The two main concepts of the course are social change and technological change by digital means. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is not only an essential building block of a society, but currently also the driving force behind social development. Our generation has the luck to live through –and the responsibility to shape– an era in which mediated information and communication have become the catalyst of human progress. We will deepen our understanding on how social and technological revolutions go hand in hand.

We will contemplate about what actually makes a society and discuss the question of what constitutes human progress and development. We will need to discuss what technology actually is and how it evolves. This will lead us to the question how technological progress relates to human development. Armed with the powerful conceptual frameworks of innovation theory and social evolution, we will then ask about what happens when information and communication is digitalized? Digitalization comes with certain characteristics that individual and collective behavior, incentives and forms of organization. These characteristics can trigger political revolutions; create unprecedented richness as well as new dimensions of poverty; redefine our understanding of friendships, culture and entertainment; reshape society’s democratic will; transform education, health care and business; be used as a tool of warfare, and lead to both visions of future scenarios of global freedom and informational dictatorship.

While doing this, a global perspective will be essential. Digital networks create transnational cultures. While we are usually quick to note that we live in a global ‘information society’, we all too often forget that half of this global society live with less than US$75 per month (US$2.5 per day). We review the multiple dimensions of globalization, which are inherently intertwined with the digital age. It is important to ask about the implications that in less than two decades every second person worldwide has connected online and 9 out of 10 linked up through mobile telephony. Digital technology is the most powerful and also the most tangible tool we currently have available to exploit the ensuing opportunities for social change. This course tackles the big picture of the digital age and we are not afraid to ask the big questions that arise from an incredibly complex dynamic of ongoing digitalization (one that all of us already live in day by day…).

Course Objectives

By the end of the course you will:

• Be able to frame personal experiences and global trends of the digital age with the formal theoretical frameworks of social- and technological change;
• Have had plenty of opportunity to apply the learned concepts to real-world examples of your own choice, which enables you to articulate complex issues eloquently and in a way that is meaningful to you;
• Have a more structured understanding about digitalization, and of its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and imminent threats;
• Develop a basic appreciation of the complexities of human development, as well as the challenges that arise when intervening in social evolution (through public policy and private strategies), especially during times of fast-paced change;
• Gain insights into how authorities from companies and governments currently manage disruptive and problematic dynamics of digitally-driven social change

Office Hours Monday 1pm - 2pm or by appointment: Kerr Hall 369

Evaluation

Final grades are based on a 100-point system as follows:

Online Participation (30 %)

You are expected to contribute interactively by answering online discussion questions and reading question: Assignment List . The different assignments have different weight, length, and content. Assignments include Reading Questions (multiple choice) aimed at guiding you through the reading and pointing you to important concepts; as well as Online Discussion questions that allow you to apply learned concepts to concrete real-world examples of your choice. Some assignments ask you explicitly to comment on contributions of fellow students, and even if the assignment is not explicit about it, you are always encouraged to do so.

Your contribution to the Online Discussion forums have to be registered before the indicated deadline. Later contributions to the Online Discussions are still welcome until the last day of class, but will maximally receive half points. IMPORTANT: Deadlines refer to Pacific Time (US). MAKE SURE to set your time zone in Canvas to "Pacific Time": go to "Settings" in the navigation plane => Course Details => Time Zone => change to Pacific Time (U.S.). If you don't do this, your contributions will be registered at the wrong time (as the system thinks you are at the different time zone) and you might get late points discounted, etc... If you do not do this, please never cut it close with assignments, as I unfortunately won't be able to negotiate on this...

For open ended written answers to Online Discussion questions, the following table gives you an overview of the applied grading scheme:

As in any good online social network: inappropriate online behavior will be penalized (within the class and/or through official university channels). This protects the rights of everybody involved. So please watch your words and be a respectful cyber-discussant.

Midterm (30 %) and Final Examination (40 %)

Midterm Exam: Monday April 27 at 10am

Final Exam: Monday, June 08 at 6:00 pm

Exam Format.There will be one midterm examination and one final examination. These two examinations consist of multiple choice questions. Bring a Scantron Form 2000, as well as several sharp pencils and an eraser to examination sessions. During the exam you cannot leave the room before handing in both your exam and the exam booklet. If you show up late on an examination day, your tardiness will cut into your allotted time. Do not be late!

Academic Integrity. Any student found using or even holding an electronic device during an exam (incl. audio player, etc.) will be assumed to be cheating and will be referred to Student Judicial Affairs. Cheating, plagiarism, and other misconduct are serious violations of your contract as a student and you are expected to know and follow the existing University's policies. Please make sure you are familiar with them: http://sja.ucdavis.edu/scs.html . Ignorance is not an acceptable excuse.

Testing FAQs:

(1)     Will the test cover mostly class material or reading material? Answer: Tests draw from both sources of information. Some questions will be based on both lectures, and reading material and videos.

(2)     If I just read the material and participate in the online forums, do I need to come to class? Answer: If you do not attend regularly you will have difficulties to answer exam question and do homework assignments. Exams will include “attendance questions” which ask for specific content from lectures (we do not have a text-book, so lectures convey the essential class content). These are questions that you would be unlikely to answer correctly if absent from class, but often easy points if you simply pay attention during class.

(3)     How should I prepare for the examination? Answer: The best way is to do all assigned reading when they are assigned, while paying attention to the guiding questions of each week. With this reading background in mind, you will quickly understand what matters while listening to the lecture. Take notes and review them DIRECTLY after class, when everything is still fresh. Think about creating or joining a study group. Generate your own examples for class concepts. Review your notes before the tests. For more see Exam Study Orientation

(4)     Will there be questions that require any extra skills like a math background or statistics? Answer: No, no prerequisites required. If you pay attention and do the readings, there is absolutely no reason why not to achieve an A. This class does not discuss issues or concepts that are complicated or difficult to understand. It will not test “how smart you are” (we take your smartness for granted), but if you spent time thinking about and dealing with the issues we discuss. It treats concepts that you are quite familiar with from your day to day life in a digital world, but it will allow you to put this awareness into a more formal framework of reasoning. Once you get into the material, you will easily be able to frame your own experience and ideas within these more structured and theoretical concepts, and that is what we want to achieve in this class. 

(5)     What’s the consequence and what should I do if I miss classes? Answer: No attendance will be taken. We are all adults. It is understandable if there is an exceptional emergency that does have a real scheduling conflict. However, missing class more regularly, is a choice you make: either you want to learn more about these things, or you do not. Keep in mind that missing a class is like paying for a show you eventually do not go to. This is a waste and the money is lost. Independent from the reason of missing a class, it is your responsibility to obtain notes and insights from one of your classmates, which are hopefully complete enough for you to reconstruct the class content.

(6)     Can I use my laptop during class? Answer: If you want to use your laptop to take notes and to look up concepts related to the class you are very welcome to do so. There might be concepts in class that you are unfamiliar with and Wikipedia and related sources are useful to clarify doubts that might arise during the lecture in real-time. However, if you prefer to surf the web for unrelated material, text, talk with friends, catch up on a TV series or watch a movie, or do some other task, I ask that you do it outside of the classroom.  These activities are distracting and defeat the purpose of gathering for lectures.  If you are engaging in these activities I reserve the right to ask you direct questions, and eventually, to leave.

(7)  I have anxiety during exams, especially during multiple choice tests. What can I do? This is a serious disadvantage, but one you have to learn to confront. I encourage you to visit the Student Academic Success Center.  They offer workshops and individual training on taking exams.  Additionally, they can provide instruction on note taking in lecture classes.  You can find out more about their services on their website: http://success.ucdavis.edu/ .

(8)     Will the final exam be accumulative (cover material from the first part of the course)? Answer: The final exam will no treat concepts and issues that did not come up during the second part of the course. Some concepts will follow us around during the entire course, and we will find new ways to look at them during the second part of the course. Naturally, the final exam will cover those. But the final exam will no ask about issues that did not come up again after the mid-term.