Computer Science 312                                                                        Syllabus for Spring 2015

Dr. Carol E. Wolf                                                                               Office 163 William St. 215

Website: http://csis.pace.edu/~wolf/                                                   E-mail: cwolf@pace.edu

Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 1:00 to 3:00

 

Text:    Annual Editions: Technologies, Social Media, and Society, 2014-15, Daniel Mittleman, editor. McGraw Hill, 2015, 20th edition.

ISBN-13: 978-1259170980 ISBN-10: 1259170985

 

 

 Date

Group 

Chapter 

Topic

 

Jan 26

 

1

Overview of course, creation of groups
Five Things We Need to Know about Technological Change

 

Jan 28

A

2

The Information: How the Internet Gets Inside Us

 

 

B

3

The Secret Life of Data in the Year 2020

 

Feb 2

C

4

Relationships, Community, and Identity in the New Virtual Society

 

 

D

5

R U Friends 4 Real'

 

Feb 4

E

6

License to Text

 

 

A

7

The Truth about Video Games and Gun Violence

 

Feb 9

B

8

The Individual in a Networked World: Two Scenarios

 

Feb 11

C

9

What Facebook Knows

 

Feb 18

D

10

Google's European Conundrum: When Does Privacy Mean Censorship

 

 

E

11

New Document Sheds Light on Government's Ability to Search iPhones

 

Feb 23

A

12

Hacking the Lights Out

 

Feb 25

B

13

A Beginner's Guide to Building Botnets-with Little Assembly Required

 

 

C

14

Network Insecurity: Are We Losing the Battle against Cyber Crime

 

Mar 2

D

15

Social Media: Why It Will Change the World

 

Mar 4

E

16

How Google Dominates Us

 

Mar 9

A

17

AmazonFresh is Jeff Bezos' Last Mile Quest for Total Retail Domination

 

Mar 11

 

 

Midterm Exam

 

Mar 13

 

 

Library Research Document Due 

 

Mar 16

Mar 21

 

Spring Break

 

Mar 23

B

18

Can Online Piracy Be Stopped by Laws'

 

Mar 25

C

19

The Lost Steve Jobs Tapes

 

 

D

 

War in the Fifth Domain

 

Mar 27

 

 

Survey Document Due

 

Mar 30

E

20

How Technology Is Destroying Jobs

 

 

A

 

Automation on the Job

 

Apr 1

B

21

The Patent Problem

 

 

C

22

The Tricky Business of Innovation: Can You Patent a Magic Trick

 

Apr 6

D

23

Internet Freedom and Human Rights

 

Apr 8

E

24

A Small World After All'

 

 

A

25

7 Reasons Why Sweatshops Still Persist

 

Apr 13

B

26

Deception Is Futile When Big Brother's Lie Detector Turns Its Eyes on You

 

 

C

27

Know Your Rights!

 

Apr 15

D

28

Bride of Stuxnet

 

Apr 20

E

29

How to Spot the Future

 

 

A

30

From Smart House to Networked Home

 

Apr 22

B

31

Augmented Reality Is Finally Getting Real

 

 

C

32

I Used Google Glass: The Future, but with Monthly Updates

 

Apr 27

D

 

Weighing Watson's Impact

 

Apr29

E

 

The Coming Superbrain

 

 

 

May 4

 

 

Presentation of Projects

 

 

 

May 13

 

 

Final Exam

 

When a group has been assigned a chapter to report on, one member of the group should write a summary of the chapter and prepare PowerPoint slides describing it. The other members of the group should find related material either in print or on the Internet pertaining to the topic in the chapter.  Each one should also prepare a 1 or 2 page written summary. The group will then make a presentation during the class time and hand in the written summaries.  If you have any problems printing, email the summary to me, and I will print it out for you. You may also send me the PowerPoint slides and I will make sure that they can be shown on the classroom equipment.

Summaries should be double-spaced and brief. One or two pages are all right, but three pages will not be accepted. The slides should also be brief with no more than 4 or 5 bulleted items per slide. Make sure that you use a spell checker and proof read the paper before handing it in.  The summaries will be graded for both grammar and content.  After they have been returned with corrections, the corrected versions should be re-submitted. 

The group project will consist of a library research paper, a survey, a statistical analysis of the survey results and a conclusion. The entire project is due at the end of the semester. It will be presented in class on the last day.  At the end of the semester, send me the entire project including the PowerPoint slides.

Grades will be determined by two written exams, a midterm and a final, all the presentations during the semester and the final project. Each one of these categories will count for 25% of the grade. All written materials, including exams, should be double-spaced.  If your handwriting is hard to read, please print on your exams. Grammar will count on all documents, but spelling will only be graded on papers prepared in advance.  Students will not receive a grade for the course until all papers and projects have been submitted.

Additional Resources:

Herman T. Tavani, Ethics and Technology, Chapter 2, Wiley, 2004.

MLA Citation Style, 6th ed. (2003), http://www.pace.edu/library/pages/instruct/guides/mla6.htm

I. Lee. A Research Guide for Students. http://www.aresearchguide.com/ Feb. 4, 2004.

ACM Code of Ethics, http://www.acm.org/constitution/code.html

John L. Sullivan and Richard G. Niemi, editors, Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences, Sage Publications Inc., 1983.

http://www.cooper.com/alan/homonym_list.html

“Procedure for Students with Disabilities Who Wish to Obtain Reasonable Accommodations for a Course:  The University's commitment to equal educational opportunities for students with disabilities includes providing reasonable accommodations for the needs of students with disabilities. To request a reasonable accommodation for a qualified disability a student with a disability must self-identify and register with the Office of Disability Services for his or her campus. No one, including faculty, is authorized to evaluate the need for or grant a request for an accommodation except the Office of Disability Services. Moreover, no one, including faculty, is authorized to contact the Office  of Disability Services on behalf of a student. For further information, please see Resources for Students with Disabilities at http://www.pace.edu/counseling-center/resources-students-disabilities.”

 

In the event of a major campus emergency, course requirements, deadlines and grading percentages are subject to change when necessitated by revised course delivery, semester calendar or other circumstances.  Information about changes in this course can be obtained at the Blackboard course web page or by contacting me via email: cwolf@pace.edu.  If the course is not able to meet face-to-face, students should immediately log onto Blackboard and read any announcements and/or alternative assignment. Students are also encouraged to continue the readings and other assignments as outlined on this syllabus or subsequent syllabi.
CS 312 Suggestions for Group Projects

 

1.      Has the Internet made privacy a ‘thing of the past’?  Are there any secrets left?  How safe are your credit card numbers and bank accounts?

 

2.      What do people do to protect their computers from viruses and worms?  What are “botnets” and what are they used for?

 

3.      How are texting, email and Internet sites changing the way people date?

 

4.      What effects are social networking sites like Facebook and Google+ having on relationships?  How safe is it to use them?

 

5.      Where do people get news and political information?  Will print newspapers and magazines become obsolete?

 

6.      What are companies doing to protect their music, books and movies from piracy?  What is SOPA?

 

7.      What is COPA?  Would it have resulted in censorship of the Internet?  How much protection do children need?

 

8.      What is cyber-bullying, and what can be done about it?

 

9.      How have drones and the Stuxnet worm changed cyber warfare?  How serious is the threat?  Will cyber warfare replace conventional war?

 

10.  Are robots and computers taking away jobs that are not being replaced by new ones?  Has productivity stopped increasing?

 

11.  Who is Edward Snowden?  What did he do?

 

12.  What is the NSA doing with all the data it collects?  Should we be more worried about it than about large companies that track everything we do?

 

13.  How will artists, composers and writers earn a living in the Internet economy?

 

14.  What was the ‘Silk Road’, and how did Bitcoin and Tor contribute to these crimes?

 

15.  What is a ‘disruptive technology’?   Are there examples in the computer field?

 

16.  What do people mean when they use the term ‘big data’?  How might it reshape the way we govern and do business?

 

17.  What is net neutrality?  Is it in danger?

 

18.  What is the sharing economy, and what are some of its advantages and disadvantages?

 

19.  Are search engines and automation making us dumb?