MDIA 1007 - Digital Platforms

North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2020

In recent decades, much of the world has witnessed a transformation from manufacturing to knowledge-based service economies. There is growing awareness of the economic benefits that innovative user-oriented services can bring to nations and organisations. The United States is home to the leading multinational companies in this arena, such as Apple and Google. The latter's Google Search, Google Maps and YouTube are illustrative of how intrinsic to our daily lives innovative media services have become. The service sector in China, which is still in the midst of such a transformation, is increasing in economic importance. Tencent's WeChat, a digital application of this Chinese premier Internet service portal, supports location-based social plug-ins, allowing users to befriend and chat with nearby strangers using the service through a simple shake of their smartphones. These companies' service systems did not exist in the pre-digital era. User experience innovations, in particular, are fundamentally changing the way in which product and service systems are designed and operated. This course introduces you to the emerging trends related to information, engagement and entertainment of user experience design, and teaches the basic practical capacities required to visualise the flow of a user-oriented service innovation. Through small group discovery, you learn to apply principles to practice and to become more creative and effective communicators in response to the rise of a media-driven, technology-oriented economy worldwide.

  • General Course Information
    Course Details
    Course Code MDIA 1007
    Course Digital Platforms
    Coordinating Unit Media
    Term Semester 1
    Level Undergraduate
    Location/s North Terrace Campus
    Units 3
    Contact Up to 3 hours per week
    Available for Study Abroad and Exchange Y
    Restrictions Available to BMedia, BCtveArts, BMus and DipMus students only
    Course Description In recent decades, much of the world has witnessed a transformation from manufacturing to knowledge-based service economies. There is growing awareness of the economic benefits that innovative user-oriented services can bring to nations and organisations. The United States is home to the leading multinational companies in this arena, such as Apple and Google. The latter's Google Search, Google Maps and YouTube are illustrative of how intrinsic to our daily lives innovative media services have become. The service sector in China, which is still in the midst of such a transformation, is increasing in economic importance. Tencent's WeChat, a digital application of this Chinese premier Internet service portal, supports location-based social plug-ins, allowing users to befriend and chat with nearby strangers using the service through a simple shake of their smartphones. These companies' service systems did not exist in the pre-digital era. User experience innovations, in particular, are fundamentally changing the way in which product and service systems are designed and operated. This course introduces you to the emerging trends related to information, engagement and entertainment of user experience design, and teaches the basic practical capacities required to visualise the flow of a user-oriented service innovation. Through small group discovery, you learn to apply principles to practice and to become more creative and effective communicators in response to the rise of a media-driven, technology-oriented economy worldwide.
    Course Staff

    Course Coordinator: Dr Aaron Humphrey

    Dr Aaron Humphrey
    Department of Media
    School of Humanities
    The University of Adelaide
    SA 5005, Australia
    aaron.humphrey@adelaide.edu.au
    Course Timetable

    The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

  • Learning Outcomes
    Course Learning Outcomes
    Upon successful completion of this course, you should be able:

    CLO 1: To master knowledge of the basic principles and concepts of digital photography, graphic design and user experience design

    CLO 2: To sharpen your sense of aesthetics and skills in designing and visualising the flow of a user-oriented service innovation

    CLO 3: To demonstrate your creativity and originality in effectively ideating and presenting a digital platform project

    CLO 4: To communicate and critique project ideas with team members and peer learners

    CLO 5: To enhance your passion in service innovation design as a profession and as an interest
    University Graduate Attributes

    No information currently available.

  • Learning Resources
    Required Resources
    The objectives of the course require the learning to be taken place in a laboratory equipped with computer suites and design software applications. Each student needs access to one such computer suite. The Department of Media has two Media Laboratories at Schulz 408 (30 computers) and Schulz 407 (15 computers), which provide the required facilities and resources.
    Recommended Resources
    There is no set course book. A list of multimedia/references will be provided by the Course Coordinator during the semester.
    Online Learning
    All the course materials will be made available on MyUni over the semester. Various functions of MyUni will be in use, which include but are not limited to announcements, content areas, blogs, online assignment submissions, external web links, etc. Students on the course will also have access to online tutorials of research tools, design software applications and mobile applications.
  • Learning & Teaching Activities
    Learning & Teaching Modes
    This course focuses on small group discovery, through which students will learn by research and learn by innovation. In their classwork and assignment tasks, students will apply theories into practice and learn to create solutions to address different design problems. They will learn to become effective independent learners and team workers.
    Workload

    The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

    1 hour lecture per week = 12 hours per semester

    2 hours laboratory per week = 24 hours per semester

    3 hours reading per week = 36 hours per semester

    3 hours research per week = 36 hours per semester

    4 hours design tasks per week = 48 hours per semester

    TOTAL = 156 hours per semester
    Learning Activities Summary

    Week 1: Introduction to the Course; Team Building

    Week 2: Digital Photography 1; Creative Thinking and Practice 1

    Week 3: Digital Photography 2; Creative Thinking and Practice 2

    Week 4: Digital Photography 3; Creative Thinking and Practice 3

    Week 5: Creative Design 1; Digital Production 1

    Week 6: Creative Design 2; Digital Production 2

    Week 7: Service Innovation Design Projects

    Week 8: Layout and Composition; Digital Production 3

    Week 9: Service Innovation; Service Innovation Design Projects

    Week 10: User Experience Design; Digital Production 4

    Week 11: Reflection on Learning Process

    Week 12: Service Innovation Design Project Presentations

    Specific Course Requirements
    N/A
    Small Group Discovery Experience
    This course has a strong focus on Small Group Discovery Experience. Students will be working in pairs and in teams to learn by research and to learn by innovation. Students will maintain regular interactions with each other and with the Course Coordinator in class and through various online platforms during the semester.
  • Assessment

    The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

    1. Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
    2. Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
    3. Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
    4. Assessment must maintain academic standards.

    Assessment Summary
    Assignment 1: Learning by Research (25%)

    Assignment 2: Learning by Innovation (65%)

    Attendance and Participation (10%)

    Assessment Related Requirements
    Any of the assessment tasks which carries a weighting of 20% or higher will be a hurdle requirement.
    Assessment Detail
    Assignment 1: Learning by Research (25%)
       Task 1: Small group discovery task 1
       Task 2: Small group discovery task 2
       Task 3: Peer assessment

    Assignment 2: Learning by Innovation (65%)
       Task 1: International case study
       Task 2: Service innovation design
       Task 3: Service innovation presentation
       Task 4: Peer assessment
       Task 5: Reflection on learning

    Attendance and Participation (10%)

    Due to the current COVID-19 situation modified arrangements have been made to assessments to facilitate remote learning and teaching. Assessment details provided here reflect recent updates.

    Attendance and participation in tutorials now take place in Zoom tutorial groups, and through online discussion boards.

    Deadlines for the first three assignments in this course are extended by a few days to give students extra time to adjust to the changes in remote learning. The Week 4 quiz has moved from Friday, 27 March to Wednesday, 1 April. The draft of the website proposal has moved from 30 March to 4 April, and the final version of the proposal has moved from 8 April to 11 April.
    Submission
    All assignments of this course will be submitted online, either via MyUni or other digital platforms. For assignments that involve large size files, students will be asked to submit them during the class.
    Course Grading

    Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

    M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
    Grade Mark Description
    FNS   Fail No Submission
    F 1-49 Fail
    P 50-64 Pass
    C 65-74 Credit
    D 75-84 Distinction
    HD 85-100 High Distinction
    CN   Continuing
    NFE   No Formal Examination
    RP   Result Pending

    Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

    Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

    Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

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    SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.

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  • Policies & Guidelines
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