UNIT 2
MODULE 3: SOCIAL, ORGANISATIONAL AND PERSONAL ISSUES
GENERAL OBJECTIVE
On completion of this Module, students should:
1. develop an understanding of the potential risks as well as strategies for mitigating these in
Information Technology;
2. develop an awareness of laws and policies associated with information systems; and,
3. develop an awareness of the ethical, legal and social considerations associated with
information technology.
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES CONTENT
Students should be able to:
1. identify systems where Information Systems including modes of interaction between
Technology plays a significant role people.
in human activities;
Impact of automation of existing processes;
process innovation.
Knowledge management; impact on job skills,
job opportunities, retraining.
Education: e-learning.
Need for organization and national information
policies and strategies.
Economy and economic opportunities (trade
agreements), commercial transactions,
e-commerce and e-business, online shopping;
e-governance, taxation, telecommuting;
technology transfer; emergence of new
organisations (virtual organisations).
Entertainment: culture, gaming.
Health care: e-surgery.
Safety and security: privacy, surveillance, Secure
Sockets Layer, e-policing.
Politics.
Identification of biases in data: cultural biases
gender and diversity related issues.
2. discuss various computer and Including propaganda; computer fraud,
cybercrimes; industrial sabotage; malware (including viruses,
Trojan horses and worms; ransomware),
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UNIT 2
MODULE 3: SOCIAL, ORGANISATIONAL AND PERSONAL ISSUES
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES CONTENT
Students should be able to:
electronic eavesdropping; cyber terrorism, cyber
bullying, hacking; identity theft, spoofing, phishing,
hardware theft and vandalism, piracy, information
theft, spam, denial of service, pharming.
3. discuss how Information System Hardware, software, network, users, procedures and
components can be exposed to data. System misuse and abuse; system failure:
threats, vulnerabilities, attacks and defective hardware, software glitches or bugs;
compromises in organisations; threats posed by Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
policies, disruptions from natural disasters and other
hazards; the pros and cons of encryption; difficulties
experienced by organisations in the disposal of
obsolete equipment.
4. evaluate legal and ethical Including laws, procedures, guidelines; the misuse of
considerations and policies related information, such as manipulation of information to
to the handling and management give false representations, identity theft; invasion of
of information assets; privacy; phishing, pharming.
Policies (including Internet policies, email policies
and practices; security policies) for example,
providing Internet access to employees may expose
the organisation to lawsuits, viruses and hacking;
5. examine various other computer Computer security risks including Internet and
security, health and safety, and network attacks, unauthorised access and use;
environmental risks; hardware theft and vandalism; software and
information theft,
Health and safety risks including repetitive strain
injury, carpal tunnel syndrome, computer vision
syndrome, computer addiction.
Environmental risks including energy consumption,
environmental pollution, e-waste.
6. discuss key mitigation strategies Including disaster recovery plan, backup;
(mechanisms and measures) to uninterruptible power supply (UPS); surge
counter risks; protectors, firewalls; authentication: usernames,
passwords, key cards, biometric devices, encryption;
intrusion detection software; antivirus software;
audit trails; transaction logs.
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UNIT 2
MODULE 3: SOCIAL, ORGANISATIONAL AND PERSONAL ISSUES
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES CONTENT
Students should be able to:
Ergonomics and workplace design; therapy and
support groups (to address IT issues such as
cyber bullying of computer addiction); green
computing.
7. distinguish among intellectual Differences among terms: intellectual property
property terms; rights; proprietary data and software, copyright,
patent and trademark.
8. describe licensing arrangements; Open Source, Proprietary Software, Freeware,
Shareware, software licensing including
agreements, shareware, freeware, site licenses,
enterprise licenses and single user licenses;
product activation; digital rights management.
9. examine the issue of plagiarism and Definition of plagiarism, forms of plagiarism (e.g.
its implications; word-for-word, paraphrasing, failure to cite,
incorrect citation, claiming sole ownership),
digital media as intellectual property.
Negative implications of plagiarism:
repercussions for individuals and business
entities (for example, lawsuits, blacklisting,
costly settlements).
10. examine the consequences of Including enacting legislations, establishing
software piracy; policies, loss of revenue for developers.
11. examine the social implications of Social media; cyberbullying; cybercrime; online
interacting in an online games; adult content.
environment;
Implications for example addictions, financial
loss, psychological and physical.
12. examine the expanding role of Non-human interactions for business operations
machine interactions with (for example, robots, chatbots, video tellers in
individuals/customers; and, customer service, banking, reservations, billing,
queries).
13. evaluate the expanding role of Definition and role of wearable computing.
wearable computing devices.
Wearable computing devices, examples and
applications: stand-alone, frontend/backend
systems, location based, internet based).
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UNIT 2
MODULE 3: SOCIAL, ORGANIS
Suggested Teaching and Learning Activity
students in the teaching and learning activities listed below.
1. Engage students to work in groups to search and find resource materials relevant to different
topics in this Module. These should be peer reviewed using agreed criteria. Those that meet
the requirements should be placed on the class webpage.
2. Invite resource persons with the relevant expertise to share their experience with issues such
as threats, risks, vulnerabilities, countermeasures, handling and managing information
technology assets, health and safety and plagiarism.
3. Use case studies to demonstrate concepts such as threats, countermeasures, computer crimes,
internet entertainment, copyright, patent and trademark laws.
4. Use concept maps and concept frames to organise and illustrate the interrelationships
between various pieces of information.
5. Conduct teacher-guided classroom discussion. Students should be encouraged to discuss and
debate the ethical, social, economic, legal and political implications of the use of Information
Technology.
6. Have students obtain brochures from vendors and service providers and review them based on
the relevant criteria. Students will share their feedback with the class.
7. Allow students to work in groups to engage in research or a WebQuest activity on job
opportunities or careers in the field of information technology. They should creatively share
the information with the class.
RESOURCES
Daley, B. Computers are your Future, New Jersey: Pearson
Prentice Hall, 2008.
Information Technology and Computer Science for CAPE and
College Students, LMH Publishing Limited, Jamaica, 2017.
Parson, J. and Oja, D. Computer Concepts, New York: International Thompson
Publishing Company, 2007.
Shelly, G., Cashman, T., and Discovering Computers, New York: International Thompson
Vermaat, M. Publishing Company, 2014.
Electronic Resources
https://learninghub.cxc.org/
https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/book/the-encyclopedia-of-human-computer-
interaction-2nd-ed/wearable-computing
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