Class Introduction to Communication Technologies

This curricular unit aims to equip students with digital communication tools and provide them with an in-depth understanding of emerging communication technologies and their impact on society. It covers areas such as social media, digital content production, artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality. Students also learn to verify and validate online content as a way to combat disinformation. The course is relevant to the study cycle because it prepares students for the challenges of the constantly changing digital world and allows them to explore the various areas of application of these technologies and how they can be applied in different domains of intervention, including advertising, journalism, entertainment, and education.

1. From Guthemberg to hypertext
   1. Media history; the web
2. Hypertext, Hypermedia and Content Management Systems
   1. HTML, CSS and JavaScrip
   2. Hypermedia - from shovelware to native content production
   3. Content Management System concept

3. Multimedia, storytelling and data

   1. Multimedia and interactive content; storytelling

   2. Geo-narratives, time-based narratives and hypermedia

   3. Data analysis; Flourish

4. Search engines

   1. Centrality of search engines; advanced search on Google; SEO

   2. Deep web, dark web, TOR

5. Social networks and social media

   1. From web 2.0 to the power of social media

   2. Legacy and emerging networks

   3. Community management

6. Content verification and validation

   1. Disinformation, misinformation and false information

   2. Verification of images and videos (social networks) and facts (web archive)

7. Immersive narrative

   1. Generative models

   2. Augmented and virtual reality

8. Storytelling: soft advertising

9. Ethical issues

Learning through analysing and discussing case studies;

Activities developed in a laboratory-classroom context.

Aronson-Rath, Raney et al (2015) Virtual Reality Journalism. The Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, NY 

Deuze, Mark. e Prenger, Mirjam (2018). Making Media. Production, Practices, and Professions. Amsterdam University Press 

Gunkel, D. J. (2012). Communication and artificial intelligence: Opportunities and challenges for the 21st century. communication 1, 1(1), 1-25.

Jarvis, J. (2023). The Gutenberg Parenthesis: The Age of Print and Its Lessons for the Age of the Internet. Bloomsbury Publishing

Manovich, Lev (2001). The Language of New Media. The MIT Press 

Social Media, a Handbook for Journalists, Sveriges Radio, 2013