Information and Communication Technologies
Code: 103852 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2501933 Journalism | FB | 2 | 1 |
Contact
- Name:
- Carles Llorens Maluquer
- Email:
- carles.llorens@uab.cat
Use of Languages
- Principal working language:
- catalan (cat)
- Some groups entirely in English:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Catalan:
- Yes
- Some groups entirely in Spanish:
- No
Teachers
- Josep Àngel Guimera Orts
Prerequisites
A good level of English reading comprehension is required. Previous degree content is taken for granted.
Objectives and Contextualisation
This subject is located within the Communication domain, taught in the first and second year of the degree. Therefore, it has 6 ECTS credits and implies a basic formation with other subjects as History of the Communication, Structure of the Communication, Audiovisual and Written Languages and Communication Theories.
Therefore, the subject fits into the group of specific subjects related to communication. The objective is to provide the basic keys for the interpretation of technologies and their role in society. It is a deep and theoretical introduction to build up the bases of thinking to future subjects.
As defined in the syllabus, the objective of this course is the study of technologies associated with the development of the information and knowledge society, especially considering its impact on innovation and the creation of socio-cultural environments . It is about reflecting on the role of technologies in society and the communication industry, as well as its impact on citizen communication.
Specifically, the objectives of the subject are the following:
- Knowing the technical processes involved in the communication of audiovisual content
- Learning which are the main technological tools that intervene in these processes and the innovations that are taking place in this field, to see how this can influence the work of the communicator, the messages and their reception.
- Reflecting critically on the technological discourse and the application of information and communication technologies to journalistic and media work.
Competences
- Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
- Demonstrate a critical and self-critical capacity.
- Demonstrate a self-learning and self-demanding capacity to ensure an efficient job.
- Differentiate the discipline's main theories, its fields, conceptual developments, theoretical frameworks and approaches that underpin knowledge of the subject and its different areas and sub-areas, and acquire systematic knowledge of the media's structure.
- Disseminate the area's knowledge and innovations.
- Research, select and arrange in hierarchical order any kind of source and useful document to develop communication products.
- Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
- Take account of social, economic and environmental impacts when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
- Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
- Value diversity and multiculturalism as a foundation for teamwork.
Learning Outcomes
- Communicate using language that is not sexist or discriminatory.
- Critically analyse the principles, values and procedures that govern the exercise of the profession.
- Demonstrate a critical and self-critical capacity.
- Demonstrate a self-learning and self-demanding capacity to ensure an efficient job.
- Differentiate the specificities of audiovisual languages.
- Disseminate the area's knowledge and innovations.
- Identify the social, economic and environmental implications of academic and professional activities within one's own area of knowledge.
- Link social analysis and impacts of new communication technologies.
- Propose projects and actions that are in accordance with the principles of ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and obligations, diversity and democratic values.
- Research, select and arrange in hierarchical order any kind of source and useful document to develop communication products.
- Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
- Value diversity and multiculturalism as a foundation for teamwork.
- Weigh up the impact of any long- or short-term difficulty, harm or discrimination that could be caused to certain persons or groups by the actions or projects.
Content
1. Conceptual introduction to ICT
What do we understand by Information and Communication Technologies? Data / Information / Knowledge.
2. The technological discourse
Approach to the main currents that have studied technology from various points of view, with special attention to the determinist and constructivist discourse.
3. Technologies' life cycle
Analysis of the life cycle of technologies to better understand their evolution and possible disappearance. Idea of planned obsolescence.
4. Innovation difussion
Approach to innovation and its dissemination, with special attention to the proposal of Everett M. Rogers.
5. Electromagnetic and radioelectric spectrum: principles and management
The importance of the radioelectric spectrum as a platform for disseminating content in communication.
6. Technology and Journalism: last developments
Algoritms, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, technology innovation and journalism
Methodology
The acquisition of knowledge and skills by students will be done through various methodological procedures that include master class, readings and seminars, as well as textual and audiovisual supporting materials available through the Campus virtual platform.
Specifically, four seminars will be held on specific topics of the agenda in small groups where a series of readings will be provided.
Finally there will be a group dissertation related to specific cases of social impact of technology.
The calendar detailed with the content of the different sessions will be presented on the day of presentation of the subject. It will be uploaded to the Virtual Campus, where students will also be able to access the detailed description of the exercises and practices, the various teaching materials, and any necessary information for the proper follow-up of the subject.
The proposed teaching methodology and evaluation activities may undergo some modifications depending on the health authorities' attendance restrictions.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Lectures | 37.5 | 1.5 | |
| Seminars | 15 | 0.6 | |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Tutorials | 7.5 | 0.3 | |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Readings, analysis, preparation and writing of the group dissertation | 82.5 | 3.3 |
Assessment
The final qualification is made up of three different parts, each of which must be approved with a minimum of 5 to pass the subject:
Group dissertation (50%)
Theoretical exam (30%)
Seminars (20%)
The work is an activity carried out in a group that will be supervised in scheduled sessions. Students must demonstrate the ability to critically read contemporary technological discourse, relating the theory of the subject with specific cases. At the beginning of the course, the protocol specifying in detail how to proceed will be posted on the virtual campus.
The theoretical exam will be ask about the theoretical lecturers, the seminars and the compulsory readings.
The intervention in the seminars will be articulated based on the guidelines that will be provided and posted on the Virtual Campus. Each seminar has a protocol and some specific readings that are known in advance. They must be prepared in advance and they will work on exercises and / or group and / or individual presentations. The absences of attendance to the seminars will be graded with a 0. At the beginning of the course the dates of the semesters will be published.
About the period and conditions of revaluation
The student will be entitled to the revaluation of the exam and of the work or of both parties as long as it has been evaluated in 2/3 parts of the total grade of the subject.
To have access to reavalutaion of the group dissertation and / or the exam, the previous grades should be an average of 3.5.
The activities that are excluded from the reavaluation process are the seminars.
About plagiarism
The student who performs any irregularity (copy, plagiarism, identity theft...) that can lead to a significant variation of the qualification of an evaluation act, will be qualified with 0 this act of evaluation. In case there are several irregularities, the final grade of the subject will be 0.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dissertation | 50% | 1 | 0.04 | 2, 10, 1, 3, 6, 7, 9, 14, 13, 12, 11, 8, 16, 15 |
| Seminars | 20% | 3.5 | 0.14 | 2, 10, 1, 4, 3, 5, 6, 7, 14, 13, 12, 11, 8, 15 |
| Theoretical Exam | 30% | 3 | 0.12 | 4, 3, 7, 14, 13, 8 |
Bibliography
Compulsory Reading:
- Fernández-Quijada, David. 2011. Medi@TIC. Anàlisi de casos de tecnologia i mitjans. Barcelona: Editorial UOC.
Reading list:
- Anderson, Philip y Tushman, Michael (1990) “Technological Discontinuities and Dominant Designs: A Cyclical Model of Technological Change”, Administrative Science Quarterly, 35(4): 604-633.
- Balbi, Gabriele y Paolo Maggauda (2018). A history of digital media. Londres: Routledge.
- Bijker, Wiebe E., Hughes, Thomas P. y Pinch, Trevor J. (eds.) (1989) The Social construction of technological systems: new directions in the sociology and history of technology. Cambridge (EUA): MIT Press.
- Bonet, Montse (2016). El imperio del aire: espectro radioeléctrico y radiodifusión. Barcelona: Editoirial UOC.
- Buckland, Michael Keeble (2017). Information and Society.Cambridge: MIT Press.
- Carey, John y Martin C.J. Elton (2010) When Media are New: Understanding the Dynamics of New Media Adoption and Use. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
- Christensen, Clayton M. (2016). The innovator’s dilemma: when new technologies cause great firms to fail, Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business Review Press.
- Diamond, Jared (2006). Armas, gérmenes y acero: breve historia de la humanidad en los últimos trece mil años, [Barcelona]: Debate.
- Henderson, Rebecca M. y Clark, Kim B. (1990) “Architectural Innovation: The Reconfiguration of Existing Product Technologies and the Failure of Established Firms”, Administrative Science Quarterly, 35(1): 9-30.
- Lee, Kai Fu (2018) AI Superpowers : China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order. Boston: Houghton MifflinHarcourt.
- Lax, Stephen (2009) Media and Communication Technologies. A Critical Introduction, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Lehman-Wilzig, Sam i Cohen-Avigdor, Nava. (2004) “The natural life cycle of new media evolution: Inter-media struggle for survival in the internet age”, New Media & Society, 6(6): 707-730.
- Lievrouw, Leah A. y Livingstone, Sonia. (eds.) (2002) Handbook of new media: social shaping and consequences of ICTs. London: Sage.
- McLuhan, Marshall (1996) Comprender los medios de comunicación. Las extensiones del ser humano. Barcelona: Paidós (original de 1964).
- Morozov, Evgeny, (2014). To save everything, click her : the folly of technological solutionism, New York : PublicAffairs
- Mueller, Milton (2017). Will the Internet fragment? : sovereignty, globalization and cyberspace. Cambridge, Polity Press.
- Niqui, Cinto. (2014) Los primeros 20 años de contenidos audiovisuales en internet. (E-PUB, llibre electrònic). Barcelona: Editorial UOC.
- Quintanilla, M.A.; Parselis, M.; Sandrone, D y Lawler, D. (2021). Tecnologías entrañables: ¿es posible un modelo alternativo de desarollo tecnológico?. Madrid: Los Libros de la Catarata.Raynaud, Dominique (2018). ¿Qué es la tecnologia? Pamplona: Laeoti.
- Rogers, Everett M. (2003) Diffusion of Innovations, 5a ed. New York: Free Press.
- Ruiz de Querol, Ricard (2022) No es inevitable. Un alegato para futuros digitales alternativos. Barcelona: Alternativas Económicas.
- Schmidt, Eric & Cohen, Jared (2014). El Futuro digital, Madrid: Anaya Multimedia.
- Scolari, Carlos (2008). Hipermediaciones. Elementos para una Teoría de la Comunicación Digital Interactiva, Barcelona: Gedisa.
- Wu, Tim (2011). The Master switch: the rise and fall of information empires, New York, N.Y. : Vintage Books.
Software
There is no specific software for this subject.