INFO 282-11
Seminar in Library Management
Topic: The Emerging Future: Technology Issues & Trends
Spring 2021 Syllabus

Dr. Susan W. Alman
E-mail
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Canvas Information: Courses will be available beginning January 27th, 6 am PT unless you are taking an intensive or a one-unit or two-unit class that starts on a different day. In that case, the class will open on the first day that the class meets.

You will be enrolled in the Canvas site automatically.

Course Description

Students will gain skills to plan strategically for the changing technological landscape. The course design enables students to participate in futuring activities through readings, video presentations, guest lectures, introductions to today’s futurists, and individual research. After an historical overview of forecasting students will become immersed in the literature and practices of current technological futurists and emerging technologies, gain skills to plan strategically for the changing technological landscape, develop a grant proposal outline to implement a new technology, and create a multi-media presentation or infographic that focuses on a new technological area that can impact the future. (See examples of multi-media/infographic projects.)

Course Requirements

Mode of instruction
This course will be entirely asynchronous. We will use Canvas for the submission of assignments and accessing readings and course materials. VoiceThread will be used for class discussions, and we will use Flipboard for sharing new technology information.

Assignments
Please see the documents in Canvas for detailed requirements and grading rubrics for each of the assignments. 

• Tech, Journal, and Product Watch Reports, Participation & Engagement* (Supports CLO #3; Core Competency H): 40 TOTAL Points.
  • Part 1: Each week a student team will prepare an Investigative Report on the assigned topic and co-lead the Flipboard Magazine and VoiceThread discussions. Students will participate in two (2) investigative team reports during the term. (Student teams will sign-up for the week/topic of their choice at the beginning of the term.) 14 points
  • Part 2: Each week all students will actively read a wide variety of publications and scan electronic sources for new products, and they will report their findings by posting links and comments to each weekly Flipboard magazine and VoiceThread discussion. 16 points
  • Part 3: At the end of the term each student will submit one (1) Flipboard magazine that contains a compilation of the top resources for each topic covered in the course and a 3-page paper on the ways they will approach the emerging future. 10 points
    * Students will also be responsible for participating in weekly activities such as the SXSWEEK 2020 events or scanning for positions that include a futures aspect.
• History of Forecasting/Futures Studies (Supports CLO #1, #2, #4, #5; Core Competency H): 15 points
  • Students will have the option to develop one of the following: Research paper or LibGuide relating to the history of foresight/futures studies and identifying essential resources needed to plan for the future.
• Grant Proposal Outline. (Supports CLO #6, Core Competency N) 10 points
  • Using grant proposal materials and strategic planning skills students will develop an idea for a new technology project and identify an appropriate potential grant funder along with a rationale on why it was selected and an estimated budget.  This may be done individually or in collaboration with one other student.  Deliverable: Minimum of 2 pages.
• Future Trends Comparative Book Review. (Supports CLO #3, Core Competency H) 15 points
  • Students will select two (2) books either of their choice OR from the course reading list that deal with future trends, forecasting, or related issues and write a 1,000-word comparative review. (THIS IS NOT A BOOK REPORT).  A link will be provided to a book review writing guide. In addition, each student will post a summary of their findings along with the complete citation for each work reviewed.
• Multi-media Presentation or Infographic on Emerging Future Technologies. (Supports CLO #5,#6, Core Competency H, N) 20 points
  • Students will develop and present a multi-media presentation or infographic that focuses on a new technological area that can impact the future. The project will be posted on Canvas for others to review and discuss. Examples of previous projects are located in the Student Showcase. (Students with exceptional projects will be invited to submit their work to the Student Showcase housed on the iSchool website.)

Late Assignments Policy

There will be a late penalty for assignments (grade reduction of 20% per day) turned in after the due date without prior approval. If your life circumstances require you to seek an extension, please do so 72 hours before the assignment is due. No extensions will be granted for VoiceThread discussion posts.

Course Calendar

Part 1: Futures Overview
Weeks 1-4 (January 27 - February 23)

• Introductions/Overview
• Flipboard Topics and VoiceThread Orientation
• History and Keeping Current: Background, Techniques, Professional Societies, Publications
• Emerging Technologies: Who and What to Watch
• Planning Strategies: Foresight/Futures Studies - Techniques

Part 2: Technological Innovations & Key Impact Factors: 
Weeks 5-13 (February 24 - April 27)

• Grant Funding and Collaborations
• Connectivity Issues
• SXSWEEK (March 13 - 22)
• Blockchain
• Privacy/Intellectual Freedom
• Comparative Book Reviews
• Big Data
• Cybersecurity 

SPRING BREAK (March 29 - April 2)

Part 3: Futuring
Weeks 14-16 (April 28- May 17)

• Careers for Futurists
• Digital Presentations Showcase
• Wrap-up 

 Major assignments are spaced ~2-weeks apart in most instances

Grading

• See Above
• Late Assignments Policy
  • There will be a late penalty for assignments turned in after the due date without prior approval. If your life circumstances require you to seek an extension, please do so at least several days before the assignment is due. No extensions will be granted for VoiceThread discussion posts.

Other Relevant Information:
Students are expected to participate each week in the VoiceThread discussions and FlipBoard postings.

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Course Workload Expectations

Success in this course is based on the expectation that students will spend, for each unit of credit, a minimum of forty-five hours over the length of the course (normally 3 hours per unit per week with 1 of the hours used for lecture) for instruction or preparation/studying or course related activities including but not limited to internships, labs, clinical practica. Other course structures will have equivalent workload expectations as described in the syllabus.

Instructional time may include but is not limited to:
Working on posted modules or lessons prepared by the instructor; discussion forum interactions with the instructor and/or other students; making presentations and getting feedback from the instructor; attending office hours or other synchronous sessions with the instructor.

Student time outside of class:
In any seven-day period, a student is expected to be academically engaged through submitting an academic assignment; taking an exam or an interactive tutorial, or computer-assisted instruction; building websites, blogs, databases, social media presentations; attending a study group;contributing to an academic online discussion; writing papers; reading articles; conducting research; engaging in small group work.

Course Prerequisites

INFO 282 has no prequisite requirements.

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

1. Interpret the ways in which factors such as environmental scanning, big data, and cyber security impact the planning and implementation of future technologies.
2. Plan strategically for the changing technological landscape.
3. Identify and track the various publications, organizations, and trade shows that highlight new technologies.
4. Identify and discuss the history of forecasting.
5. Select the appropriate resources to use in planning for new technologies.
6. Develop a digital poster on the future of technology.

Core Competencies (Program Learning Outcomes)

INFO 282 supports the following core competencies:

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Textbooks

No Textbooks For This Course.

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Grading Scale

The standard SJSU School of Information Grading Scale is utilized for all iSchool courses:

In order to provide consistent guidelines for assessment for graduate level work in the School, these terms are applied to letter grades:

• C represents Adequate work; a grade of "C" counts for credit for the course;
• B represents Good work; a grade of "B" clearly meets the standards for graduate level work or undergraduate (for BS-ISDA);
  For core courses in the MLIS program (not MARA, Informatics, BS-ISDA) — INFO 200, INFO 202, INFO 204 — the iSchool requires that students earn a B in the course. If the grade is less than B (B- or lower) after the first attempt you will be placed on administrative probation. You must repeat the class if you wish to stay in the program. If - on the second attempt - you do not pass the class with a grade of B or better (not B- but B) you will be disqualified.
  
• A represents Exceptional work; a grade of "A" will be assigned for outstanding work only.

Graduate Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA). Undergraduates must maintain a 2.0 Grade Point Average (GPA).

University Policies

Per University Policy S16-9, university-wide policy information relevant to all courses, such as academic integrity, accommodations, etc. will be available on Office of Graduate and Undergraduate Programs' Syllabus Information web page at: https://www.sjsu.edu/curriculum/courses/syllabus-info.php. Make sure to visit this page, review and be familiar with these university policies and resources.

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