Download the full class syllabus here. Some of the tools used in the class are available here.

Course Description: Digital technology is challenging and changing established institutions on a number of fronts.  From Barack Obama’s use of the internet to drive his presidential campaign victory to the challenges faced by the “Arab Spring”, a critical understanding of digital technology is essential for today’s leaders. This course introduces students to the history of the Internet and the emerging technologies that are defining the Digital Age. The course allows students to understand the political and power structure implications of the Internet as well as the underlying technical concepts and infrastructure of digital media.

The Goals: The course is designed to give students an essential understanding of and familiarity with digital communications, from blogs to SMS text messaging. After the course, the student should have a basic technical literacy, appropriate for any professional in communications, political, or policy work, and broad knowledge of emerging trends.   Students will be able to purchase and setup a domain name, start and maintain a blog, and build and evaluate online advertising campaigns.

Teaching Philosophy: To understand the digital age, you need to live it.  In addition to the assigned readings, students will be expected to use the online tools that are discussed. Only by participating in the online digital culture can students begin to understand the changing nature of the media landscape and glimpse the future.

This class is a participant in the Wikipedia Public Policy Project. The class page on Wikipedia is available here.