Digital Futures

DIGI30051 Digital Futures 20 Semester 1 Undergraduate Level 3 School of Arts, Languages and Cultures 1 FHEQ level (Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) ' Last part of a Bachelors ' European Credit Transfer & Accumulation System Rating : 10.0 More often than not, digital developments precede careful reflections on their impact on culture and society. Academics, commentators and policymakers tend to reactively criticise the costly failures of the already existing digital systems instead of proactively participating in their conceptualization, design and production. In this course, students will build on their knowledge and criticism of technological shortcomings and mishaps to think about digital media differently. They will be involved in collective and creative projects aimed at rethinking existing technologies and offering inclusive and ethical alternatives for more just digital futures. Students will learn about the latest discussions and guidelines concerning ethical and inclusive design. Playfulness, imagination and experimentation will be encouraged during the course unit to question the established dogmas of what the digital world should look like and to stimulate creativity and innovation. More often than not, digital developments precede careful reflections on their impact on culture and society. Academics, commentators and policymakers tend to reactively criticise the costly failures of the already existing digital systems instead of proactively participating in their conceptualization, design and production. In this course, students will build on their knowledge and criticism of technological shortcomings and mishaps to think about digital media differently. They will be involved in collective and creative projects aimed at rethinking existing technologies and offering inclusive and ethical alternatives for more just digital futures. Students will learn about the latest discussions and guidelines concerning ethical and inclusive design. Playfulness, imagination and experimentation will be encouraged during the course unit to question the established dogmas of what the digital world should look like and to stimulate creativity and innovation. The unit aims to:<ul><li>Equip students with major theoretical frameworks and concepts to think about the future of digital media and technology</li><li>Familiarise students with the state-of-the-art principles of ethical and inclusive design </li><li>Provide opportunities for students to develop creativity and experimentation for imaging alternatives for the existing digital media and technologies</li><li>Support students in developing projects for starting up new digital media or technologies </li></ul> <ul><li>Demonstrate advanced understanding of a range of theories and concepts to think about the future of digital media and technology</li><li>Identify key resources for state-of-the-art principles of inclusive and ethical design</li><li>Recognise current technological trends and discuss how they may impact particular domains of social and cultural life  </li></ul> <ul><li>Assess and critically evaluate current predictions, forecasts and trends regarding digital media and technology, including their social, cultural and economic implications</li><li>Contrast mainstream and alternative visions for digital futures</li></ul> <ul><li>Formulate strategic recommendations to address ethical and inclusion-related challenges for current and emerging digital media and technologies</li><li>Apply state-of-the-art principles of ethical and inclusive design to come up with an idea for a new media platform or technology</li><li>Apply professional information retrieval and communication skills to create and communicate a project presenting a vision for future media</li></ul> <ul><li>Develop a clear and concise project outline with a vision for a new digital media platform or technology</li><li>Provide constructive feedback to peers and analyse feedback from peers and instructors to refine and adapt their project outlines, demonstrating an ability to incorporate constructive criticism</li><li>Reflect on the process of creating a future media project, identifying personal and academic growth, as well as areas for continued improvement in the context of digital entrepreneurship  </li></ul> This course unit consists of three main content components that will be intertwined during the entire teaching time.First, the course unit will introduce students to key academic discussions about future and futurism in relation to digital media and technology. Students will discuss the concepts of optimism and pessimism, utopia and dystopia as well as status quo, change and progress.Second, the unit will require from students to analyse who is in charge of predicting, imaging and creating digital futures. Students will critically examine dominant digital forecasts and what sorts of data and methods they are based on. They will also be introduced to alternative digital imaginations, for example in the form of sci-fi literature, activist manifestos and art projects.Finally, the unit will highlight the importance of the imaginative, the creative and the experimental in reimagining the digital world to make it more just and more inclusive. Students will learn about the state-of-the-art principles of how to design digital media and technology in an ethical and inclusive way (e.g. universal design principles) and will be asked to design a future media project that reimagines a particular technology or invent an entirely new technology according to those principles. The unit consists of 3hrs-long workshops every week. First 2-4 workshops will be devoted to learning about key concepts, theories and debates about the future of digital media and technology. In the remaining weeks, students will continue the discussions but will primarily focus on developing their own ideas for the assessment: a future media project. While this is an individual assessment form, students will be assigned into groups of 2-3 people to regularly workshop their ideas. First, they will need to submit industry reports, evaluating the state and gaps in a particular digital media industry of their choice. Then, they will be asked to focus on designing a future media project from the perspective of disadvantaged groups, thinking about their projects’ implications for the groups, and learning about ethical and inclusive design principles. They will also analyse real-life business plans and other materials presenting visions for future media, pointing out their advantages and disadvantages, which will feed into their assessments.   0 Other 100% <figure class="table"><table><tbody><tr><td>Assessment task</td><td>Weighting within unit (if relevant)</td></tr><tr><td>Future media project draft (individual)</td><td>0%</td></tr><tr><td>Industry report (individual)</td><td>20%</td></tr><tr><td>Future media project (individual)</td><td>80%</td></tr></tbody></table></figure> Online feedback within 15 working days. N Alper, M. (2019). Future talk: Accounting for the technological and other future discourses in daily life. International Journal of Communication 13: 715–735.Andersson, J. (2018). 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