Digital Media & Culture

Department:

Communications, Media and Culture

Semester:

Spring

Credits:

20

Level:

09

Module Description

It is now often suggested that we are living in an age of ‘convergent media’ – that is to say, media that bring users, content, technologies and experiences together in new and interesting ways in the digital realm. This module is about how networked digital media bring together people and ideas, texts and images, and technologies and industries in new ways. In FMSU9A4, we will explore such topics as interpersonal communication on social media, the relationships between media technologies and cultural change, and audiences as creative producers. We will discuss how media audiences are accessing, creating, editing, organising, sharing and collaborating on media in new ways. Most of you will already be familiar with many of these practices. This module will engage the concepts that underpin such practices and we will test these concepts by doing some of these things as part of our assignments, experimenting with a range of online media tools to bring theory and practice together. You should not think of this course as a series of separate topics, but should instead be alert to connections and continuities between weeks — as you progress through the semester, compare and contrast, and try to make connections between ideas.

Module Objectives

As this module deals with innovations in media technologies, cultures and practices, the exact focus of the syllabus is likely to be subject to updates annually. The subject matter for this module will include topics such as

Critical Perspectives on Digital Media
Online Identities
Connectivity
Online Disinhibition
Collective Intelligence
Media Convergence
Transmediality
Digital Divides
Data and Profile Monetisation
Political Economies of Digital Culture
Civic Web and Activism
Relationships Between Digital and Democracy

This module introduces students to some of the themes and concepts which underpin our understanding of digital media and culture as it operates in the world today. Students will explore the potential of the principles of living in a connected wold, and the production and consumption of convergence media environments. The module is primarily delivered through flipped content, accessed through VLE, which will introduce the key themes each week. Students then attend a weekly 2.5 hrs workshop. Students will then work through competency exercises based on that content both independently at their own pace, and through class discussion, with the emphasis on peer-assisted learning. Continuous assessment elements will introduce evaluation for student engagement with content – i.e. small practical output produced each which to reflect learning, creative process, and project development ideas. Samples of this work will be documented for auditing by External Examiners, and for moderation of assessment. Generally, for the first half of these workshops, students will discuss themes and content they have accessed in advance, having worked through the material at their own pace in preparation for the workshop. They are also expected to read set materials in advance for discussion of some of the ideas that shape digital media and culture.  The second half of the workshops, students will test these ideas out through action-learning group work. Project work in the second half of the module is also delivered through flipped content, but is primarily lab-based. The module takes a heuristic approach – that is to say, hands-on, critical engagement and exploratory investigation of some of the key issues in digital culture today.

An introductory 1.5 hr lecture in Week 1, and a similar one introducing the project work in Week 8 (following mid-Semester break).

Core Learning Outcomes

1.   You will engage with some of the key debates surrounding the relationships between contemporary media, society and culture.

2.   You will develop your understanding of major issues surrounding networked digital media and their implications for users.

3.   You will contribute to a range of social media platforms and reflect critically upon these in assignments.

Introductory Reading and Preparatory Work

-Meikle, Graham and Sherman Young (2012) Media Convergence: Networked Digital Media in Everyday Life. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan

-Fuchs, Christian (2013) Social Media: A Critical Introduction. London SAGE

Total Study Time: 200 hours

Scheduled Learning & Teaching: 55 hours: lectures, seminars, practical classes and workshops, external visits, scheduled on-line discussions or similar

Guided Independent Study: 145 hours: both directed learning undertaken in student's own time, and their own self-directed study for assessment

Attendance Requirements

Compulsory (attendance at all (or a specified class)) is necessary for the student to pass the module