This module explores the digital revolution and its impact on society. Three core sociological themes will lead your investigation: individual and society, power and inequality, and people and things. These themes broadly correspond to the sociological ideas and real-life examples presented to you across the four blocks of the module, where you'll consider digital technologies using ideas developed in sociology. In these blocks, you'll explore:
Block 1: Everyday Life and the Digital
This block begins by considering the ‘sociological imagination’. Using examples of technology through history, you'll start to understand how the problems individuals face relate to wider issues in society. You'll learn and apply sociological ideas such as ‘The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life and Capital' to further explore how people relate to one another on social media.
Block 2: Society, Technology, Citizens, and Cities
You'll begin by thinking about what makes a city smart and then consider perspectives on technology, migration and transnational communities.
Block 3: Humans and Machines
This block looks at issues related to automation, artificial intelligence, and agency. This will equip you with the ideas to consider the impacts of automation on individuals and society.
Block 4: Uses and Abuses of the Digital
In this final section, we introduce you to the idea of ‘social harm’ and present some issues related to the environmental impacts of technology production, cybercrime and cybersecurity, misinformation, algorithms and inequality, and social media and mental health.
These topics will be illustrated using a range of audio, video, textbook and interactive materials.
The module gives you the opportunity to discuss its ideas and arguments in a range of online activities, workshops and assessment tasks. You'll also be given skills and training to help you communicate your ideas in academic and professional settings.
This module will equip you with a range of transferable skills, such as communication skills, critical analysis, team collaboration and blog writing. You will also learn skills such as how to read journal articles that will help prepare you for OU level 3 sociology modules..
You’ll get help and support from an assigned tutor throughout your module.
They’ll help by:
Online tutorials run throughout the module. While they’re not compulsory, we strongly encourage you to participate. Where possible, we’ll make recordings available.
Course work includes:
You’ll be provided with the textbook, Understanding Digital Societies, and have access to a module website, which includes:
You can study this module on its own or use the credits you gain towards an Open University qualification.
DD218 is a compulsory module in our:
DD218 is an option module in our:
Understanding digital societies starts once a year – in October.
This page describes the module that will start in October 2026.
We expect it to start for the last time in October 2032.
As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the academic regulations, which are available on our Student Policies and Regulations website.
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There may be extra costs on top of the tuition fee, such as set books, a computer and internet access.
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