We are in a digital revolution that is changing the way people communicate, create and connect. The digital society course invites students and teachers to work together to explore the challenges and changes faced today in technology, media, ethics and policy through conceptual and contextual lenses.
The subject includes an explicit inquiry framework as well as a skills-based toolkit to support student success. This framework guides students as they learn to focus and refine inquiries, explore sources, investigate impacts and implications of digital systems, reflect on emerging trends and share their discoveries.
Subject topics are open-ended rather than limited and can evolve according to new developments, examples, and emerging technologies. The multidisciplinary nature of the subject makes the course appealing to students with very diverse personal and professional pathways.
An inquiry-driven approach
Digital society is driven by a student-centred flexible curriculum model that integrates concepts, content and context through inquiry. Teachers and students are encouraged to let their interests and passions guide their way through the course.
- Concepts: change, expression, identity, power, space, systems, values and ethics.
- Content: data, algorithms, computers, networks and the internet, media, artificial intelligence, robots and autonomous technologies.
- Contexts: cultural, economic, environmental, health, human knowledge, political social.
Assessment
The assessment model for the subject focuses on authentic, future-ready skills, knowledge and competencies. Examinations allow students to evidence their ability to make connections across the syllabus and real-world research and examples, as well as to demonstrate media literacy skills by considering claims and perspectives of diverse sources.
For their internal assessment, students carry out an inquiry project into the impacts and implications of digital systems for people and communities and record a multimedia presentation.
The higher-level extension builds on the common integrated syllabus and invites a solution-oriented mindset. Students explore challenges such as global well-being, governance and human rights, and sustainable development, and evaluate possible interventions to address them.
Digital society subject brief
Subject briefs are short two-page documents providing an outline of the course. Read the standard level (SL) and/or higher level (HL) subject brief below.
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Latest curriculum updates
This subject is reviewed by the IB regularly to ensure the latest educational research is applied. Please keep up to date with the latest subject updates for Digital society.
