Contextual Media Studies
Including invited lecture and workshop on FromYouTube to YouNiversity by Prof. Henry Jenkins MIT and USC.
Coordinator and main instructor:
Professor Stefan Sonvilla-Weiss
Head of MA ePedagogy Design - Visual Knowledge Building, Aalto University School of Art and Design
Level of the course:
Master and PhD level
Schedule:
Spring Term 2010
Language of the course:
English
Enrollment and Student intake:
max. 30 students from all three schools
Credits and Structure of studies:
2-4 ECTS depending on the work load
2 ECTS: essay
4 ECTS: media-rich presentation on a thematic group blog
Content:
For those of you keeping score, the dotcom era has ended. The age of social networks and mobile media has emerged from its ashes. We are no longer talking about a digital revolution, which envisioned new media displacing the old. We are now talking about media convergence, where old and new media interact in ever more complex ways. We are no longer talking about interactive media technologies; we are talking about participatory culture.
Henry Jenkins lecture will address the terms of our participation in this new convergence culture, which are being shaped by governmental policies and court decisions but also by choices being made both in corporate boardrooms and in teenager's bedrooms. As fans, gamers, and bloggers, we are learning new ways to use media to serve our own ends and we are discovering new ways to pool our knowledge and work collaboratively to solve puzzles and master complex texts. What we are learning as consumers has the potential to change how we think as citizens. And these new social skills and cultural competencies have implications as well for the future of education.
Learning outcomes:
Students develop a contextualized understanding of participatory media culture towards a learning ecology by means of theoretical and practical engagement.
Requirements:
Lecture and workshop participation plus delivery of either an essay or media-rich presentation to a Group Blog
