From Awareness to Action - Page 9 of 20

Recommendation 1: An Early Introduction. Students in beginning programming classes are not yet computing professionals. However, they are computer users. As such it is important to begin the discussion of the ethical and social impact of computing in the very first computer science course. In doing so, the focus should be upon issues that are relevant to them as computer users, such as privacy of email, security of computer accounts, access to computing resources, and software copyright issues. The intent of this early introduction is to make them aware that such issues exist and can affect them personally.

Recommendation 2: Continued Discussion. This recommendation strongly urges the inclusion of ethics and social impact topics in all computer science courses. Some courses lend themselves quite naturally to the discussion of social implications, such as privacy in databases, developer responsibility in software design, security in operating systems, and ethical issues in creating artificial intelligence. On the other hand, there are courses, which at first glance may seem devoid of ethical issues. What is "ethical" about learning that one type of algorithm performs faster than another one? The challenge here is to look beyond mere fact or programming skill to the end applications, such as examples where the speed and timing of an algorithm could have impact upon a life and death situation[11].

It may be argued that including ethical and social issues in every class will present a scheduling problem due to the lack of time in courses already full of material. While it may be true that there is already a lot to be covered in the computer science major, the goal of ethical and social responsibility can no longer be considered to be an extra in computer science. A strong case has been made through this project and through the work of many other experts that it is a necessary part of computer science education. "The social and ethical implications of computing must be included in the program.[6]"