What is the digital divide?

The digital divide is the gap between people who have good access to digital technology and people who do not. Age, income and location can all widen it.

Why is the digital divide an ethical issue?

People without internet access can miss out on jobs, education, banking and public services. Many services are now mainly online, so the gap can deepen inequality.

How can bias in artificial intelligence be an ethical problem?

An AI system learns from past data, and that data may reflect unfair human decisions. The system can then treat some groups unfairly, for example when screening job applications.

OCR GCSE Computer Science J277

Systems Architecture

Topic overview CPU components and the fetch-execute cycle Factors affecting CPU performance Embedded systems

Memory and Storage

Topic overview RAM, ROM, cache and virtual memory Secondary storage: magnetic, optical and solid state Data units and storage capacity calculations Binary, denary and hexadecimal conversions Binary addition, overflow and binary shifts Character sets, ASCII and Unicode Bitmap images, colour depth and resolution Sound sampling, sample rate and bit depth Lossy and lossless compression

Computer Networks, Connections and Protocols

Topic overview LANs, WANs and network performance Client-server and peer-to-peer networks Network hardware, DNS, hosting and the cloud Star and mesh topologies Wired and wireless connections, IP and MAC addresses Protocols, standards and layers

Network Security

Topic overview Malware, social engineering and brute-force attacks Denial of service, data interception and SQL injection Identifying and preventing vulnerabilities

Systems Software

Topic overview User interfaces, memory management and multitasking Peripheral, user and file management Utility software

Ethical, Legal, Cultural and Environmental Impacts of Digital Technology

Topic overview Ethical and cultural issues in digital technology Environmental impact of digital technology Privacy and digital technology Computer Science legislation and software licences

Algorithms

Topic overview Abstraction, decomposition and algorithmic thinking Flowcharts, pseudocode and structure diagrams Trace tables and correcting algorithms Linear and binary search Bubble, merge and insertion sort

Programming Fundamentals

Topic overview Variables, constants, operators and assignment Sequence, selection and iteration Data types and casting String manipulation and file handling Arrays, records and SQL Functions, procedures and random numbers

Producing Robust Programs

Topic overview Defensive design, input validation and authentication Writing maintainable code Testing, errors and test data

Boolean Logic

Topic overview Logic gates and truth tables Combining gates in logic diagrams

Programming Languages and Integrated Development Environments

Topic overview High-level and low-level languages and translators The integrated development environment (IDE)

Ethical, Legal, Cultural and Environmental Impacts of Digital Technology

Ethical and cultural issues in digital technology

3 things to know
J277/01

Overview

Automation and jobs, the digital divide, bias in artificial intelligence, self-driving cars, social media, remote working, accessibility, fake news and preserving culture.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

What is an ethical issue in computing?

Key term

What is a cultural issue in computing?

Key term

Why does automation raise ethical concerns about jobs?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
What is an ethical issue in computing?
Model answer
An ethical issue is a question of whether a use of technology is morally right or wrong. The law may allow something that many people still think is wrong.
2
What is a cultural issue in computing?
Model answer
A cultural issue is a change in the way people live, communicate and behave because of technology. Social media has changed how friendships and news work.
3
Why does automation raise ethical concerns about jobs?
Model answer
Robots and software can replace workers in factories, warehouses and offices. Some people lose their jobs, while new jobs appear in designing and maintaining the technology.
4
What is the digital divide?
Model answer
The digital divide is the gap between people who have good access to digital technology and people who do not. Age, income and location can all widen it.
5
Why is the digital divide an ethical issue?
Model answer
People without internet access can miss out on jobs, education, banking and public services. Many services are now mainly online, so the gap can deepen inequality.
6
How can bias in artificial intelligence be an ethical problem?
Model answer
An AI system learns from past data, and that data may reflect unfair human decisions. The system can then treat some groups unfairly, for example when screening job applications.

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