Ethics and Pervasive Technologies: a Collaborative Approach to Teaching

Although pervasive computing and computer ethics are taught in numerous computing curricula, they tend to be taught separately without much reference to the other arena. This paper reports on the efforts of two professors, one a social scientist and one a computer scientist, to integrate components of their respective courses. Rationale for the pedagogy model, results of the courses, and reflections are included. The larger goal of this project was to develop a generalizeable pedagogical model for integrating technical and ethical education that focuses on educating technologists about the ethical dimensions of their work. Pervasive and mobile computing will only become more prevalent, so the authors anticipate a pressing need for educational materials and models for teaching in this arena.