I’ll be teaching a course in the spring quarter with my colleague, Miriam Conteh-Morgan, on What Is the Global Information Society? It is listed in the Spring ’09 course list for International Studies —
Intl Stds 501, T R 11:30-1:18 (course # 12207-1)
Prerequisites: None
** Our goal is to introduce critical thinking about the knowledge creation process in its global and societal contexts. We believe this course will give students an advantage in academics and, especially, in the job market — as well as in their future professional lives.
** While we will examine a wide range of writings on global information, assignments are distributed, so that the work load for each student is reasonable. This is not a traditional lecture course. Our emphasis is on collaborative learning and discussion. We are approved to hold at least one session per week in the new Learning Collaboration Studio (experimental classroom) — 060 Science Engineering Library — that is equipped with laptops, modular furniture, Smart boards, etc
** This year’s Academy Awards were called the “Global Oscars” because of the large number of foreigners who won awards. That is only the latest indication that things have shifted in every field of endeavor. Preparing for the professional world of the 21st century means taking stock of how the information world is changing in your chosen field.
** Going beyond simple Google searches that only turn up “the same old” things, this course introduces “information environment mapping,” a proactive approach to analyzing inflows and outflows of information on personal and organizational levels. We’ll also be discussing the full range of information issues facing today’s globalized society. These discussions will prepare
students to engage information issues effectively during job interviews and in applications for further education.
** Students will learn a new style of presentation (“pecha-kucha“) that is gaining popularity worldwide — 20 slides x 20 seconds (6 minutes 40 seconds) — and helps to develop better presentation skills (more focused, concise, to the point)
Decription: What is the Global Information Society?
Instructors:
Miriam Conteh-Morgan, M.A. in Linguistics and English Language
Teaching (University of Leeds, U.K.), M.L.S. (Kent State University)
Associate Professor / Linguistics, French and African Studies
Librarian, Ohio State University
conteh-morgan.2@osu.edu
Maureen Donovan, M.A. in East Asian Languages and Cultures (Columbia
University), M.S. in Library Service (Columbia University)
Associate Professor / Japanese Studies Librarian, Ohio State
University
donovan.1@osu.edu
Course Description
Changes in creating, accessing, and using information are happening within a global context and are driving forces in societies around the world. This course introduces students to critical thinking about the knowledge creation process in its global and societal contexts. We will examine issues, trends, tensions, policies, theories, and practices related to the varying ways information is used and knowledge is produced in different societies, the impact of communication technologies, the divides that affect individuals’ and societies’ access to knowledge, and the emerging “commons” of globally distributed information and knowledge.
Through a mix of interdisciplinary readings, lectures, discussions and assignments students will: (1) explore the contours of the global information society, (2) gain a deeper understanding of the role and impact of key political, socio-economic and cultural factors in an information society, (3) develop strategies for evaluating global information based on information environment mapping, (4) identify the varied roles individuals play in the world of global distributed knowledge as consumers/users, producers/contributors, participants, protectors, and/or preservers.
Learning Outcomes:
Students will gain a deeper understanding of the “global information society,” the knowledge creation process, and the emerging “commons” of globally distributed information and knowledge that they can apply in their academic and future professional lives.
Brief Syllabus: What is the Global Information Society?
Course Requirements:
(10%)Class Participation: Class attendance and participation in discussions is essential. Assigned readings provide background, but class discussions in which students share insights, collaborate, engage in debates, and learn from each other will provide a forum in which much of the learning in this course takes place. Class participation will be recorded each day and represents 10% of the total grade.
(10%) Collaborative Project: The class will construct a wiki site incorporating a glossary of terms used around the world relative to the “global information society” along with an annotated guide to essential web sites. Each student will make 10 substantive contributions to this wiki project for 10% of the total grade.
(20%) Country Report: Each student in the course will select a different country, with a distribution throughout the class of countries of various sizes, located in various continents, so that class coverage is “global” in scope. The country report is a portfolio of assignments covering such topics as information in daily life, context, technology infrastructure, legal structures related to information, etc. Through these assignments each student will develop expertise about a particular country’s information society. The country report will comprise 20% of the student’s grade.
(30%) Issue Analysis: In addition to the required textbook which surveys information-related topics, readings for this course are drawn from articles and monographs that examine issues important in understanding the evolving “global information society.” While the class is assigned to read one chapter or section of a book, individual students will sign up to read the whole book or particular sections of it and lead the class discussion. (These books are marked in the syllabus with ***.) The emphasis will be on collaborative learning. Additionally each student will write a 5-page reflective essay about an issue addressed in the class readings and prepare a visual presentation (20 slides @ 20 seconds – total 6 minutes 40 seconds) for class presentation. Each of these components (leading a discussion; essay; presentation) will comprise 10% of the student’s grade.
(30%) Capstone Report: Information Environment Mapping: Students select a topic or subject area. Through a series of assignments, students identify organizations that produce information relevant to that topic, including: an academic/professional organization, a global organization, a local community organization, a self-organized community. Students apply the technique of “information environment mapping” for each organization to analyze the contexts in which knowledge flows are taking place, with comparisons to how knowledge is being used in global corporations. This project will also include development of an “information pyramid” based on the specific subject area. Further, students will examine the ways in which information is “framed” or “packaged” by intermediary organizations as it moves globally and learn to analyze what kinds of information are being omitted. Includes annotated bibliographies. The capstone project comprises 30% of the total grade.
Required Texts (plus other readings as assigned):
World Bank. Atlas of Global Development. 2007.
June Lester and Wallace C. Koehler. Fundamentals of Information Studies: Understanding Information and its Environment, 2nd ed. Neal-Schuman, 2007.
(FIS)
Global Voices Online http://globalvoicesonline.org/
*******
Books for Issue Analysis project (to be assigned):
1. Ursula Franklin.The Real World of Technology 2d ed. (Toronto: Anansi, 1999).
2.Gili S. Drori. Global E-litism: Digital Technology, Social Inequality, and Transnationality (Worth, 2006).
3. Contemporary Art and the Museum: a Global Perspective (2007).
4. Caroline S. Wagner. The New Invisible College (2008).
5. Reformatting Politics : information technology and global civil society (2006)
6. Yokai Benkler. The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom (2006)
7. Access Denied (MIT Press, 2008)
8. Human Rights in the Global Information Society (2006)
9. James Boyle. The Public Domain (2008).
10. Jonathan Zittrain. The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It. (2007).
Schedule (may be adjusted)
What is information?
3/31: Course overview; definitions, concepts, theories
4/2: Definitions, etc cont’d;
4/7: Information needs & information seeking; “a media diet”
Technology and Information
4/9: Technology and information: historical development
4/14: Technology and information: current developments
Players in the Information Society
4/16: Cultural Institutions, libraries, museums, media organizations; art in the global age
4/21: Learning Organisations and Publishers: open access; knowledge as commons; open archives; “virtual geography of knowledge;” “the new invisible college”
Information and Knowledge in the Global Space
4/23: Is there /what is a global information society? The social informatics of the Internet
4/28: Equity, Access and Power (socioeconomic and political): digital divide
4/30: Literacies; digital content and language, digital divides; multilingual internet
5/5: Information and Power: institutional ecology; gatekeepers
5/7: Regional/national/international standards (1): Securitization of the Internet
5/12: Regional/national/international standards (2): Human rights
5/14: Ethical Considerations; Ethics, Information Systems and Communication
Transformation of Work and Play
5/19: Individuals and Mainstream Media Bloggers; citizen journalists
5/21: Community / Nongovernmental Organizations, Civil Society Groups
e-democracy; civic engagement
5/26: Social Networking/ Participatory Culture wikis, filesharing (music, video, photos), gaming; social networking among scientists; etc
5/28: Political and Legal Implications
intellectual property (including traditional knowledge); cybersurveillance
6/2: Looking to the Future
6/4: Wrap up
