Digital Technology and Society
Undergraduate course
- ECTS credits
- 15
- Teaching semesters Spring
- Course code
- DIKULT104
- Number of semesters
- 1
- Teaching language
- English
- Resources
- Schedule
- Reading list
Course description
Objectives and Content
The course introduces the students to the social and cultural perspectives on the development of digital technologies and their consequences.
During the course, the students will explore the historical, economic, and social factors that have influenced the development of digital technologies. These are the factors that also contribute to the various discourses, principles, and ideologies surrounding these technologies today.
The students will be introduced to how digital technologies have influenced the way we think and structure society, as well as to the prominent thinkers and theorists in digital culture. Topics may include but are not limited to: technology, gender and identity; analysing bias in technologies such as artificial intelligence; technology's environmental impacts; whether we can talk about a digital revolution; whether information is a signal or truth; how humans and machines organize and interpret information and data; how algorithms and platforms might shape our understanding of society; what are the meanings surrounding the availability of program code (open source); and what is meant by artificial intelligence and its applications.
The course builds skills in academic writing and leads to further studies where the students critically evaluate the impact of digital technologies on our culture and society.
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge
The student has knowledge of...
• Central questions and key terms in the field of digital culture,
• The history and development of digital technologies and technology criticism,
• The social, economic, and cultural impacts of digital technologies on our lives.
Skills
The student can...
• Apply key terms in discussions of phenomena related to the development and use of digital
technologies,
• Analyse and apply historical knowledge of technological change to contemporary technological developments.
• Identify the impact of digital technologies on society and individual’s lives.
General competence
The student can...
• Understand and evaluate academic texts in digital culture and contextualize them in relation to each other, both in a general context and with respect to specific technological innovation.
• Make convincing arguments based on academic sources, and
• Master and apply the basics of academic writing.
ECTS Credits
Level of Study
Semester of Instruction
Place of Instruction
Required Previous Knowledge
Recommended Previous Knowledge
Credit Reduction due to Course Overlap
Access to the Course
Teaching and learning methods
There are twenty weeks in a semester, where ten weeks usually have classes. The class schedule will be available by the beginning of the semester. Lectures follow a student-active learning model and typically involve a combination of lectures, discussions, and small exercises. In addition to the readings, students may be assigned homework tasks, such as critically evaluating claims in a text or updating the literature by comparing it with current events.
It is important for students to attend the orientation session early in the semester, before the teaching begins.
Students are expected to work 18 hours per week on the course from the beginning until the end of the teaching period, including weeks with no scheduled classes. These hours should be used for lectures, reading course literature, completing homework, writing compulsory assignments, and researching relevant material in the library and online. During the teaching-free weeks, students are expected to use this time for reading course materials, completing assignments, and preparing for the exam.
The students may be invited to relevant guest lectures and events organized by Digital Culture and the Center for Digital Narrative.
If fewer than five students register for the course, the department may offer reduced tuition. Please refer to the department’s guidelines on Mitt UiB for more information. In this case, students will be notified before the semester registration deadline.
Compulsory Assignments and Attendance
Attendance is compulsory for everything the course covers. Course participation is approved by the course coordinator. If a student exceeds 25% in absences, they will not be eligible to take the exam. Students are encouraged to keep track off their own attendance.
To be eligible to take the exam, students must submit 3-6 compulsory assignments throughout the semester, such as shorter written works, projects, and presentations. These assignments must adhere to academic standards, particularly in areas such as argumentation and citation, and must be submitted by the deadlines which will be provided at the start of the semester. Each assignment is assessed as either "approved" or "not approved".
All assignments must be completed and approved within the semester of teaching before the student becomes eligible to take the exam.
Forms of Assessment
The course concludes with a week-long take-home exam, approximately 4,000 words in length. The questions in the exam focus on case-based, in-depth discussion of the course material and require metareflection on the material. Several questions may be provided, drawn from different sections of the course. All sub-questions must be answered in order to receive a grade.
The student can submit in English or Norwegian.
Grading Scale
Assessment Semester
Reading List
The course material includes both historical and recent sources. Books and articles will be available in bookstores or digital compendiums or will be freely accessible online. Video recordings of online lectures or documentary films may also be included in the syllabus; these will either be freely available online or shown during the course. Students are expected to contextualize all course materials, use them actively in preparation for the exam, and refer to them in the exam.
The required course materials are typically in English. However, students may use and reference sources in other languages for assignments and exams.
The list of compulsory and recommended readings, as far as available in advance, will be posted on Mitt UiB before the start of the semester and updated as necessary. The readings will be available at Akademika or as downloadable e-books or articles.
Students are also expected to familiarize themselves with additional relevant academic materials through the library, online academic sources, and independent research on the topic.