Technology for Social Good
SIL 503, Fall 2026, University of Michigan School of Social Work
Innovation and Ethics in Social Impact Leadership. 3 credits, in person,
Wednesdays 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM, September 2 to December 9.
Technology now shapes how social impact organizations serve, fund, evaluate, and sometimes surveil the communities they exist for. This course prepares you to make and guide technology decisions in that environment.
The evidence points both ways, and the course takes both directions seriously. Randomized trials show AI assistance narrowing skill gaps, expanding what novice workers can do, and extending access to mental health support. Documented deployments in unemployment benefits, child welfare, and Medicaid eligibility show automation scaling injustice. You will learn to hold both bodies of evidence at once, because the decisions you will face require it.
Modules
Deliverables
Course structure
Every session opens with a proposition. You vote, argue both sides through the seminar and lab, and vote again at the end. Votes are recorded anonymously all semester, and in Week 14 the class reviews the full record.
Each week runs half seminar, half lab. You will use AI tools nearly every week under the course's disclosure and verification policy. No technical background is assumed, lab failures carry no grade penalty, and the participation structure rewards documenting what went wrong and what you learned from it.
Schedule
The week-by-week calendar of sessions, labs, and due dates, September 2 through December 9.
Assignments
A technology teardown, a short video made for a real community partner, and a strategy pitch to that partner's leadership.
The protocol
The one-page set of questions this course asks of every technology, in failure and in success.
Case bank
Documented cases with verified sources, from Michigan's MiDAS to Māori-owned speech AI.
Interactive activities
Small in-browser tools we built for specific weeks, plus the free tools we use in class.
Schedule
Class meets Wednesdays, 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM, September 2 through December 9, with no class on November 25 (Thanksgiving recess). Details for each session live on its week page, linked below.
Module 1, Foundations (Weeks 1–2)
Working definitions, the history of technology in social work, and the sociotechnical protocol used all semester.
| # | Date | Session | Lab | Due |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 2 | Defining technology for social good | Collaborative definition workshop | |
| 2 | Sep 9 | The history of technology and social work | The protocol meets history: paired artifacts |
Module 2, AI (Weeks 3–6)
How generative AI works, critical and safe use, organizational adoption, and algorithmic bias.
| # | Date | Session | Lab | Due |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Sep 16 | Language model mechanics | Transformer Explainer + hallucination hunt | |
| 4 | Sep 23 | AI literacy | Calibration, ask-AI-or-ask-a-person triage sort, our AI-disclosure form | Ethics Case template out, partner matches announced |
| 5 | Sep 30 | AI adoption in organizations, guest (TBC) | Debate Lab 1 | Case selection, Speaker response |
| 6 | Oct 7 | Algorithmic bias and fairness | The paired-case lab | Ethics Case launched, partner intro memo |
Module 3, Data, industry, and partners (Weeks 7–10)
Data rights and privacy, how the technology industry is structured, the community partnership launch, and digital storytelling.
| # | Date | Session | Lab | Due |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Oct 14 | Data sovereignty and privacy | Digital Defense Playbook | Ethics Case due (20%) |
| 8 | Oct 21 | The structure of the technology industry | Funder grant teardown | Intake conversations completed |
| 9 | Oct 28 | Community partners and needs assessment | Interview protocol + journey map | Strategy Pitch launched, interview protocol |
| 10 | Nov 4 | Digital storytelling, guest (TBC) | Story circle + video brief | Exemplar scan, needs memo, Speaker response |
Module 4, Community and implementation (Weeks 11–14)
Production and accessibility, design justice and ICT4D, digital equity, and the strategy pitch delivered to your partner organization.
| # | Date | Session | Lab | Due |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Nov 11 | Production and accessibility, guest (TBC) | Production stations + caption sprint | Rough cut (ungraded) |
| 12 | Nov 18 | Design justice and ICT4D, guest (TBC) | Design-from-the-margins partner lab | Digital Story due (25%), Speaker response |
| 13 | Dec 2 | Digital equity and environmental costs | Debate Lab 2 (Detroit edition) + final consult | Plan outline + metrics |
| 14 | Dec 9 | Strategy pitch presentations, partners invited | Strategy pitches + feedback, story screening, closing vote review | Pitch (of 30%) |
Learning outcomes
By December you will be able to evaluate a technology through an ethical lens and name both its opportunities and its harms. You will be able to explain how generative AI works in plain language, use it responsibly, and reason about when an organization should decline to adopt it. You will have produced a short video a community partner can actually use, with documented accessibility and consent practices, and you will have presented a defensible technology recommendation to a real organization's leadership.
Instructor
Nari Yoo, PhD
(she/her), nariyoo@umich.edu
Office hours by appointment: calendly.com/nari-yoo. Expect a reply within 48 hours.
Community organizations interested in hosting a future student group: see For partner organizations.
Site and Canvas
This site carries the schedule, weekly pages, assignment guides, and resources. Canvas carries submissions, grades, announcements, and readings that need library access. The site itself was built with Claude, a language model made by Anthropic.