Ethics and Technology---PHI 321
Dr. Ron Barnette

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PHIL 3210 Cybernauts in Front of West Hall

This course in Ethics and Technology is largely experimental, in that the themes of the class will be conducted intensively by Internet technology, essential to the research and teaching of the course. Moreover, there will be no paper given by the professor; all assignments, handouts, and materials will be issued through our Philosophy Website, and made available through this course website. In short, this will be a 'paperless' class.

 On the class assignment page, you will find your weekly topic, for discussion and debate. This will be accompanied by all class references to the on-line readings and accessible materials, which will serve as our class resources. Members of the class will be responsible for additional WWW links to pertinent materials, as we explore collaboratively the web through our high-tech classroom facilities and individual web access from wherever students access the web in their 'student centered' classroom in cyberspace.

An open computer access point will be available in West Hall 140 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 1-2 pm for those who want to use these facilities; any deviation from this schedule will be e-mailed to the class list, named 'ETHTECH,' which will serve as our cyber-communication network to reach all members of the class on a daily basis, for information, assignments, questions, and helpful suggestions in our on-line dialogue. It is thus imperative that all participants have e-mail accounts, and that each student subscribe immediately to ETHTECH, by sending an e-mail message to:
listserv@catfish.valdosta.edu
In the body, write the message:
SUBSCRIBE ETHTECH <your real name>
Also,notify me of your presence in the class by sending an initial message to me here:
Dr. Ron Barnette
This will serve to confirm your existence!

 On Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1-2pm I will open the high-tech classroom for use to develop your online materials, to explore the Net resources, and to construct personal WWW Homepages and class demonstrations, for those who need campus access other than those computers available throughout the VSU community. Look here for a quick crash course on webauthoring, as you work on your website development projects.

 Regarding course requirements, you will be responsible for:

• Regular class attendance in cyberspace and class preparation for discussion.
• Routine e-mail dialogue and responses to assigned questions, through ETHTECH.
• World Wide Web research, as assigned.
• The completion of written research work, through one of two forms, to be explained in more detail, with examples:

1. A personal homepage, architectually created around an approved theme (preferred).
2. A research paper, topic approved.

In addition to the daily 1pm times in West Hall 140, my physical office hours will be from 11am-Noon, daily, and afternoons by arrangement, in Campbell Hall, just across Patterson St. from the main campus of Valdosta State University. I look forward to meeting you there, and we have computer workstations in the Philosophy Department to help further your coursework through innovative technology. I will be available at all other times through my email address in cyberspace. I check my email at atleast twice daily, as so should you, so we can be in contact in a very timely manner.  

 Let us all have an engaging and stimulating spring semester together...
Dr. Barnette, Ethics and Technology Guide
Click here for ETHTECH archives of ongoing class discussion

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