Foundations of Educational Technology

Educational practices have always relied upon "tools of intellect" specific to their cultures and times, tools which both enable and constrain how teaching and learning are accomplished, and, indeed, significantly redefine what is to count as knowledge. This course is concerned with what technologies threaten and promise, and specifically with the origins and consequences of current technologies for learning. Where have educational technologies come from, how and by whom have they been developed and implemented, what influences are they having (and not having) on educational practice, and in what directions do learning technology research, development, and practice appear to be headed? Through readings and web-based project work, students will become familiar with major traditions of research and development in educational technology, and the arguments and assumptions they make about what constitutes technology's best educational uses.

ORGANIZATION

Weekly face-to-face seminars and workshops, supplemented with on-line activities when appropriate.

REQUIRED READINGS

1. Franklin, Ursula (1990/1999) The Real World of Technology. Toronto: House of Anansi Press.

2. Cuban, Larry. (1986). Teachers and Machines: The Classroom Use of Technology Since 1920. New York: Teachers College Press.

3. Abbott, Chris. (2001). ICT: Changing Education. London and New York: Routledge/Falmer.

4. Schofield, Janet. (1995) Computers and Classroom Culture. New York: Cambridge University Press

EVALUATION

Educational Technologies Paper (30%): Find out as much as you can about the historical, cultural, social, economic, and other conditions of that technology. Who originated it, where and under what circumstances? What were its educational uses? Any other uses? What contemporary educational practice seems to come from or to be related to this technology? Research and write a report on the development of a selected educational technology (e.g. knowledge forum, telementoring, Web CT, intelligent tutoring systems, *logo/microworlds, PLATO, or other, to be approved in advance with the instructor). (This paper is to be placed in your course website, and linked off the main page.) Paper can be no longer than 5 pages, double-spaced with 1" margins and a 12 point font of your choice.

Production Project (50%): The central course requirement is an individual or group project in which students design, develop and produce a digital artifact for their own use, and based squarely on their own needs and interests. This "tool" will be a curriculum resource created and developed using the digital technologies we have available, and their usability for actual learning contexts must be explicitly considered. The work should clearly engage with and ideally extend theoretical and pedagogical understanding of what it might mean to best make use of technology for educational purposes and ends. All work must be debugged before being passed on as a URL to Instructor. All pages/links should work and all typos should be fixed.

In-Class Work (20%): select any 4 in class assignments @ 5% each (to be placed online, as a link off your main page)

Course Schedule

January 12, 2005

Coming to terms: What is 'educational technology"? What makes a technology an "educational" one?

Reading Homework: Ursula Franklin: The Real World of Technology (pages 1-90)

Demo: Designing an online educational resource: Case of www.computersforlunch.com

January 19, 2005

Prescriptive and Wholistic Technologies: Teachers as Consumers and Producers of Educational Technology

Reading Homework: Ursula Franklin: The Real World of Technology (pages 91-180)

Design hour: Group choice. Who is in your group? Email addresses? What skills does your group have and what access to particular technologies? MAKE A LIST. Skills and Technology Inventory. First thoughts on what to develop? How is it "educational"?

January 26, 2005

Bitsphere Vs. Biosphere: Technology as a Public Good

Reading Homework: Larry Cuban Teachers and Machines (pages 1-71)

Design Hour: Pitch an idea for the production project to your group.

(1) What skills must I have to do execute my own design?
(2) What technologies/skills does my group need to acquire/get our hands on?

February 2, 2005

The Promise of Technology: Then and Now

Reading Homework: Larry Cuban Teachers and Machines (pages 72-109) and selected chapters from Cuban, L.(2001) Oversold and Underused: Computers in the Classroom. Cambridge: Harvard University Press

In Class, collaborative: A Short, Illustrated, History of Educational Technologies!

Design Hour:

(1) Choose your topic, if you haven't already.

(2) Who is your audience? What role will teachers have in this resource? Where does it fit in their existing work routine? What technology will they have and what skill sets? What tech and skills must they have in order to access, run, use this resource?

(3) Begin making a "work plan" -- who will do what and by what date?

February 9, 2005

Promises Kept and Broken: Classroom Computing Today

Reading Homework: Chris Abbot: ICT: Changing Education (pages 1-67)

Demo: Prescriptive and Wholistic Educational Technologies

Demo: Educational Games Early and Late

Design Hour: Making it happen #2

February 16, 2005

Designing technologies: Proof of concept

(No class: Prepare your pitch)

Technology Redefines Curriculum: The Case of ICT

Reading Homework: Chris Abbot: ICT: Changing Education

Design hour: Making it happen #3

Teachers as designers?

Reading Homework: Janet Schofield: Computers and Classroom Culture 1-90

Design hour: Making it happen #4

Undercurrents: Technology as Cultural Practice

Reading Homework: Janet Schofield: Computers and Classroom Culture 91-182

Design hour: What about the girls? How does your design engage?

March 16, 2005

Technology and Pedagogy

Reading Homework: Janet Schofield: Computers and Classroom Culture 183-271

Design hour: "Famous for Fifteen Minutes": Planning the Demo

March 23, 2005

No Class: Prepare your project for presentation on 30th

March 30, 2005

Project Presentations (25%)

Demo or Die!: Fifteen minutes to present and explain your project, integrating your presentation with explicit discussion of the course readings as these have informed or fail to inform the work you are demostrating.

Wed 6, 2005 Last Class:

Final Project/portfolio URL's due

Demos: Mopping Up and Next Steps: Works in Progress