Module overview
Digital media influence and shape the ways we live and engage with others – not least in the world of work. Mobile apps, algorithmic cultures and automated decision making have ushered in a world of influencer marketing, freelancing and gig work that is impacting industries across the economy, from critical and creative labour to the platform economy, healthcare, and manufacturing. In this module you will engage with the impact of digital media on contemporary workers, workplaces, and work practices to develop a critical understanding of the rapidly changing contours of digital labour.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- the production, distribution, exhibition, reception, and consumption of digital media texts.
- historical and contemporary debates about media technologies.
- how the social media industries are organised, the cultural, political, and economic contexts in which they operate, and their social significance.
- how to engage critically in the analysis of digital media technologies.
- how to apply the skills and techniques studied during your degree to the benefit of industry and society.
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.
- demonstrate the ability to analyse and synthesise complex information and work with a variety of intellectual and professional processes.
- critique digital media designs, policies, and practices and review their impact on industry processes
- analyse, apply and critically evaluate various aspects of digital media theory.
- locate, synthesise, evaluate and organise evidence as part of the process of addressing issues within media studies.
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- communicate effectively in variety of modes
- manage an independent research project effectively.
- start developing your skills in decision-making and time management.
Syllabus
The module is designed to help students understand theories related to the emergence of digital labour, as well as the political, historical and technological context in which it takes place. Real world case studies will focus attention on the place of digital technologies as crucial factors in the evolution of contemporary work as well the material and ideological configurations of work in a digital economy. It aims to give students the critical thinking skills needed for addressing some of the key ethical, economic, and cultural issues facing media industries today related to labour, representation, and political economy.
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
The module may cover a range of media sectors, including film, television, video games, and social media, and/or address pressing issues as dictated by current events and scholarship. Discussions may focus on a single sector or issue for the duration of the term or address a range of concerns, depending on what labour issues are most pressing in contemporary media industries at the time of delivery.
Teaching methods will include:
• Lectures – introducing key themes, debates, concepts and case studies
• Seminars – allowing you to debate and clarify key themes, debates, concepts and materials
• Screenings – engaging with digital media texts and objects relevant to an understanding of weekly themes, lectures, and readings
• Tutorials – allowing you to discuss module content and assignment details with the lecturer and seminar tutor
Learning activities will include:
• Classroom discussion and activities in seminars, critical thinking, peer engagement
• Teacher-led learning in lectures, with an interactive element
• Independent research, home viewing and reading
| Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Teaching | 50 |
| Guided independent study | 100 |
| Total study time | 150 |
Resources & Reading list
Textbooks
Trebor Scholz (2013). Digital Labor: The Internet as Playground and Factory. Routledge.
Sue Curry Jansen, et al. (2011). Media and Social Justice. Palgrave Macmillan.
David Chandler and Christian Fuchs (Eds) (2019). Digital Objects Digital Subjects: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Capitalism, Labor and Politics in the Age of Big Data. University of Westminster Press.
Kylie Jarrett (2022). Digital Labor. Polity.
Assessment
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Report | 50% |
| Audio-visual assessment | 50% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Report | 50% |
| Audio-visual assessment | 50% |
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 |
|---|---|
| Audio-visual assessment | 50% |
| Report | 50% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External