The first component of this course focuses on how the advent and offering up of the Internet for mass public consumption alongside society’s ubiquitous subscription of the resultant technologically converged global village has forever altered the way humanity and business function. It is a chance to think critically about and discuss technology, society, and business. It is also a chance for you to impart (both in person and also with the written word) your own personal, well read opinion, into an area that is always open for debate. The penultimate aim is to challenge you to develop a personalized standpoint on whether technology is an inherent component of human evolution, a slippery slope toward humanity’s ubiquitous subservience to giant computers, or that technology’s impact fits somewhere in between these two extreme views.

ASSIGNMENT ONE – CURRENT STANDPOINT

‘Current Standpoint’ is a short (250 word) piece of writing that simply seeks your current knowledge, understanding, and personal standpoint on what technology is and what it means in a personal and professional context. This assignment simply challenges you to put your current tacit knowledge into words. It is both test and personal challenge. Just tell us what you think here. It is a chance to put your opinion forward with the written word.

ASSIGNMENT TWO – LEARNED STANDPOINT

‘Learned Standpoint’ is an online quiz that follows up from Assignment One and again assesses your knowledge, understanding, and personal standpoint on what technology is and what it means in a personal and professional context. The only difference is this time around we are interested in what you have learned from the lectures and if any of it has altered your personal standpoint. Your efforts here will also assist you later in the course – in particular with the third assignment.

ASSIGNMENT THREE – THIS IS WHERE I STAND

“This Is Where I Stand’ is a short (1500 word) piece of writing that requires you to reflect on the advent and offering up of technology (we focus on the internet a lot but you are not limited to it) for mass public consumption, alongside society’s ubiquitous subscription of the resultant technologically converged environment, and how it has forever altered humanity and business. A chance to show off your newly educated perspective and generate a personal, yet academically rigorous standpoint.

ASSIGNMENT FOUR – THIS IS MY WEBSITE

‘This Is My Website’, is the development of a website using the publishing platform WordPress. You can build a website focused on anything you want. Some students build websites linked to their majors, however, not all. Once again you are being provided freedom here. We would love to see you build a website focused on something you are passionate about – a dream, a business idea, something you are already involved or playing with, it can be anything guys.

ASSIGNMENT FIVE – THIS IS WHAT I KNOW NOW

‘This Is What I Now Know’, is a face to face presentation. Where you get to demonstrate who you are and what you have learned over the past twelve weeks. We want you to talk to us about who you are, what your standpoint on technology is, what your idea was (business focused or not), how that idea linked into your passions and skills (or if not why), the website you built, and what you learned along the way and got out of this course (and this could be anything).

The value in every one of these assignments lies in their focus on you. Who you are. Your epic ideas. Where you stand. And what is essentially your story.