Proposed Course Outline - version 1.0

 

ETEC 511: Foundations of Educational Technology

This course will explore some of the questions that arise out of such topics as the use of technology in the classroom, e-learning, distance learning, social media and new media.

• How and why have certain technologies been incorporated into the learning process?
• Where do these technologies come from and how have they been adapted to educational purposes?
• How, in turn, has the use of specific technologies altered the form and structure of 21st century learning?

The course will take place on a series of Saturdays in Arts 183 at UBCO.

Sat. Sept. 19    9am – 4pm

Sat. Oct. 3    9am – 4pm

Sat. Oct. 17    9am – 4pm

Sat. Oct. 31    9am – 4pm

Sat. Nov. 14    9am – 4pm

Sat. Nov. 28    9am – 4pm

Outcomes:

On successful completion of this course a student will be able to:

• Situate their own professional practice within the field of educational technology with reference to a range of conceptual and theoretical viewpoints
• Provide effective advice regarding suitable resources for ongoing self-directed professional development in the field of educational technology
• Articulate and contribute to the discussion on some of the many controversial issues that surround the role of technology in 21st century learning

Readings:

• A collection of readings will be assembled as the course progresses. Most of these will be freely available online.

Assessment:

• A detailed mind-map that shows the theories, concepts and resources that the student has developed to make sense of the field of educational technology.
• An essay that reflects on the student’s own role as a professional in the field of educational technology with reference to the mind-map created during this course.
• An in-class presentation on an influential theory, theorist, topic or trend in the field of educational technology.
• Leading a group discussion on a controversial topic in educational technology –based on a critical analysis of published research on the topic

 

Rough course schedule version 0.5

ETEC 511

1. Developing a conceptual map of the field of educational technology

• Definitions
  • What counts as technology?
  • What counts as educational/instructional/learning/teaching?
• Applications
  • where does educational technology occur? (school, business, military, training, informal learning)
  • purpose/intent of technology – why we use it?
  • Extension, amplification, individualization

2. History of educational technology – how we got to where we are today (& where we might be going)

• tools, equipment, gear – what fundamental learning/teaching need is the tool designed to address?
  • audiovisual aids
  • recording technologies
    • overcoming real time as a limitation to learning
  • electronic presentation technologies
    • the computer as a giant binder of overheads?
    • Visual interaction/demonstration
  • distance technologies
    • broadcast (radio, tv, webcast)
    • interactive (telephone, video/webconference)
• theories underlying the progression of ed technology
  • intended purposes
  • behavioural, cognitive, constructivist approaches
  • inherent bias in the tool/process?

3. Educational technology as a profession

• influential people & theories
• associations, journals & other resources
• benchmark publications
• building a personal learning network for ongoing professional development

4. Social, political, economic, philosophical influences on educational technology

• current controversies in the field

 

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Foundations of Educational Technology version 0.5

proposed schedule

Sat Sept 19     - module 1 / module 2

Sat Oct 3     - module 3 / module 4

Sat Oct 17     - module 5

Sat Oct 31     - module 6/ module 7

Sat Nov 14     - module 8/ module 9

Sat Nov 28     - module 10

Ideas:

1. Intro – what is ed tech? defining the field

activity:

2. Taxonomy, language, jargon – talking ed tech

activity:

3. Technology competencies for the 21st century (ISTE, digital literacy)

activity:

4. History of educational technologies – gear and gadgets, shift in how we connect with students from CAI in a lab to web-based to m-learning and virtual schools. Activity: ed tech timeline by decade?a

5. Practical skills for ed tech practitioners- html, LMS, rapid prototyping, user interface design, audio/video/photo/multimedia- making stuff for educational use

6. Philosophy of ed tech – learning theories that underlie various tools and systems – matching activity / design activity (behavioural, cognitive, constructivist, situated learning …)

7. Socio-politico-economic forces in ed tech (access, commercialization, ethics, sustainability, zero-sum public funding, privacy, copyright and IP)

activity: appropriation art

8. Research trends in ed tech – research methodologies in ed tech, current controversies

9. Resources for ed tech practitioners – staying current – journals, associations, websites, blogs

10. wrap up, present, debrief

Some objectives/outcomes to consider:

Be able to identify and describe a wide variety of uses of technology in education

Be able to describe advantages and limitations of various technologies in various educational settings

Be able to locate and evaluate published research in ed tech field

Be able to create effective learning materials using various ed tech tools

Be able to explain the theoretical foundations of various learning technologies

make a valuable contribution to the attitudes, skills and knowledge developed by the group during this course

be able to locate, evaluate and select suitable technology resources for ongoing self-directed professional development

some assessments to consider:

rapid prototype for instructional module w/ rationale, theoretical foundation paper

analysis of current technology in a school or workplace environment / needs analysis / recommendations (presentation to group)

position paper on current controversy in ed tech (blog posting)

peer evaluation of group participation/contribution

contribution to professional development resource collection (wiki)

Module 1

Who are we?

Why are we here? – what is educational technology?

What are we going to do? – course outline

How will we know if we’ve succeeded? – assessment

Activity:

Resources:

Module 2

Taxonomy of learning technology

-    Informal learning

o    Unplanned, incidental, serendipitous, making use of whatever happens to be available, assessment-free?

-    Formal learning

o    Planned, structured, particular outcome in mind

-    in the classroom

o    what kinds of tools/systems do we commonly find?

-    in the school (beyond the classroom – library, computer lab, gym)

-    online learning

o    school-based

o    home-based

o    workplace-based

-    self-directed vs. instructor-led?

Activity:

Resources:

Module 3

 

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Foundations of educational technology - random thoughts version 0.1

what does it mean to be an educator in the 21st century - is ed tech an essential skill for all educators?

http://couros.wikispaces.com/lan44

Horizon Report

Future of Online Learning

http://halfanhour.blogspot.com/2008/11/future-of-online-learning-ten-years-on_16.html

Critical History of ICT in Education

http://flosse.dicole.org/?item=critical-history-of-ict-in-education-and-where-we-are-heading

foundations of education

how we learn - talking, drawing in the dirt with a stick.

storytelling

education implies some kind of systematic organization of learning – not just random activities that happen to come up

written word as a technology of memory – able to overcome time and distance – can learn when teacher is not present

chalkboard lets the drawing be seen by more people than can crowd around

activity: categorize educational technologies commonly found in a school.

what essential function do they perform – how do they extend natural teaching/learning/interaction

16mm filmstrip – what did it bring into the classroom, make possible?

telephone, educational television broadcasting, the VCR

trace the connections - look at a new learning technology and explore what role it performs/what need it fulfils

 

the transformation of learners as consumers of media to learners as creators of media - what are the implications?

how has having technological access to an authentic audience outside the classroom changed the learning that goes on

 

teaching technology in the classroom

learning technology in the classroom

organizational technology – school buildings, class schedules, grouping students by age, separating by subjects

educational technology online – self-serve, instructor-directed

search technologies

how has the technology of libraries changed since Alexandria?

the purposes of technology – efficient training, self-study, overcoming limitations of distance and time, making learning easier, making teaching easier, making tracking and evaluation more reliable?