Teaching technology Ethics through Popular Culture

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Teaching technology Ethics through Popular Culture

• Gerry Santoro,
• Assistant Prof. of IST and CAS

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Introduction
The trailer for the movie Hackers.
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There are many ethical issues with the design
and/or deployment of technology.
These issues are of great importance, and
attention to them is a foundation of IST
But it can be difficult to adequately cover them
Students resist preaching Real learning takes
place in a relevant context
Popular culture can help provide this context!
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Why Pop Culture?
Pop culture is the culture of the people.
It reflects on the peoples hopes, dreams,
fears, realities, etc. Students in general, and
college students in particular, are very
involved with pop culture!
Ask your students how many of them are carrying
an mp3 player with them..
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Example
Trailer for the reissue of THX-1138
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Consider science fiction
Science fiction is NOT about science!
It is about people!
How they cope with robots, aliens,
bio-engineering, etc. and the ethical choices
they have to make.
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Why does this work?
for the answer, a short clip from the movie
Elektra.
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People learn through experience
Learning is much deeper if the lesson is
relevant to the student Much pop culture results
in the student sharing the experience with
the characters The development of special effe
cts in movies and TV were intended to heighten
the experience making it appear more real
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Example
Trailer for The Island
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I ask my students why there are international
agreements and/or laws prohibiting research into
human cloning?
They come up with interesting theories ranging
from the creation of clone armies to the cloning
of Adolph Hitler.
But when I ask how many of them have seen The
Island suddenly half the class gets it!
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Movies are not the only relevant form of pop
culture
Literature (science fiction and fantasy)
Comic Books (X-Men, Iron Man, Batman, etc.)
Music (various bands and songs)
Anime and animation Video games Television
and more
.
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Example
The song Gypsy from the Moody Blues album To
Our Childrens Childrens Children
The song is about people living on a
multi-generational starship.
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An added idea
I also like to turn this around by having
students (in teams) develop their own videos and
podcasts.
These projects are very popular, students get
very involved, and the outcomes are great!
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Summary
Popular culture can be used to get students to
engage with issues of ethics and technology
It also can help to establish a bond between
the students and instructor
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Oh yeah
It can also be a LOT of fun!
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Thank you!
Questions and/or discussion?