Information ethics integration in the curriculum at the University of KwaZulu Natal

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of a study that was carried out to investigate the level of integration of information ethics (as elicited from courses with ethics and/or morality nomenclatures) within the curriculum across different disciplines at the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN). The study was informed by the Classical Western ethical tradition and WSIS Action Line 10, and Africa Network of Information ethics (ANIE) theoretical models. A content analysis of the curriculum across different disciplines of UKZN was undertaken by identifying courses with information ethics, ethics and/or morality nomenclatures. The results revealed that information ethics content was being taught in virtually all disciplines at undergraduate and postgraduate levels at the University. The results further revealed that most information ethics content was built around the Classical Western ethical traditions as opposed to WSIS Action Line 10 (that focuses on the ethical dimension of information society). The authors recommend a review of the curriculum in most disciplines at UKZN to incorporate information ethics component in line with WSIS Action Line 10 and ANIE models. The findings have implications for national and institutional policy making regarding curriculum development at UKZN.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 1 citations exist upstream.