MP6046 - Digital Media and Society

You will learn via a variety of mechanisms. These include lectures, seminars, online activities (where appropriate) and independent learning.
Lectures will provide the contextual and theoretical information you need to understand the module’s themes and approaches. The lecturer will provide examples that will demonstrate how to apply relevant critical techniques, and to stimulate your engagement with the course material (by, for example, presenting various challenges and conflicts raised in the field).
Seminars will provide space for you to interrogate and discuss the ideas raised in the lectures, both with your peers and with the tutor. Seminars are oriented around discussion questions and activities to stimulate your engagement.
Outside of the taught sessions, you will be expected to engage with module-relevant reading in preparation for the sessions. An electronic reading list is supplied via the e-Learning Portal, which will guide you towards appropriate resources, although you are encouraged to explore the wider library catalogue to engage with additional sources too. During your independent working time, it is also expected that you will apply the ideas raised in the reading and the taught content to contemporary media examples beyond those cited in the lectures.
Where appropriate, additional materials will be supplied on the eLearning Portal. These independent activities will facilitate your development as you progress through the module, laying a foundation for your assessed work.

You will be supported by the module lead; they will introduce the module at the start of the semester and offer advice and guidance throughout. Your learning is mapped out via documentation on Blackboard Ultra, the Northumbria University online electronic learning portal; this is accessible online on and off campus. The e-Learning Portal will include guidance notes and key dates to help you organise and plan your time. It will also include teaching materials, announcements and updates, and detailed information on assessment. You will have a university email that we contact you through.
We support your learning by providing on-going feedback (Formative and Summative) through the range of teaching and learning approaches offered. We ask you to submit your work electronically, and we will supply feedback via Turnitin. You will be able to compare your feedback across modules so that you can assess your development as you progress through the programme.
Formative assessment is offered throughout the module, and summative assignments will receive written feedback within 20 working days of assignment submission. Every tutor has set weekly feedback and tutorial drop in hours, wherein you can seek advice on your academic progress.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
? Demonstrate your ability to apply, question, and relate appropriately sophisticated intellectual arguments concerning technologies to a range of media activities

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
? Display your confidence in applying the transferable skills and theoretical knowledge you have developed to-date to specialist debates regarding digital media and related concepts
? Demonstrate your ability to confidently write and speak about complex issues such as the ongoing transformation of new media

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
? Display an enhanced understanding of the complex nature of contemporary cultural communities and the processes of knowledge creation.

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
To prepare you successfully to undertake the summative assessment(s) on this module, formative assessments will be set by the module team. These may take the form of in-class tasks or projects, developmental activities undertaken between classes, or learning exercises/activities set over a longer period. Feedback (written and/or oral) will be provided to help you learn from, reflect on, and develop in light of these formative assessments.

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
1 x 3000 word essay. This single component will constitute 100% of your final mark.

You will receive formative feedback from your peers and the module tutor during the seminars throughout the course, allowing you to apprehend how your critical skills are developing. You will receive a detailed commentary and a summative mark on your written work in accordance with the assessment criteria (supplied on the eLP). Under normal circumstances, you will receive written feedback on your summative submissions within 20 working days. The feedback will normally be supplied electronically as part of the ESAF process. This feedback will provide a detailed account of your skills, critical engagement and communicative ability, as well as supporting future learning by indicating areas for development. You can also request additional verbal feedback on your submissions by arranging a meeting with the module tutor.

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This module will encourage you to develop critical understanding of current debates about new media and their centrality in contemporary societies. You will be introduced to the key theories, issues and debates regarding the production, use and distribution of digital media. You will become familiar with key issues and ideas in new media theory and in the interrelationships between digital media, technologies, and societies. You will develop critical skills in analysing digital media and understanding their roles in the information society. The module will look at how these developments are related to social tensions by asking crucial questions about the rise and persistence of the digital divide. In this context, especial attention will be given to the issues of inequalities in accessing, using and getting advantages from new media. The module will also analyse how social media are changing and reshaping our social world. Such analytical thrust will rely on the use of case studies and examples as means to understand how new media are permeating our society and everyday life, transforming the way in which we think and act in a digital society, affecting the decision-making processes of the cultural and creative industries, the way key societal actors communicate, and our perception of crucial social issues such as surveillance/privacy, online identities and activism.