Global Knowledge, Global Rules: Promise and Peril in the Information Age

The attributes, logic and problems associated with a shift from the industrial to the information age are not well understood even by knowledgeable observers, as seen in competing claims that, on the one hand, the world is flat and, on the other hand, the world is spiky, or that mobs are smart and that networks rule. All agree that gale forces of change are blowing through institutions, organizations, and personal lives, strewing winners and losers about a global arena, some seizing and others missing the opportunities presented. All agree that strategic applications of information and communication technology (ICT) are central to the current transformation. All agree that new knowledge, skills, and abilities will be required to survive and that new opportunities are presented and new problems must be confronted in this era of rapid change.

Three topics organized around core readings and questions set the stage for student learning. Students will engage each other in short lecture-discussion sessions launching each day's work followed immediately by a series of exercises, projects, presentations, and writing assignments. Thus, communication and the skillful use of information is the seminar theme. Each student will undertake three short writing assignments and one team project attached to one of three broad headings:

*The Big Picture: The Information Age rises and rules (One week)

*The Personal and Organizational Picture: New relationships and skill requirements (One week)

*The New Problems: Debating possible solutions (One week)