IB Diploma Programme Digital Society SL (first assessment 2024; 2021 guide). This topic equips the remaining CONTENT areas (3.3 computers, 3.4 networks and the internet, 3.5 media, 3.6 artificial intelligence, 3.7 robots and autonomous technologies) situated by the seven CONTEXTS, as demanded by the source-based Paper 2 (30% at SL): diverse sources explored, their claims and perspectives evaluated. This handout teaches the content areas, the contexts and the source discipline. All worked examples are original classroom cases.
Must-know for networks, media and automation:
Family
Content
computers
3.3: the machines and their limits
networks
3.4: the internet’s layers and their choke points
media
3.5: creation, distribution, participation: the changed feed
automation
3.6 AI and 3.7 robots: decisions and actions delegated
sources
diverse sources: claim, perspective, provenance evaluated
2.2
From computers to robots
English
As substrate, computers 计算机 (3.3) process with limits (memory, energy, attention); networks and the internet 网络与互联网 (3.4) connect them in layers, each layer a choke point (the cable, the platform, the standard): who owns the layer decides its rules. Closest to daily life is the content area of media 媒体 (3.5): creation (everyone a publisher), distribution (the feed ranked, not chronological) and participation (the comment, the share, the pile-on).
Worked case. The class-news feed: three versions of the same school event (the official post, the student video, the satirical meme) travel differently because the ranking algorithm rewards engagement, not accuracy: MEDIA content on a NETWORK choke point.
networks and the internet/ˈnetwɜːks ænd ðɪ ˈɪntənet/
网络与互联网
wǎng luò yǔ hù lián wǎng
media/ˈmiːdiːə/
媒体
méi tǐ
2.3
AI, robots and the contexts
English
In 3.6, artificial intelligence 人工智能 is delegated decision (the classifier that flags, the recommender that ranks); robots and autonomous technologies 机器人与自主技术 (3.7) add delegated ACTION (the warehouse robot, the autonomous mower): each delegation moves a human judgement somewhere else. Every case is situated by the seven contexts 情境: cultural, economic, environmental, health, human knowledge, political, social: the same recommender is a different case in the economic context (whose market) and the health context (whose wellbeing).
Worked case, continued. The school's essay-feedback classifier: AI content (delegated judgement) in the human-knowledge context (what counts as good writing) and the social context (who gets encouraged): the context choice changes the question.
robots and autonomous technologies/ˈrəʊbɒts ænd ɔːˈtɒnəməs tekˈnɒlədʒiz/
机器人与自主技术
jī qì rén yǔ zì zhǔ jì shù
contexts/ˈkɒnteksts/
情境
qíng jìng
2.4
Working with sources
English
Paper 2 is source-based: the discipline is the source 来源 read three ways: its CLAIM (what it asserts), its PERSPECTIVE (who speaks, from where, with what interest) and its PROVENANCE (where it came from, who published it, when). Diverse sources means genuinely different perspectives (the platform's statement, the user's testimony, the regulator's report), and the essay weighs them rather than stacking the agreeable ones.
Worked case, concluded. On the feed case, three sources: the platform's transparency post (claim: ranking serves relevance; perspective: the seller of attention), a student creator's testimony (claim: the meme travelled furthest; perspective: the participant), and a media-literacy study (claim: engagement ranking rewards outrage; perspective: the researcher): the essay weighs all three against the case.
AI and robots: delegated decision, delegated action (automation).
The seven contexts situating every case (sources).
Claim, perspective, provenance on every source (sources).
The worked feed and classifier cases understood (worked).
Boundary notes: the examiner must see the inquiry working: concepts named, sources diverse and evaluated, real-world examples real. All worked examples are original classroom cases.
Supported preparation: Infrastructure and material consequences
Scope and prerequisites
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.
Mapped preparation outcomes: ib_digital_society_sl.2.1, ib_digital_society_sl.2.2. Read the matching native lesson first. Actual approved choices, evidence and final learner work remain separate.
Source vocabulary
network 网络; automation 自动化.
Explanation and worked method
Network access depends on devices, power, connectivity and service providers. AI-based recommendations use patterns in training data; an autonomous system may also act. Evaluate a service through completed outcomes and failure conditions, including energy and maintenance.
Task: a fictional clinic registers 500 remote-consultation accounts but completes only 120 timely consultations. What follows?
Registration shows uptake at one stage, not effective healthcare access. Inspect failed connections, device sharing, staff availability, patient groups and existing alternatives. Compare completed timely consultations and relevant access barriers before and after implementation, with a suitable comparator where possible. Include privacy, power reliability and environmental costs.
Independent transfer
Timely consultations rise mainly among people already well served. Has equitable access improved?
Attempt independently before reading the model.
Checked original model
The overall count can rise without reducing exclusion. Compare completion and barriers for previously underserved users, using compatible definitions and periods. Evaluate alternatives, costs and unmet need before claiming equitable improvement.
These are authored formative expectations, not official IB descriptors. Accept other justified arguments with evidence and material limits.
Source and task holds
This supplement teaches the method for this part of the course. The full assessment criteria and any texts your school chooses come from your teacher.
