Introduction Teaching a computers, ethics, and society course for the first time can be intimidating! Unlike the typical computer science class, which focuses on technical content, a computers and society class focuses on people and the decisions they make. Determining the right thing to do is not like finding the maximum element on a list. The moral problems discussed in this book are complicated, and there are no algorithms that enable you to “solve” a moral problem as neatly as you can construct a binary search tree. If you have little or no formal training in ethics, you probably feel uncomfortable being responsible for teaching an ethics class. Fortunately, your job is not to preach to the students or tell them how they ought to behave (outside of class, anyway!). Rather, your role is to raise questions and give students the opportunity to express and justify their views. If you are successful, your students will complete the course with a greater understanding of contemporary ethical issues related to information technology, an improved ability to think critically and defend their decisions logically, a greater appreciation for alternate perspectives, and the experience of changing their position on an issue based on what they have read and heard. As C. Dianne Martin and Hilary J. Holz put it: Our belief is that ethics cannot be taught; rather what can be taught is a framework for evaluating ethical dilemmas and making decisions. In accepting the premise that technology is value-laden, we stress the need to teach a methodology of explicit ethical analysis in all decision-making related to technology... The role of ethics education should be to provide students with at least a minimal theoretical background essential for their understanding of the role that values and ethics play in all decision-making, whether it be technical, economic, political, social, or personal.1 How can you achieve this goal? The consensus among experienced instructors is that the best computer ethics classes are discussion-oriented. Discussions force students to organize their thoughts. In addition, students are more receptive to hearing ideas from peers than from you. They will come to realize that every complicated issue can be looked at from multiple points of view. They should also learn that some arguments are better than others, and that 1“Non-Apologetic Computer Ethics Education: A Strategy for Integrating Social Impact and Ethics into the Computer Science Curriculum,” C. Dianne Martin and Hillary J. Holz, in Teaching Computer Ethics