Module overview
In an evolving digital environment, it is important to understand the processes that are used to develop, create, and distribute digital content. In this module, you will learn to engage critically with digital media within professional communication contexts, and to situate this engagement vis-à-vis broader issues of cultural, social and economic relevance. You will gain practical skills which will aid your understanding of the ways that digital platforms function through an engagement with the principles, tools, and techniques of digital media practice and opportunities to apply your learnings through the development, implementation, and analysis of digital media contexts.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- the sources of information and contexts relevant to a target audience.
- the contexts in which digital media artefacts function.
- the processes involved in the production, distribution, exhibition, reception, and consumption of selected types of digital output.
- how to apply the skills and theoretical frameworks studied during your degree to the benefit of society.
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- reflect on your own capabilities in the context of independent learning and professional development.
- manage an independent research project effectively.
- match a digital artefact to its target audience.
- work to fulfil a specific brief.
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- comment on the agenda and priorities of professional practitioners and other social actors.
- design and critique social and digital media artefacts whether this is your own work, that of your peer group, or of a professional practitioner.
- demonstrate an ability to work with appropriate digital media tools.
- locate, synthesise, evaluate and organise information when critically engaging with social media and societal issues.
Subject Specific Practical Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- advise on some of the technical and socio-cultural aspects of digital media design and production and be able to offer a critical review of professionally produced materials.
Syllabus
In this module, you will learn how to produce a digital media artefact in response to a client brief using digital tools and processes. The module will address issues such as the building of a professional digital and social media presence in the creative industries; developing a social media strategy to address social, cultural and political issues; processes for implementing and managing a social media campaign in response to real-world challenges; social media content creation, curation and analysis; and an engagement with digital media more broadly. It will involve students learning to think critically, planning and producing content, testing and selecting appropriate distribution channels, and managing workflows and workloads, as relevant.
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
In this module you will produce a digital media artefact or a social media strategy in response to a client brief that is appropriate to your subject and sensitive to the tone of your target audience. Outside of these sessions lectures will introduce you to key issues, concepts, and case studies and interactive seminars will provide you with opportunities to collaborate with your peers and to discuss and apply theoretical concepts to real world scenarios. Screenings and online activities engaging with digital media texts and objects relevant to an understanding of weekly themes, lectures and readings will also be part of the teaching and learning methods for this module. You will spend time working towards producing content and experimenting with relevant tools and processes in collaborative project-led experiences. Opportunities to receive regular formative feedback will be provided through learning interactions during teaching sessions and in online activities, as well as during structured, self- and peer-reflection sessions.
| Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Workshops | 50 |
| Independent Study | 100 |
| Total study time | 150 |
Assessment
Assessment strategy
In this module there will be two assessment tasks that will assist you in gaining an understanding of how to design, manage, and evaluate social media strategy. First, you will produce a social media audit and second, you will work in groups to generate a digital media artefact or a social media strategy in response to a client brief.Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Audit | 30% |
| Portfolio | 70% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Portfolio | 70% |
| Audit | 30% |
Repeat
An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Portfolio | 70% |
| Audit | 30% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal