Course Overview

Room: 242

Texts: A Gift of Fire by Sara Baase, Computer Confluence by George Beekman

Software: Dreamweaver, Flash, 3DS-Max, Photoshop, Fireworks, Premiere, After Effects. Illustrator

Information Technology in a Global Society (ITGS) is the study and evaluation of the impact of information technology on individuals and society. It explores the advantages and disadvantages of the use of digitized information at the local and global level. ITGS provides a framework for the students to make informed judgements and decisions about the use of information technology (IT) within social contexts.
Although ITGS shares methods of critical investigation and analysis with other social sciences, it also considers ethical questions found in the study of philosophy. Students come into contact with IT on a daily bais because it is so pervasive in the world in which we live. This widespread use of IT inevitably raises important questions about social and ethical issues that shape our society today. ITGS offers an opportunity for a systematic study of the issues, whose range is such that they fall outside the scope of any other single discipline.
The nature of the subject is defined by the use of fundamental ITGS terms. For the purpose of ITGS the following definitions apply:

Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage, manipulation and dissemination of digital information by computing of telecommunications or a combination of both.

Social impact includes the economic, political, cultural, legal, environmental, ergonomic, health and psychological effects of IT on human life.

Ethical considerations refer to the responsibility and accountability of those involved in the design implementation and use of IT.

An information system is a collection of people, information technologies, data, methods and policies organized to accomplish specific functions and solve specific problems.

The course integrates the following three sections:

Social and Ethical Issues- where students analyse the social impact and ethical considerations of IT

IT systems in a Social Context- where students study issues relating to the use of software, hardware and related information systems

Areas of Impact- which provides the topic areas for case studies
The Areas of Impact include:
- Business and Employment, Education, Health Arts/Entertainment/Leisure, Science and the Environment, Politics and Government.