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2021/22 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

LLLC1412 Exploring the Digital World

20 creditsClass Size: 25

Module manager: Becky Cherriman
Email: B.A.Cherriman@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2021/22

This module is mutually exclusive with

LEED1025The Digital Student

This module is approved as a discovery module

Module summary

The Digital World Module will invite you to consider the digital revolution and its impact upon society(s): how cultures have responded to significant periods of technological change, and how these changes have even shaped the way people think, learn and express themselves. The module will also deal with practical questions of online scholarship and research. As a student group, you will be asked to create and enhance an online timeline of technological and communication revolutions, and to comment on the importance of specific case-studies. In Semester 1, you will construct the online timeline and write about the impact of a particular invention or idea for an assessed essay. In Semester 2, you will learn how to respond to digital interventions when something unexpected happens within your online world, encouraging you to use your digital skills and creativity in new ways.

Objectives

-This module will introduce you to key concepts and debates relating to the development of the digital world and your identity within it.

-It will invite you to consider what it means to be a ‘digital native' (and whether you accept this label), and ask you to consider how you behave, learn and collaborate within an online context.

-You will be able to place yourselves in relation to a broad historical context of technological and digital change and reflect on your own development over a more compressed timeline.

-Having established a firm understanding of, and approach to, the digital world, you will be challenged to defend this through online responses, discussion and debate, by developing new resources and participating in creative and critical collaboration.

-You will be asked to reflect upon your understanding of the digital world, its evolution, and your place within it, giving opportunities for transformational learning.

Learning outcomes
At the end of this module students will be able to:
-Navigate and utilise a variety of online tools for scholarship
-Examine how these might shape their experience as they move through their degree
-Identify key events and technological achievements leading to the evolution of the digital world
-Identify the significance of collaboration within online forums and participate effectively and appropriately within them
-Explore how the digital world impacts on the ways in which we think, learn and express ourselves
-Create original resources to map technological and digital changes
-Experiment with diverse forms of digital research, expression and creativity that will heighten their academic potential
-Critically reflect upon their approach to, and identity within, the digital world
-Reflect, individually and collectively, on their current digital skills and behaviours
-Understand the importance of resilience and flexibility as they respond to academic enquiry and critique

Skills outcomes
Students will hold different major subjects, but the module will reflect Liberal Arts programme skills: interdisciplinary research, collaborative scholarship and external-facing outputs


Syllabus

This module examines the digital world from a range of critical, reflective and creative perspectives. Students will be invited to examine key historical developments in technology and within societies, in order to locate their understanding of digital evolution within a broad framework.

As the module progresses students will participate in an ARG (Alternate Reality Game) that will force a re-assessment of initial work, enabling students to re-consider their findings from a range of perspectives. Finally, students will reflect upon their progress and analyse their relationship to the digital world.

Workshop topics and activities will include:
1. Defining your individual and collective digital identities
2. Collaborating and debating online for research
3. Identifying and mapping technological and digital revolutions
4. Building and enhancing an online technological timeline
5. Researching and critiquing the history of technology
6. Alternative Reality Game: Responding to Digital Interventions
7. ARG: Justifying collaborative scholarship and defending your research online
8. ARG: Rebuilding and enhancing online resources
9. Reflecting on your developing online skills and identity

Teaching methods

Delivery typeNumberLength hoursStudent hours
Seminar221.0022.00
Independent online learning hours70.00
Private study hours108.00
Total Contact hours22.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)200.00

Private study

Private Study:
Module reading and research (individual and collaborative), underscoring topics of technological and digital history, culture and identity.
Independent Online Learning:
This will be a crucial part of the module activity, developing online scholarship, etiquette and critique. There will be a mixture of individual and collaborative online work:
30-hours building and enhancing an online timeline (Semester 1)
30-hours responding to Alternative Reality Game (Semester 2)
10-hours generating reflective blog posts on digital development and identity

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Through contact hours in seminars, overview of the online creation of resources, the monitoring of regular blog entries, and student interaction within the ARG. Peer-to-peer monitoring and guidance during collaborative tasks will be a strong, informal element of the module.

Methods of assessment


Coursework
Assessment typeNotes% of formal assessment
Essay2,000 words30.00
Group ProjectTimeline and ARG interaction: the development of one initial timeline contribution, and the successful completion of the ARG50.00
Reflective log1500 word reflective blog summary20.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)100.00

The resit of the Group Project will consist of individual contribution to the online timeline (which will still be accessible) and a written commentary on contributions of fellow students.

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 30/06/2021 16:23:11

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