Reference no: EM132420722

Argument visualisation

Task

Assessment items 3 & 4 are linked. In Assessment 3 you will create a simple argument visualisation using the MindMup software. In Assessment 4, you will produce a report which details the argument you construct in your argument visualisation (this assessment).

Choose ONE of the following media articles or case studies:
1. Data Collection: "Harvesting" Personalities Online - An Ethics Case Study
2. Who decides who dies in driverless car accidents?
3. Do We Want Robot Warriors to Decide Who Lives or Dies?
4. If computers think for themselves, should they have human rights?
5. Apps and Privacy - An Ethics Case Study

Now follow the instructions given below to complete the assessment task:

• Use the title of the article/case study as the title of your argument visualisation so that the lecturer knows which article you are analysing.
• Undertake further research about your chosen case and the ethical issue involved, to assist you in analysing it in your argument visualisation (and in your report in Assessment 4).
• Identify some logical arguments based on the four classical ethical theories including utilitarianism, deontology, contract, and virtue.
• Construct an argument visualisation using MindMup software. Your visualisation should contain the conclusion, and all of the reasons and objections leading to that conclusion.
• Your argument visualisation should present a logical argument for your subsequent report in Assessment 4. Your report will develop these arguments based on a deeper analysis of the ethical issue.
• Your report should contain all of the arguments contained in your visualisation, and you should not introduce new arguments in your essay that are not in your visualisation.

Rational.
This assessment task will assess the following learning outcome/s:
• be able to identify ethical issues related to ICT.
• be able to apply ethical theories to ethical problems.
• be able to analyse ethical situations using critical thinking techniques.

This assessment, together with Assessment 4, extends the skills practiced in Assessment items 1 and 2, to help you to achieve majority of the learning objectives of this subject.

In addition to identifying a contentious situation in ICT and dissecting the argument(s) about it, you must also now demonstrate the ability to evaluate the elements of the argument by applying classical ethical theories, where appropriate.

Since Assessment item 1 and 2, your knowledge will have grown, and you will now realise that almost all ICT ethical dilemmas can be classified under one of the main ICT ethical issues that are discussed in this subject; for instance, surveillance is a sub-issue of privacy, harmful software is a sub-issue of ICT professionalism, and piracy is a sub-issue of intellectual property.

In ICT, the main ethical issues are taken to be:
• ICT professionalism
• Privacy
• Security
• Cyber-crime
• Intellectual property
• Regulation on the internet
• Social inclusion
• Community and identity
• Pervasive and convergent computing.

The assessment item is designed to help you to build skills towards achieving the learning objectives, by requiring you to:
• identify an ICT-related ethical issue from a media article or case study;
• apply classical ethical theory to the analysis of an ethically dilemma to determine the rightness or wrongness of actions/decisions made therein;
• derive logical and justifiable conclusions to resolve the ethical issue(s);and,
• present the argument in a visual format.