CSC8426 : Emerging Technologies
- Offered for Year: 2023/24
- Module Leader(s): Dr Tejal Shah
- Lecturer: Dr Varun Ojha, Professor Raj Ranjan
- Owning School: Computing
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
| Semester 2 Credit Value: | 20 |
| ECTS Credits: | 10.0 |
Aims
In this module, apprentices will be introduced to emerging technologies and innovations in digital services. Apprentices will learn how digital technologies are critical enablers of competitive advantage in organisations, and how to identify, analyse, and write a report on a topic of interest from one of the chosen emerging technologies.
Module Aims
1. Explain fundamental principles of digital technologies as well as relevant business applications.
2. Apply fundamental principles of emerging technologies in innovative ways to create sustainable competitive advantages.
3. Perform requirements and cost-benefit analyses of a technology within the context of their workplace setting.
This exercise will challenge apprentice’s ability to handle unexpected situations in their workplace.
4. Negotiate with internal and external stakeholders within an organization.
5. Write reports and deliver presentations directed at influential members in an organisation on their recommendation(s)
Outline Of Syllabus
The module will cover
• Emerging Technologies:
o Review and discuss emerging technologies including distributed systems technologies such as Cloud Computing, Internet-of-Things, , Blockchain, Deep Learning, and Knowledge Representation technologies .
o Conduct a cost-benefit analysis to determine which emerging technology would be suitable for stakeholder(s)
• Software development for emerging technologies:
o Development for distributed infrastructure
o Scalable computing patterns for the Cloud
• Business Applications:
o Consider how the solution addresses (potential) ethical, social and legal issues
o Practice self-reflecting and critiquing case studies
o Practice persuasive writing skills?
o Practice?negotiation skills?
o Practice presentation skills
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 7 | 1:00 | 7:00 | PiP – Live presentations, discussions, and Q & A about the topics covered during the week |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 56:00 | 56:00 | Prepare for report (2000 words) and business plan. |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 8 | 2:00 | 16:00 | PiP lectures |
| Structured Guided Learning | Lecture materials | 11 | 2:00 | 22:00 | Nonsynchronous – A combination of short recordings of lecture material, slides published on VLE |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Practical | 7 | 2:00 | 14:00 | PiP - Supervised practical work developing skills in emerging technologies and software development |
| Guided Independent Study | Directed research and reading | 1 | 40:00 | 40:00 | Apprentices will undertake individual academic research/reading on their own as directed by academics. |
| Guided Independent Study | Project work | 1 | 40:00 | 40:00 | Work undertaken individually or to demonstrate transfer of learning to the workplace |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Drop-in/surgery | 5 | 1:00 | 5:00 | One to one or open class support – online synchronous. |
| Total | 200:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
This module will apply the tenets of Project Based Learning (PBL) whereby apprentices are presented with a challenge that requires apprentices to produce a product or report in response to the challenge. Each week there will be opportunity for learning materials at self-pace, synchronously with an instructor, and in the workplace.
Self-Paced Online includes
• Lecture materials to help structure and guide the project work and link theories and concepts of emerging technologies and innovations in management
• Opportunities to practice skills
• Asynchronous class discussions Synchronous includes:
• Instructor led discussions, that may include guest lecturers
• Lab sessions to undertake practical activities
• Scheduled drop-in surgeries for technical issues Workplace:
• Identifying a workplace challenge
• Working on solving the challenge in workplace
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | 2 | A | 50 | Report on emerging technology relevant to their professional context (no word count as is based on lab activity) |
| Report | 2 | A | 50 | A report based on lab/practical activity (2000 words) |
Formative Assessments
| Description | Semester | When Set | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prob solv exercises | 1 | M | Non-graded feedback during the lab sessions on technical programming exercises. Supports summative lab report. |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
Now that apprentices are in their final semester of becoming Software Engineers, they are ready to focus on innovation within their workplace. In this module they will produce a summative report analysing and evaluating the applicability of an emerging technology within the context of their workplace They will also produce a lab report based on a practical that develops and tests the apprentices’ ability to design and implement a dockerized cloud application.
Other activities that exist to support mastery of learning, but not formatively assessed, include weekly PiP sessions, and skills practice in the workplace. These sessions allow the instructor to meet with groups regularly for a status update on their work towards their final project, help address issues, and provide feedback. In addition to this, they are an opportunity to learn from researchers, practitioners through seminars and activities that build apprentices interpersonal skills.
This apprenticeship recognises that not all learning can be mastered in one day, therefore there is time allocated for practicing skills, meaning apprentices can transfer their knowledge and skill into the workplace. These opportunities need to be identified during tripartite meetings with the apprentice every three months, their manager, and the skills coach. These events are then documented in another platform (APTEM) which members of the tripartite conversation can access.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- CSC8426's Timetable