COMMS 301

Digital Communication and Practice

Please note: this is archived course information from 2020 for COMMS 301.

Description

This course combines creative work of making digital objects (e.g., Twitter bots, animated GIFs, data visualisations, slideshow presentations) with critical discussion of online platforms as well as conceptual frameworks for understanding the roles digital media play in society. At the level of “digital logic & computational thinking” students will learn basic programming skills for the web (no prior experience necessary). At the level of “digital media & configurable culture” students will leverage more user-friendly tools to create, remix and present multimedia work. 

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, “Digital media & configurable culture”, emphasises more user-friendly tools to create, remix and present multimedia work including animated GIFs, data visualisations, slideshow presentations and more.

Availability 2020

Semester 2

Lecturer(s)

Coordinator(s) Dr Ethan Plaut

Reading/Texts

A copy of the game Human Resource Machine is required for this course, but the game is available for student use on lab computers, and free downloads may also be provided for certain operating systems.

Assessment

Coursework only

Points

COMMS 301: 15 points

Prerequisites

15 points from COMMS 200-208 and 15 points in BA courses