MIS20070 Digital Society

Academic Year 2020/2021

This module provides students with a critical toolkit to analyse and understand contemporary trends in the digital society. It begins with an introduction to critical thinking techniques that interrogate these trends from a wider historical lens, revealing that what appears radically new in the technology space often has a much longer legacy than expected. The module then shifts toward a case study of one of the most important technology companies of our times, Facebook, Inc., with a focus on the various controversies that have impacted it in recent years.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

On completing this module students should be able to:
* Critically analyse and assess various forms of new media
* Understand how wider issues of the digital society influence business and management decisions
* Evaluate norms and values facing technology businesses today
* Problematize digital business trends
* Evaluate and develop business strategies using contemporary, emerging, and novel technologies

Indicative Module Content:

Indicative content:
* Political Economics
* Digital Capitalism
* New Media
* Norms and Values
* Manufacturing and Logistics
* Digital Organizations
* Next-gen Technologies
* Surveillance Capitalism
* Algorithmic Imaginary
* Fake News
* Facebook's Response
NB: These themes may change.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

24
Specified Learning Activities

20
Autonomous Student Learning

76
Total

120
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Lectures
Group work
Independent study and inquiry
Reading
Writing exercises
Peer evaluation
 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Incompatibles:
MIS20030 - Business Information systems, MIS30100 - Information Management


 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Group Project: Peer Review Week 12 n/a Graded No

10
Group Project: Group project (option for on-campus, if available) Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

40
Examination: Mid-term exam Throughout the Trimester Yes Graded No

50

Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring Yes - 2 Hour
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Peer review activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Individual MCQ assessment (automatically marked); plus group project (just-in-time guidance and post-assessment peer review). Peer assessment is marked according to rubric.

DuPont Q (2019) Cryptocurrencies and Blockchains. Polity Press. ISBN: 978-1-509-52027-5 https://www.wiley.com/en-ie/Cryptocurrencies+and+Blockchains-p-9781509520275 224pp. €16.99

Zuboff S (2015) Big other: surveillance capitalism and the prospects of an information civilization. Journal of Information Technology 30(1): 75–89. DOI: 10.1057/jit.2015.5.

Bucher T (2017) The algorithmic imaginary: exploring the ordinary affects of Facebook algorithms. Information, Communication & Society 20(1): 30–44. DOI: 10.1080/1369118X.2016.1154086.

Lazer DMJ, Baum MA, Benkler Y, et al. (2018) The science of fake news. Science 359(6380). American Association for the Advancement of Science: 1094–1096. DOI: 10.1126/science.aao2998.

Thompson N and Vogelstein F (2019) 15 Months of Fresh Hell Inside Facebook. Available at: https://www.wired.com/story/facebook-mark-zuckerberg-15-months-of-fresh-hell/ (accessed 5 June 2020).
Name Role
Dr Paul Dylan-Ennis Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Dr Gianluca Miscione Lecturer / Co-Lecturer