STKD6610 Technology and Society II Emneplan

Digital competence is a key factor in ensuring the employability of candidates in all professions vital to our society. This course will provide a fundamental understanding of some of the most important concepts, tools and technologies that comprise and influence our increasingly digital world. It gives an overview of how technology affects our lives, our social structures, the way we work and provides grounding for actively engaging with and shaping the development and role of technology in society. Social media, digital governance, eHealth and the explosion of AI applications are all examples of how technology has profoundly changed our everyday lives in the last few decades. An understanding of technology is vital in any profession, regardless of field or specialty. In this course, students will acquire the basic knowledge required to harness the potential of technology and identify the opportunities to use technology to foster inclusion and participation in an increasingly diverse and multicultural society. They will also learn to recognize its limitations and potentially harmful consequences on work and society, and grapple with the social, ethical and moral issues that arise as technology becomes both increasingly complex and integral to the way our society functions.

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.

The course uses a blended learning approach, with a combination of attendance-based teaching or guidance, and use of online material. The students will be working on interdisciplinary cases, and initiating and performing a project of direct relevance to their field of study. The project will be shaped by the students and the field's own needs.

The Spring/Autumn variant of the course involves weekly seminars and regular project supervision meetings throughout the semester, in addition to the online material.

The Summer School variant involves four weeks attendance-based teaching, in addition to the online material.

A minimum of three out of a possible eight individual assignments, in addition to an individual project report is required.  The assignments consist of reflection tasks, such as mini-essays or opinion pieces of approximately two pages each. A one-page outline including the topic and the structure of the project report is required. The outline must be approved by the course coordinator/course teacher/supervisor within a set deadline. If the outline is not approved the first time, the student may submit a revised version within a second, set deadline.

The final assessment/examination consists of two parts:

• Oral group presentation of a case in a group, which counts for 50% 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.  
• An individual project report (3 000-4 000 words), which counts for 50% of the grade. The report can be written in either English or Norwegian.

Each group may consist of 2-5 candidates.

Both the oral presentation and the individual report must receive an E or better to be given a passing grade for the course as a whole.

If a student gets a Fail grade in one of the exams, the student is entitled to retake only the failed exam.

The oral presentation cannot be appealed.

All support materials are allowed for both the oral presentation and for the individual project report.

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 STKD6600 Technology and society