{"id":57547,"date":"2025-08-10T11:44:22","date_gmt":"2025-08-10T11:44:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/57547\/"},"modified":"2025-08-10T11:44:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-10T11:44:22","slug":"the-gifts-and-burdens-of-computer-technology-%c2%b7-news-%c2%b7-lafayette-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/57547\/","title":{"rendered":"The gifts and burdens of computer technology \u00b7 News \u00b7 Lafayette College"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tComputers and Society course exposes students to a rich tapestry of perspectives on the ethical implications of computing\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"In<\/p>\n

In the Computers and Society course, Jia Tao, associate professor of computer science (left), guides students as they explore the potential benefits, limitations, and dangers of technology. \/ Photos by JaQuan Alston<\/p>\n

Inside the classroom is a new series offering a glimpse into classes at Lafayette, the talented professors who teach them, and how they impact and define a student\u2019s experience.<\/p>\n

By Stella Katsipoutis-Varkanis<\/p>\n

Ask Prof. Jia Tao<\/a> to sum up the essence of the Computers and Society course, and she\u2019ll share this quote from Sara Baase\u2019s book A Gift of Fire: Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues for Computing Technology: \u201cIn spite of the risks, in spite of these disasters, few of us would choose to return the gift of fire and live without it. We have learned, gradually, how to use it productively, how to use it safely, and how to respond more effectively to disasters, be they natural, accidental, or intentional.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Like fire, Tao explains, technology comes along with its own set of potential benefits, limitations, and dangers. And in CS 200, students are challenged to explore its impacts\u2014both positive and negative\u2014on society and everyday life. \u201cTechnology is now unavoidable, and new problems and challenges keep coming with new advancements,\u201d says Tao, associate professor of computer science, who taught one of the sections of the course this spring. \u201cA lot of times there are no definitive solutions to those problems. This class aims to cultivate students\u2019 critical thinking skills and give them profound insight into the implications of computing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Nathan<\/p>\n

For their final project, CS 200 students made group presentations on topics of their choice, sharing insights they gained from class discussions and readings.<\/p>\n

One of the longest-running computer science courses at Lafayette, CS 200 is a required course for computer science majors and data science minors that was originally offered only in the spring. But it\u2019s gained so much traction from students across disciplines it\u2019s now offered in both spring and fall semesters. \u201cThe majority of faculty members in the department have taught this course, so it\u2019s truly a collaborative effort,\u201d says Jorge Silveyra<\/a>, assistant professor of computer science, who taught a section this spring as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Each week, students who took the class last semester delved into intensive reading exercises utilizing five different textbooks (including Baase\u2019s quoted above), covering topics ranging from copyright and fair use, to algorithms and artificial intelligence. Using what they learned from their readings, students engaged in in-depth classroom discussions, group and individual projects, and writing assignments that called on them to consider each side of the often-controversial subject matter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In their projects, students were challenged with tasks like reimagining social media platforms, writing privacy policies for tech companies, and creating YouTube videos. Silveyra\u2019s students used the video platform to discuss their favorite music and how fair use and copyrighted material can be used in everyday life; Tao\u2019s students, to share insights they gleaned from analyzing stories about surprising impacts of algorithms they may have never before considered. \u201cThe idea is to interact with the material in realistic ways, present our ideas and arguments in a professional manner, and understand each other\u2019s points of view,\u201d Silveyra says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Nathan<\/p>\n

Nathan Dinh \u201925 presents his final project on intellectual property to his CS 200 classmates at the end of the spring 2025 semester.<\/p>\n

And with CS 200 drawing in students from virtually all class years and majors\u2014including economics, psychology, government and law, engineering, English, history, philosophy, and others\u2014students in the course are exposed to a rich tapestry of viewpoints from which they can learn. \u201cGetting to hear different perspectives you might not have had, and synthesizing different backgrounds and multiple academic interests, greatly adds to the quality of the discussion when you\u2019re trying to find ethical solutions to high-stakes debates,\u201d says Nathan Dinh \u201925, a computer science major who took Tao\u2019s course in the spring. \u201cI\u2019ve grown so much just from talking to my classmates.\u201d<\/p>\n

The College\u2019s hallmark small classroom sizes are also particularly conducive to the exchange of ideas and expression of opinions, allowing both students and professors to reach a depth of insight that wouldn\u2019t be attainable with a larger group, Tao says. \u201cAt Lafayette, we want to create these environments that are safe and challenging,\u201d Silveyra adds. \u201cAnd the students themselves are willing to share, even when the topics could be difficult or controversial, because they come to this class with a growth mindset, ready to challenge their worldview.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Computers and Society students have the added benefit of working alongside writing associates<\/a> (WAs), who provide assistance to students for their assignments and help strengthen their writing skills. \u201cWAs also help us as professors get a better understanding of what kinds of questions we should address in class,\u201d Silveyra says. \u201cIt\u2019s been a great partnership that has made a huge difference in the course.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tao and Silveyra make it a point to be available to support students outside of the classroom as well. \u201cProf. Silveyra is super accessible, and you can always knock on his door,\u201d says Gia Mazza \u201926, a computer science and math major who took Silveyra\u2019s iteration of CS 200 this spring. \u201cHe\u2019s always right there to chat with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dinh and Mazza add the skills and experiences they garnered from participating in the course will benefit them long after their time at Lafayette is over. Dinh, who has a wide variety of interests, says Computers and Society has made him more aware of the greater impact his work will have on society and helped him choose which areas he wants to work in. Mazza, who is planning to attend graduate school for either math or computer science, says, \u201cThis class allowed me to see the broader ethical implications of math, computing, and technology over time, and that\u2019s important to me because I want to be someone who makes a positive change in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jia<\/p>\n

CS 200 is a learning experience for students and professors alike: Tao says teaching the course inspired her to pursue new research topics she\u2019s never before considered.<\/p>\n

The course proved to be eye-opening even for Tao and Silveyra, both of whom taught the course for the first time last semester. Tao, whose interdisciplinary research involves topics such as artificial intelligence, computer science, philosophy, logic, and game theory, says teaching the class broadened her perspective on the ethical challenges of AI, and exposed her to a wider range of questions she can pursue and study through her research. \u201cProf. Tao was very excited that she was learning a lot of new things as she was teaching us, and her enthusiasm spilled over into the class,\u201d Dinh says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Silveyra, whose research interests include computational epidemiology, building energy savings, and making computer science more welcoming and inclusive, says, \u201cI\u2019ve discussed ethical issues in computer science in classes I\u2019ve taught before, but never in the way I did in this class\u2014not with that level of passion and detail. It\u2019s made me question things in a very different way, even in my own work. Even though my research doesn\u2019t relate to this course explicitly, it\u2019s being affected by it. And if two professors were impacted so largely by this, my expectation would be that everyone who takes this course would be impacted in the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Computers and Society course exposes students to a rich tapestry of perspectives on the ethical implications of computing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57548,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[64,63,257,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-57547","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-computing","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-computing","11":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57547\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}