Unit information: ICT and Society: Contexts, Policies and Practices in 2010/11

Unit name	ICT and Society: Contexts, Policies and Practices
Unit code	EDUCM5803
Credit points	20
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52)
Unit director	Dr. Morgan
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School of Education
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

This unit will provide a critical introduction to debates about the relationship between ICT and Society. It assumes that we cannot understand ICT without reference to the concept of 'society', a term that requires careful theoretical reflection. The unit therefore explores economic, social and cultural theories about ICT, and encourages students to analyse debates about ICT from a variety of perspectives. The unit explores these in a variety of contexts, policies and practices. This allows for case studies at a variety of scales, involves the discussion and analysis of policy documents, and the study of the practices surrounding the use and management of ICT in specific sites. The underlying assumption is that the meaning of all of the terms in the unit title cannot be taken for granted and that they should be subject to critical inquiry using a wide-ranging literature.

Aims:

• To introduce the main economic, social and cultural theories relating to ICT;

• To provide students with an understanding of the economic and social contexts in which ICT is used in society;

• To provide students with conceptual and methodological tools to understand policies surrounding ICT and their use in education and other settings;

• To enable students to analyse specific uses of ICT practices in education and other settings in the light of the perspectives introduced in the unit.

Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of this unit, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate the ability to use relevant economic, social and cultural theories to understand the relationship between ICT and social change and social relations

• demonstrate an understanding of the ways in which ICT is used in societies to construct new social practices and meanings;

• show an awareness of the different economic and social contexts in which ICT is used in society and the implications of this for individuals, communities and societies;

• use relevant conceptual and methodological tools to understand policies surrounding ICT and their use in education and other settings;

• demonstrate the ability to analyse specific uses of ICT practices in education and other settings in the light of the perspectives introduced in the unit

• demonstrate a critical understanding of approaches to ICT and society

Teaching Information

The course will be taught face-to-face, but will be supported by a virtual online learning environment. All students will be required to use the VLE as standard, to communicate with fellow students, with the lecturing staff, to obtain administrative details about the course, to access course materials and, in some instances, for submission of coursework. Students will be encouraged to work in groups to investigate specific contemporary ICT practices (e.g eBay, ‘blogging’, search engines). The principle teaching and learning methods will include the following:

• Lectures: to present the main concepts of the syllabus.

• Case studies: to ground the work within the professional context and provide real life examples

• Group work and class presentations

• Engagement with online resources: to reiterate face-to-face activities, to supplement and support, to provide revision or associated materials and resources, and to offer extension activities.

Assessment Information

The assignment will arise from an account (4000 words or equivalent) in which students marshall their learning of theories and concepts related to ICT and society to study the issues arising from a particular policy or practice relating to ICT. This may take the form of, for instance, an analysis of a policy document in the light of the perspectives introduced, a study of ICT management practices in an institution, or an interview-based sociological study of a user of ICT in a particular social setting.

Reading and References

• Castells, M. (1996) The network society Vol. III, Oxford: Blackwells.

• Dale, R. Robertson, S. and Shortis, T. (2004). ‘You can’t not go with the technological flow, can you?’ constructing ‘ICT’ and ‘teaching and learning’, Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 20, pp. 456-70.

• MacKenzie, D. and Wajcmann, J (Eds.) (1999) The social shaping of technology (2nd Edition), Buckingham: Open University Press

• Selwyn, N. (2002). Telling tales on technology: qualitative studies of technology and education, Wiltshire: Ashgate.

• UNESCO (2005) Toward knowledge societies, Paris: UNESCO Publishing.

• Webster, F. (2003 2nd Edn) Theories of the information society, London: Routledge.

• Valentine, G. and Holloway, S. (2002). Cyberkinds? exploring children’s identities and social networks in on-line and off-line worlds, Annals of the American Geographers 92 (2), pp. 302-319.