Course Requirements
EDUC 492/692: Educational Technology Capstone
True to its name, this course caps off your educational technology program by putting you to work doing something useful with what you have learned. You form teams and pool your talents to make an impact by creating a Web site or a technology to help improve something in a local workplace, school, or community organization. Thus, the course requirements revolve around you, the team you form, and the project you decide to work on.
Participants will be expected to spend at least six hours per week practicing Web design techniques, collaborating with members of your team, reading scholarly articles related to your project's domain or content area, and working on your projects. If you are working on a team project, remember to keep a list of who does what so your professor will know how to assess each team member's contributions to your project. If you are an EDTC major and you have not yet completed your capstone portfolio, you can make that be your project in this course.
In the sidebar is a list of the specific assignments and how much they count toward your grade in the course. Detailed explanations of these assignments appear below.
Assignment #1: Goal Statement
Your first assignment is to state the reasons why you enrolled in this course and what you hope to accomplish by taking it. Please describe the kind of problem you would like to solve or improve with educational technology, and in that context, tell why you decided to take this course and state briefly what you hope to get out of it. If you have only a general idea right now, go ahead and describe your goals in general terms. If you have more specific goals in mind, please enumerate them. I will use this information to help advise you and guide you through the appropriate course materials.
Assignment #2: Weekly Discussion Forum
Every student in this class is required to participate actively in the course discussion forum. To enter the discussion forum, log on to the course and click the Discussions option. One of the first messages you write in the forum should inform your fellow classmates about the nature of the project you are hoping to create. To earn all your discussion points, write a thoughtful message at least once per week during the course. Creating a new discussion post counts the same as responding thoughtfully to an existing post. Use the discussions to share knowledge with each other during the course. The discussion forum is an excellent place to network with your fellow students and brainstorm ideas more powerful than what you can think of on your own.
Assignment #3: Presentation Topic
During the course of the semester, you (individually or with a partner) will be responsible for presenting one of these ed tech topics (or one of your choice if approved by the instructor). As you prepare your presentation, here are some things you need to keep in mind:
- Provide an overview focusing especially on the principles upon which your topic is based.
- If your topic is an app or a learning environment, identify the ed tech standard(s) with which the topic aligns.
- If your topic is a web development tool, identify the features or advantages that the tool claims to provide.
- Try to prepare an interactive presentation. For example, you can create some role playing activities for your classmates, pretend that you are introducing the resource to a group of teachers who are considering adoption, etc.
- Synergy with your final project is good, i.e., it is fine for you to use what you present as part of your final project.
In response to the Presentation Topic assignment, please indicate which ed tech topic you would like to present, and give one or two preferred class dates when you would like to make your presentation. You are welcome to schedule a meeting with the instructor as you prepare for your Presentation. If you are taking the course online, you have the option of presenting remotely via the classroom videoconferencing stream, or you can come physically to class on the evening when you present.
Assignment #4: Presentation Delivery
This is where your instructor will grade the presentation of your chosen ed tech topic. Your grade will be determined as follows:
- Provides a clear description of the technology topic: 5 points
- Explains the underlying principles that inform the design of the presentation topic: 7 points
- Is coherent, organized and professional: 3 points
- Has the participation of all group members: 3 points
- Is interactive and involves the audience: 2 points
Assignment #5: Final Project Idea
The final project requires you to create an ePortfolio website. When submitting your final project idea, take these considerations into account:
- Think about what you want your website to accomplish. Make it be something you feel passionate about doing.
- Before submitting this Assignment, prepare one paragraph that outlines your idea. Unless your project needs to be kept confidential, post your paragraph in the Canvas Discussions and invite your fellow classmates to comment and provide suggestions about your idea. Note: Posting this paragraph in the Discussions is only part of this Assignment. In addition to posting this paragraph in the Discussions, you must also respond to the submission prompt in the Assignment itself.
- Identify the professional standards that inform your project's design. Some popular standards are listed in the standards module but there are many others you can use.
- If you are an EDTC major and you have not yet completed your capstone portfolio, you can make that be your project in this course. Follow this link to see how the capstone ePortfolio contains your master degree program's performances.
Assignment #6: Capstone Project
Final versions of capstone projects must be mounted on the Web for Dr. Hofstetter to review and grade. In response to this assignment, you submit the HTTP web address of your final project.
Assignment #7: Course Evaluation
Your final assignment in this course is to evaluate it. During the last couple weeks of the course, you will receive email at your udel.edu email address instructing you when the evaluation period begins and ends. You must log on to the course evaluation system within this window of time. The Web address of the course evaluation system is www.udel.edu/course-evals. After you complete the course evaluation, your instructor will give you credit for completing it. The responses you give are completely anonymous. While your instructor will be able to see the ratings and comments, it is impossible for your instructor to identify the person who gave a certain rating or made a given comment. Once you complete the evaluation, your grade on this assignment will be an automatic A.
