Incorporation of information ethics into the curriculum at the University of Botswana

Abstract

The rapid proliferation of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has resulted in universities becoming avid users of digital devices. However, extant research shows that paralleling this trend has been an alarming rate of unethical behavior amongst users of ICTs. The University of Botswana (UB) hosted the second international conference of the newly formed African Network on Information Ethics (ANIE) in 2010, and has been represented virtually in all four conferences held thus far. While UB has played a key part in ANIE activities, the extent to which information ethics has been incorporated into its curriculum has not been assessed. The objective of this study is to assess the extent to which information ethics have been incorporated into the curriculum. Following both the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and ANIE models, a content analysis of the University of Botswana courses was undertaken. Seven of the eight faculties had a total of 56 courses with information ethics, but only 9 (16.1%) of the 56 courses were graduate level. A large proportion of the courses were optional and they are bereft of WSIS and ANIE contents. Recommendations are made for incorporating these information ethics contents into the University of Botswana curricula.