ICT30005 Reflective Learning Account: Professional & Ethical IT Issues

This reflective learning account explores professional and ethical issues in Information Technology, focusing on the author's learning journey and perspective shifts as an ICT professional. Part A details motivations for pursuing the degree, emphasizing the growing importance of IT professionals and the value of understanding ethical considerations and interpersonal skills. It reflects on behaviors important for ICT professionals, contributions to team performance, and memorable moments such as analyzing real-world problems like data breaches and cyber attacks. Key professional roles and responsibilities are outlined, including team leadership, project management, and adherence to ethical standards. Part B analyzes topics like Information Security and Ethics, highlighting their impact on the author's understanding of risk management, ethical decision-making, and professional growth. The account concludes by emphasizing the importance of ethics and environmental understanding in becoming a better IT professional.

Running head: PROFESSIONAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES IN IT
Professional Issues and Ethical issues in IT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Part A...............................................................................................................................................2
Part B...............................................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
The Professional issues in Information Technology is the unit which deals with social,
legal, financial, industrial and ethical issues faced by ICT Professionals. The ICT professionals
are Information and Communication Technology professionals who regularly deal with the
professional issues associated with IT systems in an Organization (Ruivo, Santos and Oliveira
2014). The report shows reflective journal assessment which provides learning outcomes for this
unit through ICT professional’s analysis. The purpose of this report is to provide reflection for
what I have learned from the unit of Professional issues in Information Technology. The report
focuses on change of perspectives of interpersonal issues and IT-related issues in terms of ICT
professionals.
The outline of this report is to answer the question related to interpersonal issues and
analysis of IT-related issues of Professional issues in Information Technology degree. The report
includes question from Part A and analysis of Part B.
Part A
The goal for adopting for Professional issues in Information Technology degree was due
to growing career prospective of ICT professionals in current scenario. I was interested in
Information Technology career from early days due to fascination towards computer world.
Information Technology is the base for any Organization and it is growing rapidly due to its
potential. Nowadays every organization wants employees that have required knowledge for
Information Technology and especially in the area of professional and ethical issues. The
consideration for choosing Professional Issues in Information Technology helped me to explore

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and get deep understanding and knowledge on Information Technology. This consideration will
help me in my future career as an ICT professional in an organization (Al-Saggaf, Burmeister
and Schwartz 2017). My enrollment into Professional issues in Information Technology degree
visualizes my goals and motivation due to interest in Information Technology. The Information
Technology has various courses which focus on different areas. However Professional Issues in
Information Technology is one course which helps to understand issues in Information
Technology. My goal was to go in the field which requires more realistic and creativity in the
field of Information Technology. This creativity can be achieved only through Professional
Issues in Information Technology degree. Therefore, Professional Issues in Information
Technology degree perfectly fit into my overall goal of becoming an ICT professional. The
choice for opting Professional Issues in Information Technology degree was the right decision
for me. The degree helped me to get deep understanding and knowledge of issues that exist in
Information Systems. The unit also helped me to focus on unknown future risks that can happen
in Information System. These understanding and knowledge proved my decision right and
helped me to apply this knowledge in my future (Avgerou and Walsham 2017). This degree
helped me to change my plans and aspiration in a better and improved way. This degree helped
me to get an understanding and knowledge on ethics of Information Technology that ICT
professionals should follow. I got to learn and develop technical aspects and interpersonal skill to
be applied in real world.
The kinds of behaviors that might be important for an ICT professional to show while
working in a group or team are given this section. The group or team includes people from
different backgrounds consisting of different genders, castes, skills and religion. The positive
behavior in workplace contributes to better and improved working environment where all

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participate equally. The important behavior that an ICT professional should have is maintaining
equal opportunity for all genders (Laudon and Laudon 2016). The other important behavior is
diverse working skills to deliver while working in a team or group. The ICT professional must
possess skills such as project management, problem solving, solution for technical aspects and
managing business environment internally and externally. Apart from these behaviors, the most
important behavior that an ICT professional should have is trust while working in the team or
group. The trust is an important part in any working environment to encourage and motivate
people to work in a better way. The behaviors that an ICT professional should show must be
adhered to ethical standards which are the first and foremost duty of an ICT professional. ICT
professionals need should exhibit these behaviors to encourage and motivate their group or team
to work efficiently and equally. My contribution to a sound team performance shows technical
aspect along with behavioral aspects. The first contribution is making contribution of new ideas
to the team. The second contribution is to listen and understand the view of team members and
respecting their views and opinions (Sargolzaei and Nikbakht 2017). The third contribution is to
offer and accept criticism for developing cohesive group work performance and behavior. The
fourth contribution is interaction and coordination among the team members for better
performance. The fifth contribution is avoiding any discrimination in the workplace. The
contributions that I made should have been better for team’s performance if I have known the
culture and behaviors of team members (Schwalbe 2015). I can have helped the team members to
be comfortable and friendly with each other and with the environment.
The most memorable moments of Professional Issues in Technology degree was dealing
with real world problems that have occurred. I have always been fascinated towards computer
world and its happenings. I always wondered what Information Technology professionals do in

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an organization and how they organize their findings. This degree helped me to achieve that. The
real world problems and issues such as Equifax data breach and Ransomware cyber attack were
also included in the learning part (Miloslavskaya and Tolstoy 2016). The dealing with these real
world problems and issues were the most memorable moments as it helped me to indulge in the
real scenario. I used my own interpersonal skills, understanding and knowledge to solve the
issues of real world problems. This is where I enjoyed most and developed some new level of
understanding. The other most memorable moments was that when I was told that I have to
visualize that I am an ICT professional. This situation helped me to use my understanding and
thoughts to handle the issue and propose innovations for the issue (Sampson and Makela 2014).
This situation helped me to have confidence of what innovations I propose for the issues. This
moment also helped me to gain effective communication as a professional such as an effective
leader or a team member. These were the moments which were most memorable and it does
impact me in a better way to improve my skills and knowledge. This understanding will help me
to grow in future within an organization.
The key professional roles and responsibilities for a modern ICT professional are
described as follows. The roles and responsibilities of ICT professionals vary in different
organizations as the roles of ICT professionals vary from senior positions to an employee
position (Kerckaert, Vanderlinde and van Braak 2015). However the key professional roles that
an ICT professional has are team leader, project manager, technical assistant and a team member.
Apart from these major roles, other roles are business partners, information technology advisors
and information technology facilitators (Leendertz et al. 2015). The role of ICT professionals as
team leader is to deliver skills to team members and help them to manage the team in a better
way. The role of ICT professional as project manager is to acknowledge the project and manage

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the project. The role of ICT professional as technical assistant is to manage the networking part
and its issues. The role of ICT professional as a team member is to deliver task. The roles of ICT
professional as business partners, advisors and facilitators functions internally and externally for
an organization. The key professional responsibilities of ICT professional are as follows. The
first responsibility is development and designing of application and software for security
purposes. The second responsibility is management of information technology systems to ensure
safety and security. The third responsibility is evaluation, operation and upgrade of information
technology systems in an organization. The fourth responsibility is adherence to ethical standards
in managing the issues of information technology (Nederhand and Van Meerkerk 2017). These
roles and responsibilities will help me in my career growth in future in an organization. The roles
and responsibilities such as technical aspects, teamwork and management skills and ability to
solve problems will help me to have secured and active job within an organization. This will also
help me to work efficiently and effectively in a group or team in an organization.
Part B
The first topic which is analyzed is Information Security which helps me to evaluate my
working as a professional in future. The topic deals with detailed understanding of information
security in an organization and an example where information security comes into play (Peltier
2016). This topic helps me to get an analysis of what I can do in risky situations in an
organization. I get an overview of what I can do as an IT professional in an organization and how
to handle a team. This topic helped me to grow as a professional and look at the situations in a
more responsible way. I also get an understanding of what I can do when anything goes wrong in
an organization through the example given in this topic. I thought that information security is a
small area where limited knowledge can work. However, this topic changed my thoughts as

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information security needs active participation and environmental knowledge and understanding
(Safa, Von Solms and Furnell 2016). The information security a professional does not have to
look any issues from single perspective but they have to look from different perspectives. The
information security topic also helps to get understanding and knowledge of how to analyze a
risk and mitigate the risks. The topic has impacted me positively by helping me to get deep
understanding of what can be done in difficult situations in an organization. This topic will help
me in my future career growth as an information security professional.
The second topic which is analyzed is Ethics which helps to get an understanding of
ethics related with Professional Issues in Information Technology (Tse et al. 2015). This topic
helps me to understand the ethics which are associated with Information Technology and how it
is perceived by ICT professionals. This topic has impacted me in a positive way as it helps me to
analyze and evaluate the security issues with adherence to ethics of information technology. The
detailed description of ethics has helped me to approach any issue in a professional way. The
ethics in Professional Issues in Information Technology degree helps me to get analysis of
different types of ethical issues, privacy and integrity associated (Lloyd 2017). I can now
understand how to analyze and solve any issues of information technology in an organization.
The different types of ethics and privacy help me to know what role ethics and privacy play in
information technology in businesses. The topic will help me to apply this ethics in the
organization where I will be employed and through this I can upgrade myself. I can now
understand that knowledge of ethics is going to be a major turnout for me in future scenarios.
Ethics is not a small topic to be understood through learning rather it is a more practical thing
which needs basic environmental understanding (Halinen and Jokela 2016). Therefore, ethics in

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Professional Issues in IT has impacted me the most and in a positive way to become a better and
improved professional in future.
The third topic which is analyzed is Triple threat leadership and charting one’s career that
does not impact me completely in a professional way. This topic has helped me get an overview
of project planning, leadership and career planning. This topic does not help me to get deep
understanding of what actually a project does and triple threat leadership understanding in
businesses. The topic does not illustrate how project works and how triple threat leadership
contributes in business performance (Lundin et al. 2017). However, I did get some understanding
of project, triple threat leadership and career planning which can help me in my professional
career. This topic does impact me in a way that I can now understand how to plan my career with
appropriate action for achieving the required goal. I can use this understanding to start my career
initially and boost my confidence in my professional career. The topic gave me most important
learning and that is competencies required in an organization to be able to retain in the business
environment. The competencies will help me in my future by giving me enough knowledge to
how adjust and grow professionally in a challenging business environment. This learning will
help me to grow professionally in an organization. The career planning is necessary to fit in an
organization as it helps to focus on professional career (Rothwell et al. 2015). Therefore, this
topic impacts me by helping to start my career initially however it lacks detailed illustration
which is important to grow in future.
The fourth topic which is analyzed is Professionalism in ICT which helps to get an
understanding of how to become an ICT professional. The exact working and operation of ICT
professional in this topic also helps me to learn how to become a good ICT professional. This
topic impacts me in a most influential way as it helps me to understand what I have to do to

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become an ICT professional. I thought that ICT professionals require only information
technology understanding and knowledge. However, this topic changed my thoughts. Now, I can
understand that an ICT professional has to do a lot of research on issues (Al-Saggaf, Burmeister
and Schwartz 2017). They have to do analysis from different point of views and use their own
interpersonal skills and behaviors to understand the issues. This topic helps me to understand that
ethics is an important part of an ICT professional and this is where they need major focus. The
topic helps me to understand that becoming an ICT professional is not easy they require multiple
skills. These multiple skills range from interpersonal skills to professional skills. I am now able
to understand that professionalism in ICT requires work culture behavior, interpersonal behavior
and knowledge of code of ethics (MacKrell et al. 2016). This will help me to grow in future
professionally. The ICT professional requires being active and can understand the issues
personally. Therefore, this topic on professionalism in ICT helps me to be a better ICT
professional in business work environment.
Conclusion
The above Part A and Part B show that the degree of Professional issues in Information
Technology helps to develop interpersonal and IT-related issues. The reflective journal shows
that every individual has its own opinion and own way of understanding which they take away.
The discussions show that interpersonal skills show the overall take away from Professional
issues in Information Technology degree. However, IT-related issues show the take away from
the particular topic of the degree. This shows that everyone has its own perspective to view
things and analyze. Therefore, it can be concluded that the understanding and knowledge that I
got from this degree will help me in future as a professional.

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References
Al-Saggaf, Y., Burmeister, O.K. and Schwartz, M., 2017. Qualifications and ethics education:
the views of ICT professionals. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 21.
Al-Saggaf, Y., Burmeister, O.K. and Schwartz, M., 2017. Qualifications and ethics education:
the views of ICT professionals. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 21.
Avgerou, C. and Walsham, G. eds., 2017. Information Technology in Context: Studies from the
Perspective of Developing Countries: Studies from the Perspective of Developing Countries.
Routledge.
Halinen, A. and Jokela, P., 2016. Exploring Ethics in Business Networks: Propositions for Future
Research. In Extending the Business Network Approach (pp. 333-356). Palgrave Macmillan,
London.
Kerckaert, S., Vanderlinde, R. and van Braak, J., 2015. The role of ICT in early childhood
education: Scale development and research on ICT use and influencing factors. European Early
Childhood Education Research Journal, 23(2), pp.183-199.
Laudon, K.C. and Laudon, J.P., 2016. Management information system. Pearson Education
India.
Leendertz, V., Blignaut, A.S., Ellis, S. and Nieuwoud, H.D., 2015. The development, validation
and standardisation of a questionnaire for ICT professional development of mathematics
teachers. pythagoras, 36(2), pp.1-11.
Lloyd, I., 2017. Information technology law. Oxford University Press.

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Lundin, R.A., Arvidsson, N., Brady, T., Ekstedt, E., Midler, C. and Sydow, J., 2017. Project
Networks–More than Managing Projects.
MacKrell, D., McDonald, C., Buick, F. and Kleeman, D., 2016. Boundary Spanning Theory: a
Case Study of the Professionalisation of ICT Graduates in the Australian Public Service.
Miloslavskaya, N. and Tolstoy, A., 2016, August. State-level views on professional
competencies in the field of IoT and cloud information security. In Future Internet of Things and
Cloud Workshops (FiCloudW), IEEE International Conference on (pp. 83-90). IEEE.
Nederhand, J. and Van Meerkerk, I., 2017. Activating citizens in Dutch care reforms: framing
new co-production roles and competences for citizens and professionals. Policy & Politics.
Peltier, T.R., 2016. Information Security Policies, Procedures, and Standards: guidelines for
effective information security management. CRC Press.
Rothwell, W.J., Jackson, R.D., Ressler, C.L., Jones, M.C. and Brower, M., 2015. Career
Planning and Succession Management: Developing Your Organization's Talent—for Today and
Tomorrow: Developing Your Organization’s Talent—for Today and Tomorrow. ABC-CLIO.
Ruivo, P., Santos, V. and Oliveira, T., 2014. Data protection in services and support roles–a
qualitative research amongst ICT professionals. Procedia Technology, 16, pp.710-717.
Safa, N.S., Von Solms, R. and Furnell, S., 2016. Information security policy compliance model
in organizations. Computers & Security, 56, pp.70-82.
Sampson, J.P. and Makela, J.P., 2014. Ethical issues associated with information and
communication technology in counseling and guidance. International Journal for Educational
and Vocational Guidance, 14(1), pp.135-148.

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Sargolzaei, E. and Nikbakht, M., 2017. The Ethical and Social Issues of Information
Technology: A Case Study. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED COMPUTER
SCIENCE AND APPLICATIONS, 8(10), pp.138-146.
Schwalbe, K., 2015. Information technology project management. Cengage Learning.
Tse, J., Schrader, D.E., Ghosh, D., Liao, T. and Lundie, D., 2015. A bibliometric analysis of
privacy and ethics in IEEE Security and Privacy. Ethics and Information Technology, 17(2),
pp.153-163.