BIT 303 IT Management, Ethics and Security

Assessment item 1: Ethics assessment

Due date: Week 6

Value: 25%

Assessment Individual
Mode:

Length: Minimum 2500 words

Maximum 2800 words

Course Learning Outcomes

This assignment provides an opportunity for the students to demonstrate their knowledge and to:

CLO3 : Analyze how the use of ICT have raised old moral problems in new ways

CLO4 : Explain the various concepts and applications of professional ethics in the ICT environment

Other General Learning Outcomes

 demonstrate research and writing skills;

 demonstrate knowledge and application of appropriate terminology; and

 demonstrate ability to integrate and apply information from various topics and to apply
understanding and knowledge to a practical situation.

Instructions

Every advancement in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is accompanied by at least

one ethical quandary. As much as information technology is important to our lives, it is facing some
serious ethical challenges. It is up to the IT experts and users of information technology to be ready for
these challenges. As more emerging information technologies introduced in the market, most of the IT
experts and users do not know how to go about the challenges brought about by these technologies.

Software developers, businesses and individuals must think about the rights and wrongs of using
information technology every day. The fundamental issues underlying the world of information
technology are the end user's expectation of privacy and the provider's ethical duty to use applications
or email responsibly.

This assignment will let you explores ethical issues related to the field of emerging ICTs. Based on a
foresight study of ICT which led to the identification of some current and future emerging
technologies as listed below:

i) Blockchain
ii) Deep learning (DL) or Machine Learning (ML)
iii) Internet of Things (IoT)
iv) Ambient Intelligence (Aml)
v) 5G Network Technology
vi) Bioelectronics
vii) Business Intelligence

Your Task
Choose ONE emerging technology listed above and identify the ethical issue arising from the use of
that technology that has been reported in the press recently (must be from year January 2018
onwards), and discuss it in depth.

Produce an essay discussing why or how the technology creates or contributes to the problem with the
use of real world examples and also both sides of the issue (good and bad). Your discussion should
also include technical and non-technical aspects. The justification for the ethical implications should
be in terms of philosophical literature, law and professional ethics. In addition, argue for your own
view of the matter, giving your reasons for your point of view and showing why you believe that they
are better than opposing views.

The text book has an obvious United States of America bias. You can choose to provide a comparative
discussion that includes how cultural differences impact on the US-centric view of ethical behaviour in
the context of the instructions above. You should clearly identify the differences and the country to
which those differences relate.

You will be assessed on your ability to reason, analyse and present cogent argument for a particular
case. You should outline the main statement you wish to make about your chosen ethical issue along
with your reasons and others’ objections to it. You must use philosophical, professional and legal
justifications to further justify your arguments. You may use any techniques to set out the basic
structure of your essay.
You are required to submit the following:

 A comprehensive and coherent essay containing your critical analysis of an ethical issue in IT.

 Your essay should clearly show:

- the main point(s) of the issue;

- the pros and cons for the main point(s) (including your reasons and objections as well as
others); and
- a critique of the effectiveness of the arguments presented

Assessment criteria

Marks will be awarded based on:

 the extent to which the assignment instructions are addressed;

 identification of main ethical issues;
 reasoning/analysis in the form of the quality of your arguments;
 the comprehensiveness and coherence of your essay.
 factual knowledge, understanding and application of principles of ethics to ICT related issues;
 coherence and logical presentation of arguments;
 professional presentation including correct grammar and spelling; and
 writing and research skills;
 BIT 303 IT Management, Ethics & Security
Assignment 1 – 25%
Student Name : ___________________ Student ID: __________________

Assessment Criteria Allocated Mark Mark

Reasoning/Analysis structure:
Description of scenario to be analysed 10
- explanation of the scenario based on the selected topic with introduction
Identification of relevant ethical issue(s) 10
- ethical dilemmas identified
Knowledge and application of ethical principles
- use of philosophical ethics 8
- use of professional ethics 8
- use of legal principles 8
Comparative studies
- differences and the country to which those differences relate 10
Balance in arguments
- discussion of the pros and cons 15
- appropriate depth of critical analysis & evaluation
Coherence and logical presentation of discussion
- logical arguments with structure
- must have a flow in your discussions 10
- justifications need to be discussed clearly
Evidence of Research
- use of materials from various sources 7
- use of supporting data/evidence – quality of research
- relevance of material
Your opinion 3
- discussion on your perspective
Conclusion from your findings and argument 6

Overall Presentation 5
- title, subheadings, 1½ spacing, page no, paragraphs ,grammar and spelling
- standardization (font size & style) & word count
Additional requirements :
Others (-3)
- Turn-it-in Report (less than 20%)
- Appendix – the original article used for the discussion
No proper evidence or insufficient referencing
- use of APA style (incorrect) (- 5)
- in-text citation and referencing (web sites, journals, magazines & etc)
(incorrect)
LATE SUBMISSION OF ASSIGNMENT - 5% from the total raw marks ( )

TOTAL MARKS 100