STKD6600 Technology and Society I Course description

No prerequisites.

No additional course-specific requirements.

After completing this course, the student should have the following learning outcome:

Knowledge

On successful completion of this course the student understands:

• the role of technological innovation with regards to consumption, economic growth and sustainable development
• the idea of digital citizenship, including digital rights and responsibilities, from a local, national and global perspective, both in general and in relation with their field of study
• the democratic principles behind e-inclusion and a universally designed society, both in general and with regards to their future professional practice
• the basics of information security, including precautions to guarantee safety and privacy
• the basic ideas behind algorithms, machine learning and artificial intelligence, how they are used in organizational and societal governance, and how their use may constrain or enable work processes and other aspects of everyday life
• the role that technology plays in professional practice within their profession or field of study.

Skills

On successful completion of this course the student can:

• understand the technological and societal aspects of a case in a specific domain
• discuss and present an overview of ethical challenges at the intersection of technology and society, including issues of integration, participation and multiculturalism
• give examples of how technology is used in the profession(s) related to their field of study, both at the national and the international level
• identify, respond to and limit the negative impact of unethical and harmful online behavior
• evaluate the possibilities and challenges of technological solutions used in the profession(s) relevant to their field of study and present those in a structured form
• retrieve information effectively and efficiently from a variety of online sources, critically assess its quality and credibility.

General Competence

On successful completion of this course the student can:

• be a valuable contributor to the design, planning and implementation of new technology
• be a positive agent of change in their own profession and field of study with regards to leveraging the potential of technology
• participate in innovative processes involving new and emerging technologies and build skills in anticipating and adapting to technological change
• reflect on technology use both within their field and from an interdisciplinary perspective
• actively engage with social, ethical and moral issues related to the development and implementation of technology
• communicate concepts and models related to technology use in a structured manner, both orally and in written form.

Pass/Fail.

All exam papers are assessed by one internal and one external examiner. The supervisor must not be an examiner. In the event of a complaint about the grade, a new committee will be appointed, and the master's thesis will be reassessed. A new oral exam will be held if the grade changes.

The final assessment will be an oral group presentation of a relevant case, which counts for 100% of the grade. The oral presentation will last 20 minutes and all the members of the group must contribute actively to the presentation. The presentation can be given in either English, Norwegian or a combination of the two languages.

Each group may consist of 2-5 candidates.

The oral presentation cannot be appealed.

All support materials are allowed for the oral presentation.

The final assessment will be graded on a grading scale from A to E (A is the highest grade and E the lowest) and F for fail.

Two examiners will be used. External examiner is used regularly.

The course has 5 ECTS of overlapping content towards STKD6610 Technology and Society.