OCR GCSE Computer Science (J277)Specification point 1.6.1

OCR J277 1.6.1: Ethical, legal, cultural and environmental impact

The free BugBot lessons that teach this point, a robot to try it on, and the past-paper questions that test it.

What it covers

Every piece of technology changes something beyond itself. A robot in a classroom changes what students learn; a phone in a pocket changes how people talk to each other; a data centre changes an electricity bill and a landscape. This module is about those effects, and how to weigh them up. Exam questions ask you to discuss them, so it starts with the five kinds of impact to look for.

  • The five kinds of impact
  • Stakeholders
  • Weighing it up
Read the free lesson (15 min)

Or do it in the simulator, with tasks that mark themselves

Lessons that teach it

  1. F12.1 Impacts of technology Technology and society
    Ethical, legal, cultural, environmental and privacy impacts, stakeholders, and weighing them up.
  2. F12.2 Personal data and privacy Technology and society
    What personal data is, the Data Protection Act 2018, and anonymising a log.
  3. F12.3 Computer misuse and the law Technology and society
    The Computer Misuse Act 1990, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
  4. F12.4 Copyright and licences Technology and society
    Proprietary and open source software, common licences, and Creative Commons.
  5. F12.5 Technology and the environment Technology and society
    Making, running and disposing of devices: materials, data centres, e-waste and what helps.
  6. F12.6 The digital divide and accessibility Technology and society
    Who is shut out of technology, designing for disability, and measuring colour contrast.
  7. F12.7 AI, robots and bias Technology and society
    What AI is good for, where it goes wrong, and auditing a training set for bias.
  8. F12.8 Technology, jobs and daily life Technology and society
    Automation and work, how daily life changed, and how automatable a job is.
  9. F12.9 Project: an impact report Technology and society
    Read the trial log, anonymise it, cost its energy and carbon, and publish a report.
  10. F13.6 Long answer questions Exam preparation
    Point, because, so: a structure for discuss and evaluate questions, and a conclusion that decides.

Try it on a robot

The task from F12.1 Impacts of technology, running here. Change the program and press Run.

The specification is OCR's own document; this page says which of our lessons teach point 1.6.1 and is not endorsed by the board.