Education Commons^™

A fundamental task for information technology educators is to help students understand the basic ethical, social, and legal issues inherent in the discipline. We present a method for achieving this goal using in-class debates. Debates allow for a high-level of participation, demand that students conduct significant research, and provide an interactive environment. This encourages the development of communication skills and exposes students to alternative points of view. The debates were conducted in two courses that provide a survey of some aspect of e-commerce technology, one at the undergraduate level and the other at the Masters level.