HSUHK | CCCO

SSC1024 Reading and Learning in the Digital Era

Common Core Curriculum Office (CCCO) > SSC1024 Reading and Learning in the Digital Era
Department
Social Science
Cluster
C (Creativity, Technoscience, and Digital Competence)

Prerequisite

Applicable to senior entrants admitted to Year 2 in and after AY2026/27, and those admitted to Year 3 in AY2027/28 and onwards

Exclusion

N/A

Module Description

This module explores how the digital technology transforms our habit of reading and learning. It examines the relations betweenreading, digital devices and our cognitive processes. The module also addresses the significance of reading in the digital era in influencing one’s capability to express oneself in words and to understand and share one’s feelings, as well as in influencing one’s mental health. Through the exploration of digital era’s influence to our reading and learning processes, it enhances students’ awareness of the impact of modern technology on their daily life.

Module Intended Learning Outcomes (MILO)

Upon completion of this module, students should be able to: 
a. Develop an understanding of key theories and debates concerning the impact of modern technology on students’ reading and learning processes
b. Identify the positive and negative impacts of technology on students’ reading and learning processes
c. Critically recognize how technology significantly influences one’s well-being by changing our reading and learning processes
d. Understand how technology influences people in their expression of their ideas in the digital era

Module Content

  1. Introduction: Overview of our reading brain
     1.1. Physiological foundation of reading
     1.2. Psychology of reading
     1.3. Research methodologies
  2. The role of technology in reading and learning
     2.1. New mediums for learning
     2.2. Skimming: A new normal in our digital reading
     2.3. With Google search: why bother reciting?
  3. Is “deep learning” being endangered?
     3.1. What is deep learning?
     3.2. The criteria for “going deep”
     3.3. Having “deep learning” in the digital era
  4. How reading teaches us about emotions in the digital era?
     4.1. Why does our ability for empathy decline?
     4.2. Readers as Empathizers
     4.3. Media consumption and the decline of empathy
  5. How does the digital era transform the way we communicate and create new ideas?
     5.1. Creativity in the digital era
     5.2. Expressing new ideas through digital media
     5.3. Evolving communication: From a literacy-based culture to a digital culture
  6. No “pop-up ads” in a book, right?
     6.1. Distraction: A severe problem in the digital era
     6.2. Learning from paper vs. learning from Screens
     6.3. A critical reflection on “Multitasking” with electronic devices
  7. Reading as a way for learning to be healthy
     7.1. Can mental health be learnt?
     7.2. Types of bibliotherapy
     7.3. Bibliotherapy process: identification > catharsis > insight
  8. Digital reading as a way for learning to be healthy
     8.1. Is it necessary to read books for bibliotherapy?
     8.2. What is “Digital bibliotherapy”?
     8.3. Case study: A self-help e-bibliotherapy app in HK

Assessment Methods

1. Participation (10%)
2. Mid-term Test (25%)
3. Group Project and Presentation (25%)
4. Reflective Journal (40%)