Assignment 📑

Future Technologies & Media (FTM)

Andy Weeger

Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences

March 13, 2024

Task

During the semester you will be required to analyse a emerging digital technology, its characteristics, use and implications.

You can make proposals on the topic you want to work for (deadline see schedule). However, the final assignment will be made by me.

You need to do research on

• the characteristics of the technology (e.g., based on the characteristics discussed in lecture),
• fields of applications,
• the potential of the technology to transform these (benefits and risks),
• as well as social and ethical implications.

You can include grey literature¹, but you need to analyze at least five (5) scientific papers.

Deliverables

You need to prepare and hold a presentation of min 15 to max 17 minutes and to discuss your insights in a Q&A.

• Upload your presentation slides (.pptx and .pdf) via Moodle until the deadline
• Use following naming scheme: FTM_ST24_Surname-Name
• You will present the slides uploaded to Moodle (no late updates)
• For the deadline and the presentation dates, please see the schedule

Grading

The presentation of your findings (15-17 min., 70%)
+ the discussion (~ 8 min., 20%)
+ your contributions to other presentations (10%).

The grade will be a combination of

• your presentation of your findings
  (15-17 minutes, 70% of your grade),
• the discussion after the presentation
  (approx. 8 minutes, 20% of your grade),
• and your contributions to the discussion of your fellow students’ presentations
  (10% of your grade).

Evaluation criteria

An excellent presentation has the following characteristics.

Technology (15%)

• Clearly defines the chosen emerging technology
• Accurately describes the technology’s key characteristics based on course material

Fields of application (15%)

• Identifies and explores a variety of potential fields of application
• Thoroughly analyzes how the technology could benefit/transform these fields

Social and ethical considerations (15%)

• Identifies and explores relevant social and ethical implications of the technology
• Demonstrates critical thinking in considering potential solutions or mitigations for negative impacts

Scientific references (15%)

• Integrates research from at least five (5) scientific papers
• Accurately cites and references all sources

Presentation (15%)

• Presentation is well-organized and easy to follow
• Information is presented clearly and concisely
• Effective use of visuals (e.g., slides, images, diagrams) to enhance understanding
• Visual aids are professional and visually appealing
• Speaks confidently and professionally
• Maintains eye contact and engages the audience

Discussion (15%)

And excellent discussion has the following characteristics.

• Demonstrates a clear understanding of the presented technology
• Accurately answers questions related to the presentation
• Answers questions in a professional and respectful manner
• Uses clear and concise language
• Extends on the information presented by demonstrating deeper understanding of the field

Contributions to other presentations (10%)

The remaining 10% of the grade depends on how you engage in the discussion of other presentations.

• Points are given for each thoughtful question or comment² you make during the Q&A of other presentations
• Additional points are given for the best question per presentation

A note on grades

It is unlikely that every student will receive a very good grade, i.e. deliver an outstanding performance - see the meaning of grades. Instead, it is to be expected that the grades will spread across the spectrum.

Grade	Meaning
1 — very good	A truly outstanding achievement that (not only) shows no deficiencies in the criteria mentioned, but also gives both the supervisor and external assessors an excellent impression.
2 — good	Work that exceeds the average requirements/performance and is easily recognizable and presentable to the outside world as a “good performance”.
Note	2.5 is the average of passed assessments, i.e., an “average performance”
3 — satisfactory	A performance that achieves the desired goal “to a satisfactory extent”; however, deficiencies can be identified here and there.
4 — sufficient	A performance that “still adequately satisfies” the requirements, but deviates from the expectations placed on it in several ways.
5 — not sufficient	A performance that does not meet several of the criteria mentioned.

Scientific literature

In your presentation, you need to consider at least five scientific papers.

• Select only papers that are peer-reviewed.
• Recommendation is to focus the search on high-quality IS journals³, such as
  • Senior Scholars’ Basket of Journals
  • A-ranked or B-ranked journals in the VHB-JOURQUAL3 ranking
• Use Web of Science, Google Scholar or the journals’ archives to search for literature
• Use the citation count as primary quality indicator (rule of thumb: the more cited, the more significant is the paper).
• Look for literature reviews that summarize the current state of knowledge.

Q&A

Literature

Fitzgerald, Brian, Alan R Dennis, Juyoung An, Satoshi Tsutsui, and Rishikesh C Muchhala. 2019. “Information Systems Research: Thinking Outside the Basket and Beyond the Journal.” Communications of the Association for Information Systems 45 (1): 7.

Footnotes

1. Grey literature includes usually not peer-reviewed material such as white papers, books, web-sources, etc.

2. The question needs to go beyond basic clarification and need to how deeper understanding; the question or comment encourages further discussion or analysis

3. For a more balanced discussion of quality indicators of papers see e.g., Fitzgerald et al. (2019)