISBN (hardcover)
1-85554-844-5; ISBN (softcover) 1-85554-845-3.

This textbook is currently being used not only in the present course, but also in Computer Ethics courses at English-speaking colleges and universities around the world. (It is scheduled for publication in Chinese by Peking University Press in 2007.)

Course Related Websites

There are two web sites associated with this course. One, which is accessible only to course members, is the WebCT site on which
class "handouts" are posted and students take their online quizzes and surveys. The site provides course-related email service for students, as well as 24-hour access to their grades and attendance records. Online course discussions and team discussions occur on this site as well.

The other web site, which is closely tied to that of the Research Center on Computing & Society at the University, has the following web address:
Computer Ethics & Professional Research

It contains a variety of resources to complement the course textbook, including:

- Basic study questions for all of the Editors' Introductions
- Sample answers to some of the "Basic Study Questions" in the textbook
- Sample student essays from courses that used the textbook in the past
- Additional cases to analyze beyond those that are included in the textbook
- Links to Internet resources suggested in the textbook
- Links to additional Internet resources not mentioned in the textbook
- A list of further readings beyond those already cited in the textbook
- Additional resources as they are identified or developed

The site is continually expanding as additional resources become available. Some of the materials on this site were created by students who took the course in past semesters.