COMMS 103 : Digital Communication and Practice

Arts

2024 Semester Two (1245) (15 POINTS)

Course Prescription

Offers a practical and creative approach to digital communication within the critical context of platform studies. Students will navigate the capacities, affordances and limitations of a variety of digital platforms by developing the skills to create platform-specific outputs, such as podcasts, gifs, vlogs, mobile films and digital storytelling shorts.

Course Overview

This course combines creative work of making digital objects (e.g., bots & animated GIFs) with critical discussion of online platforms as well as conceptual frameworks for understanding the roles digital media play in society. Our time is divided into two large units of six weeks each: 
 
The first unit, “Digital logic & computational thinking”, will focus on different ways of thinking with and about computers. This will include basic programming skills in the JavaScript language (no prior experience necessary). This portion of the course concludes with creation of a Twitter bot and discussions about artificial intelligence.  
 
The second unit, “Configurable Media & Networked Culture”, emphasises more user-friendly tools to create, remix and present multimedia work, critically considering how that work sits within networks of both technologies and people. 

Course Requirements

Restriction: COMMS 301

Capabilities Developed in this Course

Capability 1: People and Place
Capability 3: Knowledge and Practice
Capability 4: Critical Thinking
Capability 5: Solution Seeking
Capability 6: Communication
Capability 8: Ethics and Professionalism
Graduate Profile: Bachelor of Communication

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Create digital media that integrates historical perspective, critical thinking, and creative exploration with technical skills including programming in the JavaScript language, generating data visualisations, and various other techniques across multiple platforms. (Capability 3, 4, 5 and 6)
  2. Understand essential logics of computation and digital media and how they relate to human thinking and networked culture (Capability 1, 3, 4 and 8)

Assessments

Assessment Type Percentage Classification
Coursework 60% Individual Coursework
Quizzes 40% Individual Test

Module

  • Module I: “Digital logic & computational thinking” (Weeks 1-6)
  • Module II: “Configurable Media & Networked Culture” (Weeks 7-12)

Workload Expectations

The number of hours of required work for this course is in line with expectations for a 15-point course, i.e., 150 total hours over the semester. Assessments are distributed across the semester differently from many courses. There's no final exam or big project at end of semester. Instead, we complete various projects that build on and relate to each other. This can feel demanding on a week-by-week basis, but at the end of the semester, when your other classes are stressful, this one will be comparatively light. 

Delivery Mode

Campus Experience

Attendance is expected at all scheduled activities to succeed in the course. 

Lectures will be available as recordings.

Labs are generally not recorded, so students should plan to be on campus every week. 

Tests are sometimes held in person, on paper, during our regularly scheduled lecture time. 

The activities for the course are scheduled as a standard weekly timetable. 

Learning Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

This course has evolved over recent years with updated creative projects and new readings. It was offered to first-year students as part of the 2022 launch of the new Bachelor of Communication, and was a lot of fun, but we continue to make little adjustments, especially to give our first-year students the best possible experience. 

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed for potential plagiarism or other forms of academic misconduct, using computerised detection mechanisms.

Class Representatives

Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Well-being always comes first
We all go through tough times during the semester, or see our friends struggling. There is lots of help out there - for more information, look at this Canvas page https://canvas.auckland.ac.nz/courses/33894, which has links to various support services in the University and the wider community.

Parenting and being a student at the same time can be difficult. Breast-feeding babies are always welcome in class, and although we cannot regularly accommodate other children, you are welcome to bring a child to class if there are last-minute unforeseeable disruptions to childcare (e.g., the normal caregiver falls ill without adequate time to find someone else). 

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Learning Continuity

In the event of an unexpected disruption, we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and course assessment continues to meet the principles of the University’s assessment policy. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator/director, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the university website for information about how to proceed.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html.

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course students may be asked to submit coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. In exceptional circumstances changes to elements of this course may be necessary at short notice. Students enrolled in this course will be informed of any such changes and the reasons for them, as soon as possible, through Canvas.

Published on 06/11/2023 04:04 p.m.