IB digital society first assessment 2024
Integrate concepts, content and contexts. Inquiry uses a process document, recorded multimedia presentation and references; HL adds global well-being, governance/human rights and sustainable development interventions.
SL: Paper 1 90 min 40%, source Paper 2 75 min 30%, inquiry 30%. HL: Paper 1 135 min 35%, Paper 2 75 min 20%, intervention Paper 3 75 min 25%, inquiry 20%.
2–4 · Data, algorithms and digital power
Data are recorded values; information gives them meaning in a context. An algorithm specifies a process for producing outputs.
Ask who supplies data, who chooses the objective, who can challenge a decision and who is excluded.
Checked example
A missing quiz can mean absence, connection failure or refusal to participate. Treating every missing value as low ability changes recommendations.
Investigate missing-data rules and compare outcomes across users before describing the system as fair.
Limits and practice
A prediction does not establish a cause. High average accuracy can conceal unequal errors across groups.
Explain the specific harm and stakeholder rather than merely writing privacy is important.
Why is replacing every missing quiz with zero risky?
Answer: It treats different causes of missing data as evidence of low ability.
3.3–3.7; 4 · Networks, media and automation
Networks connect devices for communication; internet services depend on infrastructure, protocols and providers.
AI systems infer patterns from data, while autonomous systems may act with limited immediate human control.
Checked example
Compare the clinic's bandwidth, reliable power, device access and staff skills with the service's needs.
Evaluate benefits such as specialist advice alongside delayed responses, privacy obligations and reliance on providers.
Limits and practice
Digital solutions have material costs: energy, devices and maintenance.
Avoid a technology-only explanation of change when institutions, culture and income also shape outcomes.
What best evaluates whether consultation access improved?
Answer: Evidence of completed, timely consultations across patient groups, not just registered accounts.
Inquiry project · Researching impacts and implications
A focused question connects a named digital system to an impact on people or communities.
Compare source purpose, method, date, sample and claims; a vendor page and an independent evaluation have different strengths.
Checked example
Ask how a particular recommendation system changes access to suitable practice for one school group. Compare usage evidence, user accounts and published analysis.
Separate an observed association from a causal claim and show where sources disagree.
Limits and practice
Do not collect classmates' private records without school approval.
Keep the process document, multimedia presentation and references as separate required evidence rather than substituting an essay-only test.
Which source comparison is most useful?
Answer: Compare each source's method and interests against the same focused inquiry question.
5 · HL challenges and interventions
HL studies challenges in global well-being, governance and human rights, and sustainable development.
Evaluate an intervention through its mechanism, intended outcomes, stakeholders and conditions for implementation.
Checked example
Add an assisted booking channel, test it with users who have limited connectivity, and measure successful bookings rather than downloads.
Compare cost, access, data protection and maintainability over time before recommending expansion.
Limits and practice
The pre-released brief anchors Paper 3; a memorized generic case is insufficient.
A recommendation must address an actual challenge and the evidence in the resources, including failure conditions.
Which outcome best tests the access intervention?
Answer: Successful bookings among users who previously could not access the service.