InformationTechnology

Wikiversity Project Description

This project houses materials for IDT 507: Information Technology, a course offered at SUNY Polytechnic Institute in the Information Design & Technology (IDT) master's program.

Course Description

Assesses the development and social impact of information and communication technologies. Focuses on emerging technologies of the 21st century and the convergence of traditional with new media. Examines the technical features and characteristics of information and communication technologies, and assesses the evidence for significant social impact associated with their diffusion.

More specifically, the course will trace the social and cultural history of information technologies in five eras:

1. Oral: speech, oral tradition , orality, talking drums,
2. Writing: alphabet, writing, manuscripts,
3. Printing: printing press,, print culture, postal culture,
4. Electronics: telegraph, telephone, radio television,
5. Digital media: computing, computer networks, Internet culture

Primary Textbook

• The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood

Learning Activities

1. Contributing to Wikipedia
2. Contributing to Wikidata (Bibliographic and diffusion)
3. Conducting Original Research