Cyber Civics
August 18 - August 22, 2008
Instructors:
Dr. Jeanna Matthews, Associate Professor, Computer Science
Jim Owens, Graduate Student, Computer Science
Target Audience: Social Studies/Government/Political Science Teachers; Teachers of computing related courses (business computing, programming).
Emerging computer and communications technologies directly impact the traditional rights and responsibilities of citizens in the United States and in countries around the world. Issues such as privacy, database security, electronic voting and digital rights management appear regularly in news headlines. In many cases, the difficulty of reconciling the impact of emerging technologies on our civic lives is compounded by the fact that the technologies themselves are not well understood by most citizens.
The goal of the CyberCivics curriculum is to allow students to explore important social and political issues in some detail and, at the same time, to engage in hands-on activities that help them better understand the underlying technologies. CyberCivics will help students become well-informed citizens of an increasingly high-tech world and spark interest in high-tech careers. This institute will prepare teachers to incorporate the CyberCivics curriculum into their classrooms. The curriculum has been piloted in an AP Government and Politics class. It would also be appropriate for other government classes, criminal justice, economics, sociology, and related subjects, as well as technology-focused courses like business computing or programming.
