Digital Communication, Information, and Media Courses

04:189:151 Virtual Team Dynamics (3) Students learn to navigate workplace situations where professional achievement requires well-developed communication understanding and skill, and the ability to apply these competencies to online and virtual interaction. The course focuses on online communication settings where interpersonal and group dynamics, knowledge and information dissemination, and negotiation and conflict resolution are vital.

04:189:152 The Structure of Information (3) Through the lens of different media such as newspaper articles, blogs, Wikipedia entries, social media posts, and news programs, students examine and judge the quality of information presented, analyze the economic and cultural factors that affect the availability and reliability of electronic information, and compare and contrast with other sources. After this exploration of information searching and evaluation, the class will address how information is organized and attributed.

04:189:251 Strategic Presentation Methods in Digital Media (3) This course examines theories and techniques for analyzing, producing, and disseminating messages. Students will learn how to use web-based and multimedia presentation tools to connect with a variety of audiences and convey a desired message. Each student will craft a message to support some social change by developing and shaping the message into compelling digital media presentations in a range of formats.

04:189:351 Leadership in Digital Contexts (3) Students will use scenarios, simulations, and game-playing as individuals, in small groups, and as a class to employ creativity and innovation in problem solving, weigh risk, perform leadership and management roles with peers, and grapple with the consequences of making and implementing decisions in digital environments. Students will learn how to assess and select among various technologies for making and disseminating decisions. This course presents a framework for understanding the role of technology in leadership functions including planning, information dissemination, consensus building, negotiation, and engagement with stakeholders for informed and participative decision making in online and virtual settings. Prerequisite: 04:189:151 or 152.

04:189:352 Self and Society in Virtual Contexts (3) Students explore what it means to have multiple and merging "identities" in an online community by attending this seminar in person in a traditional classroom supported with interactions as avatars within a social virtual world. How are interpersonal relationships and group interactions manifested in virtual environments? How is selfhood expressed? What is the impact on communication when gender, race, and other physical attributes are self-selected and represented digitally? What are the implications for privacy and security? What does this mean for the workplace? What do "human rights" mean in a virtual society and is citizenship changed with purely online interaction? Through role-playing and discussion, students connect to evaluate the consequences of a digital context on the self and society. Prerequisite: 04:189:251.

04:189:353 Digital Technology and Disruptive Change (3) This course explores whether and how emerging digital technologies--such as social, mobile, wearable media; virtual worlds and games; sensor-laden devices and environments; robotics; drones; implantable chips; artificial intelligence--contribute to disruptive changes in relationships, organizations, societies, and selves. Multiple perspectives on communication, information, and media will be applied in analyzing the extent to which the structure, norms, and dynamics of modern social life have changed and have experienced continuity, and the conditions under which such changes can be considered disruptive. Micro- and macro-level processes and outcomes (interpersonal, cultural, institutional, political, global) of emerging digital technologies will be examined. SAS Core Learning Goals met by this course: 21st-Century Challenges (21C) c: Analyze the relationship that science and technology have to a contemporary social issue. Information Technology and Research (ITR) y: Employ current technologies to access information, to conduct research, and to communicate findings.

04:189:398 Special Topics in Communication and Information (3)

At times, special topics classes may be offered as alternate electives in the digital communication, information, and media minor.

04:189:451 Capstone in Digital Communication, Information, and Media (3) The capstone course is designed to facilitate students' synthesis of what they have learned in the program, through a directed project. Students will first work together in class to identify and refine projects or areas of research to complete. Projects might include some of the following elements: independent research; ethnography; organizational analysis; digital internship; service learning; multimedia project; or a cross-listed directed reading project. Capstone project presentations will be captured digitally for feedback from the larger community at the School of Communication and Information. Capstone projects may be done individually or in groups. Projects will contribute to the students' eportfolios; a portion of this class will include preparation of an eportfolio of material from the minor. Prerequisites: Completion of at least 15 credits within the minor, or completion of 12 credits and concurrent enrollment in one other DCIM course. Open only to declared DCIM minors.