2017/18 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

COMM2145 Technology in Communication and Media

20 creditsClass Size: 48

Module manager: Stephen Lax
Email: s.e.lax@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2017/18

This module is approved as a discovery module

Module summary

This module aims to give students a critical understanding of the role of technology in media and communications. Technology is central to communications and the media. That much is obvious. We are frequently reminded that in these first years of the 21st century, we carry around with us each day a collection of technologies that a generation ago would have been unachievable, unaffordable and in some cases unimaginable. While such simple statements cannot reasonably be disputed, in discussions of the role of communications in everyday life, the role of technology is often described only in this straightforward manner. This reveals a very limited understanding of technology. Hence, the media can be full of claims about the latest technological product, only to re-write the story months later when the promised future fails to materialise. Instead, to understand the complex role of technology in communications and media, it is important to see technology as a social product, whose technical features and social history are equally important. In this module, we examine the relationship between technological developments and society, including the histories of those developments, applying that knowledge to instances of today’s emerging technologies.

Objectives

On completion of this module, students should be able to ...
This module aims to give students a critical understanding of the role of technology in media and communication. It provides a basic understanding of the key technological concepts that underpin all communications systems and, by means of historical examples, to discuss the relationship between technological developments and the society in which those developments take place.

Learning outcomes
At the end of the module, students should be able to:

1. Describe typical technological systems in communication using the correct terminology
2. explain the historical and social development of these technologies;
3. analyse the relationship between technological development and society in relation to communications technologies;
4. Apply this knowledge to examples of current developments in communications technology.

Syllabus

Case histories: technology’s role & development in communications; basic technical concepts: bandwidth, frequency etc.; theoretical approaches to the technology / society relationship; technological innovation; digitisation: policy, regulation, markets; changing patterns of technological usage; the ‘digital sublime’: claims made for technology’s impact.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Lecture	10	1.00	10.00
Seminar	10	1.00	10.00
Tutorial	2	0.50	1.00
Private study hours			179.00
Total Contact hours			21.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			200.00

Private study

Reading for seminars: 60 hrs
Preparing seminar presentation: 4 hrs
Research in preparation for essay: 80 hrs
Writing essay: 25 hrs
Writing literature review: 10 hrs

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Attendance will be monitored in accordance with School policy.
Students will be required to work in groups to give a presentation in one seminar each.
A written assignment (literature reading response – 500 words) will be due mid-semester.
Self-evaluation exercises will be available on the VLE.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	1 x 2,500 - 3000 words	40.00
Essay	1 x 3,000 - 3,500 words	60.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

If you are reuired to resit any component in this module you will be required to choose an alternative question from the module handbook.

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 27/04/2017

Disclaimer

Browse Other Catalogues

• Undergraduate module catalogue
• Taught Postgraduate module catalogue
• Undergraduate programme catalogue
• Taught Postgraduate programme catalogue

Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team.PROD