How is the change from an economy of goods to an information economy manifest? What do “post-industrial” and “information age” mean and why do we care? What do you imagine information systems for the home do? How soon will they be common reality? And how will they change our lives? How will new technologies be marketed? How much will they cost? How will these new technologies work? Do they utilize existing technologies? How do mergers and data monopolies affect the answers to these questions? How do these issues affect your career choice? Is the basic nature of “learning” changing? What, if any, is the role of government in bringing about these transitions? Do these changes threaten basic values and constitutional rights? Where do you fit into this discourse? This course provides knowledge about and insight into these and other questions surrounding the telecommunications revolution. In order to achieve this goal we will approach telecommunications from five siloed perspectives: (1) technology (2) business, marketing, or economic (3) as a social (4) political, and (5) legal. We begin with six weeks of foundation material. Think of this information as the working tools you will need for the next part of the course. The foundation material includes history, facts about the structure of our telecommunications environment, past and present, and some ideas about where society may be headed. We will accomplish this with concise seminar and debate driven by readings. During the second part of the semester the class will separate into five groups based on the categories.
This is the experimental learning component of the course. As you concentrate your energies in different areas, we will all benefit from the information and interpretation you bring to class. This section includes project creation as well as guests and cross group critique. The course culminates in a presentation of the group project at least half of which should be new data or information area and the other part an interpretation of that data.

BY Joanne Steinhardt