Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Fall 2015 - EDUC 890 G001

Educational Media as Foundations of Curriculum (4)

Class Number: 3435

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 8 – Dec 7, 2015: Thu, 4:30–8:20 p.m.
    Surrey

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Provides a historically-grounded treatment of the constructive role of technologies in the transmission and production of cultural knowledge and understanding. Students develop a grasp of the ways in which technologies have mediated and transformed the nature of knowledge, the knower, and processes of coming to know.

COURSE DETAILS:

Educational technology enthusiasts are prone to talk about the advantages of new modes of curriculum “delivery.” This language assumes that it is possible to separate curriculum from the media used to enact it. In this course, we will take seriously the proposition that it has never been possible to separate curriculum from the media used to implement it. We will explore this proposition both through literature and our own technology design efforts. In the literature, we will examine of the history of various educational media and their use, as well as current technology trends and the scholarship around them. In the design field, students will examine the unique affordances of educational media currently in vogue (such as digital games, wikis, blogs and other technologies for computer-supported collaborative learning) by developing their own original designs for learning to suit students and settings that are important to them. Students will benefit from critiques provided both by peers and the instructor before final submissions are due.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

This course aims to cultivate students’:

  • Understanding of the history of educational media in formal education
  • Understanding of the educational affordances of some popular digital media
  • Appreciation of some current controversies in the field of Educational Technology and Learning Design
  • Understanding of web site creation and editing in HTML

Grading

  • Learning Design Project 70%
  • Briefing Papers (x 2) 30%

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Cuban, L. (1986). Teachers and machines: The classroom use of technology since 1920. New York: Teachers College.
ISBN: 080772792X

Other readings to be distributed via SFU Canvas

Graduate Studies Notes:

Important dates and deadlines for graduate students are found here: http://www.sfu.ca/dean-gradstudies/current/important_dates/guidelines.html. The deadline to drop a course with a 100% refund is the end of week 2. The deadline to drop with no notation on your transcript is the end of week 3.

Registrar Notes:

SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://students.sfu.ca/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating.  Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community.  Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS