The Digital Society

UCOL 25002

As citizens of a fully networked world, our access to information has never been greater but what are the deeper implications for societies and citizens in this digital world?

Course details

“You affect the world by what you browse” (attributed to Tim Berners-Lee).

As citizens of a networked world, our access to information has never been greater – but what are the implications for individuals and societies when we live so much of our life online?  This unit will explore these key themes: the ‘digital footprint’; how digital and mobile technology is changing business and customer relationships; ethical use of online information; creativity in the digital world; social and cultural impact of the Internet; and the ‘digital divide’ and digital disenfranchisement.  The unit will encourage you to take a critical stance towards online information and help you make informed decisions about your use of social media and the Internet both personally, academically and professionally.  You’ll use digital media to communicate information and disseminate findings, and you’ll build networks and develop communities of interest to influence and effect change.  Student groups will be assigned a project task and work with a real-world client such as Macmillan Cancer Support, Mars, or BBC Future Media.

Staff
  • Steven McIndoe
  • Sam Aston
  • Teaching and Learning Team at the University of Manchester Library, plus guest speakers.

 

Course structure
  • 10 credits
  • Level 2 (undergraduate students only)
  • Lectures, Seminars
Assessment

Individual assessment

Produce a reflective blog post examining your online digital identity.

Group assessment

  • Address a specific task assigned by a ‘real world’ client and use freely available multimedia tools to produce a ‘digital presentation’.
  • Write a blog post critically assessing your experience and contribution to the client project and reflecting on the links between the project and the broader issues raised by the course content.
Learning outcomes
  • Understand the key concepts of a ‘digital society’, the ethics of online information use and the skills needed to be an effective and successful digital scholar and citizen.
  • Think critically about information, evaluate online information, practice self-reflection and collaborate across disciplines.
  • Make use of existing knowledge and that of peers and apply this to problem-solving and confronting new challenges.
  • Find, evaluate, manage and share information across a variety of platforms, understand issues of copyright and intellectual property and apply learning to other aspects of academic, personal and professional life.
  • Use social media to build networks across disciplines, share information and develop a personal profile online, use mobile applications and new technologies, develop communication skills using digital media, demonstrate interpersonal skills including project working in teams.
Eligibility

This course is only open to undergraduate students.

University College course units are available to take on programmes which have ‘free choice’ options available to them. (i.e programmes which allow you, as part of the degree programme, to take a number of credits from subject areas outside of your home school). As these courses are credit bearing, you therefore must enrol by following the standard procedure for your school when adding units outside of your home school.

If you are not sure whether you will be able to enrol in University College courses, please contact your School Undergraduate Office to find out whether these options are available for your degree programme.

Timetable
WeekDayTimeSessionRoom
TBC