In my university’s engineering programs all students take courses in ethics. This is fairly standard now, since all types of engineers have to consider the public’s health and safety along with technical concerns in their profession.
However, my students sometimes find it difficult to see how ethics is relevant to them. So I try to find cases and information that they can relate to.
This article allows the group to consider ethical issues from the point of view of the consumer (which students are) as well as from that of the engineer (which they will be). In fact, there are so many issues involved in buying a tablet, that it is very difficult to be an ethical consumer in this case.
Issues raised in the article include the conditions in the factories where tablets and their components are produced, the companies supplying the raw materials, tablet design related to recycling, and marketing considerations. Of course, the features of the tablet itself are very important for the consumer, so these issues must also be taken into account.
The author ends by suggesting various ways to improve working conditions in factories that produce these devices, but adds, “…the whole consumer electronics industry needs to clean up its act.”
At this point students can brainstorm ideas for how this could be done. This can lead to a greater awareness of ethical considerations of their future (or current) workplace, and which issues are most important to them.
Link to article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/askjack/2012/apr/19/ask-jack-ethical-tablet
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