1. Green IS in Teaching –
Specialist or Generalist?
C. Pattinson
Leeds Metropolitan University
N.A. Gordon
University of Hull
2. Defining Green IS
• Information Systems that are
environmentally sensitive
– minimise the direct impact of IT and
computing through technology choices
– and use Information Systems in a way that
can alleviate damage to the environment from
other industries and activities
3. Reasons for inclusion
• Student motivation / demand and careers
• Ref: jobs of the future
• Ref: UN charters – under Sustainable
Development
• “the right thing to do”
• Aim:
environmental awareness as part of all IS /
IT project assessments
Like market research, costing, feasibility
…
4. IS / CS and
Sustainable Development
• IS / CS has links and applications in many
areas of Sustainable Development (SD)
• Particularly to
– Consumption of
• resources (Green IT)
• and finance (SD)
– Energy use (Green IT)
– Community (SD)
5. Curriculum design in I/CS
– A UK perspective
Curriculum content in I/CS is generally driven by a number of factors:
• Personal and departmental notions of the discipline, along with
student input views;
• Content of direct interest and relevance to the deliverer – often
material that relates directly to research interests and projects within
a department;
• Related to the first point, the discipline benchmarks of the QAA*;
• Directly related to the previous point, the requirements of curriculum
to meet the needs of subject review;
• Content specified and required by the professional bodies,
especially for accredited courses. The British Computer Society are
the main relevant body in the U.K.;
• What employers want;
• What students want (i.e. what recruits).
*The Quality Assurance Agency for HE in the UK
6. Focus
1. IS as problem
• Inefficient use of technology
1. IS as enabler
• Use of IS to support other changes
• Building controllers, travel planners
• Home working, electronic data exchange
Motivation
• Enthusiast
• Sceptic
7. Location
• Introductory (induction session)
– Set the overall scenario for the course
• the “sustainability” module
– In depth (specialist) treatment
– Risk of isolation / lack of connection
• Part of other modules
– Availability of examples
– Risk of “uninterested” delivery
8. Depth vs. breadth?
• All should have awareness /
understanding of process
• Some need to specialise
• Example: server virtualisation
– IS designers need to know about its potential
– IS implementers need to know how it works
– CS developers need to build systems which use it
– IT builders need to be able to make it happen
9. Professional development and
practice
• The environmental impact of computing is
becoming of increasing concern
• Within the U.K., government bodies are
recognising this and DEFRA* has taken the lead
in implementing a green I.T. strategy
• professional bodies such as the British Computer
Society (BCS) are also recognising this.
• In terms of industry, employers are beginning to
consider the awareness of sustainable
development of potential employees
*Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
10. Ethics and social
responsibility
• Good examples of the environmental impact can be found
– the huge costs of continuous upgrading of hardware.
– Software costs –
• the potential need to upgrade or replace machinery in order to run the
latest version of operating systems or applications,
• actual running costs of the software (processor intensive programs
increase power usage)
• Potential to link discussion on open source versus commercial licensed
software
– The financial and social costs to individuals, institutions and
nations of these examples provides an opening for teachers to
explore numerous topics, and to develop awareness
11. Examples of opportunities for
Green IT in the IS curriculum• Hardware:
– longevity of systems
– cost benefit analysis of upgrading over replacements
– including environmental costs
– financial costs
– details of the energy requirements for the different approaches
– Efficient system design/power saving features etc.
• Software:
– Particular programs to solve SD related problems
– inclusion of SD related requirements in software specifications for
programming exercises
• Formal Methods:
– Shortest path through a network (graph theory) and supply chain
management
– Other issues that cross different aspects of ICS, such as large scale
modelling, e.g. the global Earth simulator or the U.K. Met office
environment modeller
12. Examples
• Green IS assessment
– u/g IS student project
• Study of green IS initiatives
– p/g IS students
• Use of technology
– Hardware and software sustainability
• u/g and p/g CS work
13. Assessment
• With the need to demonstrate that Learning Outcomes are achieved, and
that material that has been taught has been digested, assessment is a key
part of curriculum change
• Projects, dissertations and reports offer effective ways of teaching and
assessment
• This does not guarantee that students are convinced of the need and the
arguments for sustainability, but should at least ensure they are aware of the
issues.
14. A grading and taxonomy?
• What would be helpful to colleagues in terms
of selecting material on Green IS
• A suitable grading and taxonomy may
consider
– Level (postgraduate, undergraduate etc)
– Type (information, case study, research, practical
activity)
– Place (embedded or stand alone)
– Motivation (practical, professional, legal, ethical,
social etc.)
15. Conclusions
• We believe that sustainability (or green-ness)
can be a significant element of the curriculum
• Offers a variety of topics, levels and approaches
• Should be addressed at levels appropriate to the
students’ requirements
• Some way to go before it becomes a part of
“what we do”
16. References and Resources
• 2008: Improving Student Awareness of SD
and Related Employability Issues through
Embedded Course Content (Gordon, Hull)
• Education for Sustainable Development
(ESD) Case studies by the Higher Education
Academy Information and Computer
Sciences Subject Centre
• SustainablIT: Green and Sustainable
Computing - education and practice.
Resources from the workshop.
• BCS Green IT Specialist Group
Editor's Notes
We explore the opportunities for green IS in teaching both as a specialism and as a general perspective-giving activity.
Pattinson is a committee member of the British Computer Society’s “Green IT Specialist Group”: Gordon has researched and written on sustainability in the IT/CS curriculum, and led a UK Higher Education Academy seminar on the topic in 2010.
The authors are collaborators on a UK Higher Education Academy funded project developing learning materials for teaching sustainability in the computing curriculum.
This paper draws on that work, together with our other work on sustainability in the undergraduate (Gordon) and postgraduate (Pattinson) curriculum.
First, we attempt a definition of “green IS”, noting that there are two distinct strands:
That IS is a user of (information) technology and therefore a green IS should seek to minimise its energy use, commensurate with doing the job required of it
That appropriate use of IS can deliver changes in work and life styles which are able to reduce the energy use of other human activity.
This is often referred to as the 2% / 98% (or 10% / 90%) concept – our IS and the technology on which the operate is directly responsible for 2% of world GHG (alternately, 10% of electricity), therefore work to minimise this can affect that 2% of GHG (or 10% of electricity). However, the bigger target is the “other” 98% (or 90%): which is where better use of IS to support other activities (e.g. home working; electronic data exchange; environmental controls in buildings; road traffic management etc.) can make a big difference.
To date, most work has been aimed at the efficiency of IS and IT: making the technology more efficient. The bigger savings involve changing mindsets and working practices: a more challenging task!
Why incorporate any sustainability in IS teaching?
1. As a likely source of employment opportunities: The previous UK government produced a report called “jobs for the future”, which includes the following statement
“The world’s transition to a low carbon, resource efficient economy presents an unprecedented commercial opportunity to secure comparative advantage in the development and delivery of cutting-edge, cost-effective and sustainable low carbon products and services. As a result, it could support the creation of hundreds of thousands of skilled, green jobs for workers in this country. … equipping employees with new skills such as carbon auditing, energy efficiency and carbon trading to help us make the right energy choices … Emerging trends in the IT and telecoms sector including social computing, green IT and growing convergence of communications, computing and content platforms are likely to be further drivers of employment growth in the IT and telecoms sector”
http://www.hmg.gov.uk/media/41730/jobs_of_the_future.pdf
The United Nations have recognised the emerging interest in this area, especially amongst young people – still our major area of student recruitment.
“Recognizing that they will bear the consequences of current environmental policies, young people continue to have a strong interest in protecting and preserving the planet's resources.”
United Nations “world youth report” 2005
“The [United Nations] General Assembly proclaimed the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development beginning 1 January 2005"
General Assembly resolution 57/254
2. Because we believe it is appropriate and necessary
The ultimate aim should be that an environmental assessment / audit should be a normal part of all IS activity, and that it should not be possible to have an IS process which delivers anything which is not environmentally aware: however, we believe that we are some way from achieving this.
IS and its use of IT has links and applications in many elements of SD, in particular to consumption, to energy, and to communities.
Furthermore, applications of I.T. systems can be found in all of these areas. In this talk, we will initially consider these links.
University autonomy and the local interpretation of the nature of disciplines has been diluted in recent years with the introduction of national subject quality benchmarks (notably under the QAA). Furthermore, The Higher Education Funding council for England (HEFCE)’s role as the main provider of funding for Higher Education in England ensures an authority that can drive change in the core curriculum. The HEFCE push on SD is thus a driving force for institutions and departments to consider SD in their provision.
An additional driver for SD is of course the individual’s own interest in this topic and the belief that this is important enough to be included in their teaching. For I/CS, there are other issues determining curriculum design, as now described.
As noted earlier, it is often argued that IS is both a problem and a solution to the environmental impact of 21st century life, the inefficiencies in technology use create (waste) energy; deployment of IS can effect changes in working patterns which can reduce other energy use.
Either of these approaches have been used to focus students’ attention.
We also note that the motivation has a major impact on all aspects of teaching and learning, and that either an overly enthusiastic or overly sceptical perspective (either of the teacher or the learner) is likely to be counter-productive. We argue that the “best” approach is the scientific open minded one, the most likely to engage most students.
Another question is the location of a discussion of sustainability in the overall curriculum.
We have listed the most likely options above: each has its benefits and drawbacks, some readers may see a parallel with “key skills” such as employability / professional development and ethics / professionalism and their location in the curriculum.
Some institutions have developed specialised courses, typically at the graduate level, either as components of wider business programs, or as programs in their own right. Others have integrated the topic into their undergraduate teaching, often as a component of systems analysis and design courses, treating environmental impact as one of the design constraints which should be considered in developing a systems solution.
Another key question is the depth and breadth of coverage:
We believe that sustainability is so fundamental that all IS students must be aware of the issues and their role, if we are to achieve the objective of truly embedding sustainability into IS development.
However, beyond the awareness (characterised as “the ability to ask the right questions”) which should ensure that sustainability is a factor in IS development, we will then need specialists who will actually design, build and maintain those elements of the IS which deliver sustainability.
Personal/Professional development and practice (PDP) is seen as an important factor in individuals’ career development.
The environmental impact of computing is becoming of increasing concern. Within the U.K., government bodies are beginning to recognise this and DEFRA has been implementing a green I.T. strategy. Furthermore, industry and professional bodies such as the British Computer Society (BCS) are also recognising this, BCS has established its Green IT specialist group, and has launched a foundation certificate in Green IT as part of its training program
In industry, employers are beginning to consider the awareness of sustainable development of potential employees as well as the wider issues of the environmental impact of I.T. and the commercial and social drivers that offer benefits to industry taking account of these
In response to the need to embed Green issues within computing, some Computer science programs may use their computer architecture-themed modules to introduce students to the relationship between hardware design and energy use. In some cases, the ethics and professionalism strand is developed through consideration of electronic waste. It is also possible to envisage a legal focus based on the need for compliance with national and international legislation. This fits neatly into the area of Sustainable Development.
Within the H.E. curriculum, there are numerous places where sustainable development can be embedded. Within I.T. teaching for example, good examples of the environmental impact can be found – such as the huge costs of continuous upgrading of hardware. Software itself has a cost – this includes the potential need to upgrade or replace machinery in order to run the latest version of operating systems or applications, as well as the actual running costs of the software (processor intensive programs increase power usage). The financial and social costs to individuals, institutions and nations of these examples provides an opening for teachers to explore numerous topics, and to develop this awareness in learners. These provide good cases to develop discussions on ethics, social impact and the related professional and legal considerations. Such explorations may include considering different approaches – such as developing less resource intensive systems or perhaps open source solutions. Teaching resources - such as photos of piles of obsolete keyboards, or of children in third world countries recovering wiring and chips from pc motherboards which organisations such as Greenpeace provide can bring home to students the wider global impact of the use of computing equipment and the industry’s continual demand for upgrades and updates. This material also links in with professional development and awareness – for example, within computing material can be linked with the I.T. industry codes of practice for data centres and other guides which have a growing emphasis on sustainability. Considering the U.K. government’s priorities, examples can be found within the computing curriculum which addresses these.
Some specific examples of embedding SD in ICS courses are given below, to indicate where a typical course could include SD in a natural way.
Hardware: longevity of systems; cost benefits analysis of upgrading over replacements (including environmental costs, financial costs, and details of the energy requirements for the different approaches);
Efficient system design/power saving features etc.
Software:
Use of SD examples in teaching programming and data structures etc. such as particular programs to solve SD related problems, or the explicit inclusion of SD related requirements in software specifications for programming exercises.
Some examples of projects which have run in our courses include:
A student group (undergraduate BSc Information Systems) who carried out a full assessment of the energy use and potential savings for a local charity office
MSc students dissertation project work: addressing the issues in applying ISO 14001 within an organisation; developing a model for a voluntary carbon trading scheme between non-business organisations
Undergraduate and postgraduate projects: developing a low-cost, low-energy wireless LAN server; modelling power saving within a data network; the distribution of energy across the cloud; modelling thin client technolgy
Projects, dissertations and industrial placements offer a particularly effective way of teaching and developing SD related material. Final year projects and industrial placements both offer specific links with industry and potentially allow real world problems and issues relating to SD to be dealt with by students. Projects are particularly suitable to charity and developmental ideas, where SD has an important role, and yet may lack the funding or support for traditional funding and development routes.
Belief and active demonstration of the importance of SD by teaching staff is essential if students are to be likely to take SD on board as part of their own learning.
In the modern HE environment, where students are often assessment driven, SD may most effectively be promoted by ensuring that SD is included in materials that are assessed. This does not guarantee that students are convinced of the need and the arguments for SD, but would at least ensure they were aware of the issues.
The earlier discussions indicate that there is considerable variation possible in breadth and depth of content, and raises the question of appropriateness and suitability of material, and of the need to target material at the appropriate level for a particular student cohort. For example, those students whose future career is likely to involve them in the specification and selection of systems need to know that technological solutions such as virtualisation and thin client systems are available, and be aware of their potential, without necessarily having to implement such a solution, whilst the systems developer or administrator would need to be familiar with the process of virtualisation and have the skills actually to carry out a virtualisation operation. There also exists considerable potential for variation of emphasis in presentation according to students’ motivations: some students might respond positively to a delivery based on cost-saving; to a focus on behaving “responsibly” or to energy-saving for environmental sustainability; still others would approach the question from the perspective of a sceptical approach to the claims for “green-ness”. Of course, none of these should be exclusive, but the initial approach to the topic can significantly impact the style of work and topics selected.
It is instructive to consider a grading and taxonomy of material, giving indications of the information, case studies, research and practical activity most suitable for students of differing background and interest. The authors have experience of working on sustainability questions in ICS at all levels of higher education, including doctoral research supervision, the development and delivery of a taught “green computing” masters program and the incorporation of sustainability issues in the undergraduate curriculum. They are currently collaborating in the design of learning material for undergraduate students. Drawing on our experience of working with students from IS and computing backgrounds, this paper will discuss the differing requirements and demands, and suggest appropriate topic leads and material to meet those differing expectations.
