1 - Start ~4 mins
Last time you looked at computers in transport, health and entertainment around Ireland. Today the question is different: just because a computer can do something, should it?
You will take a stand on real cases about apps you already use, hear the strongest argument from the other side, and decide whether to move.
Open by linking back to the previous lesson in one sentence, then put the title question on the board: Just because a computer can, should it? Keep this step short so the opinion line gets its full time. No devices needed yet.
2 - Three Kinds of Ethical Question ~5 mins
An ethical question is a question about what is right or fair to do, not just what is possible or legal. Computing raises many of them. Three that come up again and again are:
- Privacy: who gets to see information about you, and who decides?
- Fairness: does the system treat different people equally, or does it favour some over others?
- Access: who can use the technology, and who is left out?
Think about an app on your phone right now. It might track where you go, which posts you open, or how long you look at a screen. That data can make the app better, and it can also be sold, shared, or kept for years. The hard part is that reasonable people disagree about where the line should be.
Before we go on, decide privately: is collecting that data mostly fine, mostly not OK, or does it depend?
Name the three labels on the board as you go: Privacy, Fairness, Access. Keep examples concrete and age-relevant (a free game that asks for location, a social app that recommends videos, a school app that logs logins). Do not moralise. The point is that more than one view is defensible.
Have students form a silent first position before the interactive opens. That private starting point makes the later move (or stay) more meaningful.
Misconception to head off
Some students will say "if it is free, they can take whatever they want." Acknowledge the trade-off. Then press gently: a fair swap needs both sides to know the price.
3 - Hands-on: Take a Stand on the Line ~15 mins
For each statement, stand where you agree on the line from Not OK through It depends to Perfectly fine.
Read the think-about prompt and note one reason someone at the other end might give. Listen to the strongest argument from that end. You may move if it changes your mind. Be ready to say which kind of question it is: privacy, fairness, or access.
Interactive activity
How to run it
Clear a space or use the interactive on the board so the whole class can see the line. Read one statement at a time. Give 20 silent seconds for students to place themselves, then invite one voice from each end to give their strongest reason (about 30 seconds each). Ask: Anyone moving? Then name the ethical label together before the next statement.
Suggested timing
- Statement 1 (privacy / terms): about 5 minutes
- Statement 2 (free app data swap): about 5 minutes
- Statement 3 (data after delete): about 3 minutes
- Quick label check after each: privacy, fairness, or access
Teaching tips
Keep the tone curious, not a courtroom. Praise a clear reason over a loud opinion. If the class piles onto one end, play devil's advocate from the empty end for 20 seconds so both views get airtime.
If anyone is working only on a device, the on-screen instructions and think-about prompts still require them to note a reason from the other end before they lock a position.
Look-for: students using the words privacy, fairness or access without being prompted, and at least a few people moving after hearing the other side.
4 - Hands-on: Name the Question ~10 mins
1. Case A together
A free mobile game asks for your location "to show local leaderboards," then keeps tracking you after you close the game.
Watch the board: your teacher names the ethical question, the label, and one model permission card. Talk only. Do not write a full Case A answer.
2. Build one permission card (3 min)
Copy the model shape. Fill in your own card for Case A as if it sits on a real app settings screen:
- toggle name
- what the user sees when it is ON
- what the user sees when it is OFF
When time is called, flip your card out loud (read ON, then OFF) so the class can see the control work like a real switch. Two cards get a live board demo.
3. Your case only (B or C)
Your teacher will say which half of the room you are. Open only that case. Write two short bullets only:
- one reason it might be fine
- one reason it might not
Also circle the best label: privacy, fairness, or access.
4. Report one sentence
One voice from your half shares the label and one bullet. Keep it to one sentence.
Hard timing caps (keep these)
- Case A oral model: 2 minutes max. On the board only: ethical question, label (privacy), and the pre-drawn model permission card below. Students do not write a full Case A answer.
- Permission card build + live flip: 4 minutes hard stop. Everyone fills toggle name + ON text + OFF text. At the buzzer, two volunteers "run" their card: you point at a drawn toggle on the board while they read ON, you flip the toggle, they read OFF. The class must see the control change state.
- B/C split: about 5 minutes. Half the room on B, half on C. Written work is two bullet phrases only plus a circled label. Full sentences are not required.
- Report-back: about 3 minutes. One voice per half-room only. If the clock slips, drop report polish before you drop the card demo or the two bullets.
Pre-load this model card on the board during Case A (do not invent from scratch)
Draw a simple settings box titled Location with a toggle and these lines already filled:
- Toggle name: Location: only while the game is open
- ON: Uses your location for local leaderboards while you play
- OFF: No location used. Leaderboards stay global.
Say: "Yours should look like this shape. Change the words so the deal is even clearer, or pick a different fair control (for example ask every time, or 10-minute session only)." The 4-minute build is 'name yours like this', not invent a UI from nothing.
Live flip routine (this is the make moment)
Before students write, sketch a big ON/OFF toggle on the board inside a phone-shaped frame. When demos run, physically move a marker or sticky note from ON to OFF as the student reads each state. Students are not only naming a control; they are driving a mock screen the class can see change.
Circulate and push for both points of view on B/C. Use the on-screen prompts so each half-room only sees its live case.
Likely labels: A privacy (with a fairness angle if location is sold on); B fairness; C access. Accept reasoned alternatives if students can defend them.
Look-for on the card: concrete ON and OFF user-facing lines that could appear on a real screen, not a vague "be nicer" slogan. Non-negotiables if time slips: the live flip demo and two viewpoints on B/C.
5 - Make Sense ~3 mins
Computing does not only raise technical questions. It raises ethical ones: about privacy (who sees your data), fairness (who the system helps or harms), and access (who gets to use it).
A strong answer in this subject does not stop at "I think it is bad." It names the question, gives more than one point of view, and says what would change your mind. Building a permission card with clear ON and OFF states is one way to turn a complaint into a better choice users can actually control.
Pull out one moment from the line where someone moved, and one where someone held firm with a clearer reason. Name one strong permission card aloud and re-flip its ON/OFF on the board so the design beat lands as a working control, not a slogan. That models LO 1.4 better than a lecture. Keep this to three minutes.
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