Course Requirements
EDUC 438/638: Learning Technologies Across the Curriculum
The purpose of this course is to help students develop a deep understanding of technology integration across the K-20 curriculum. Specifically, the course intends to build an understanding of how technology can support active and constructive learning in the classroom and the types of knowledge required for effective technology integration.
The course focuses on digital technologies that help learners explore, create and discover. It addresses contemporary issues around educational games, digital citizenship, app gap, design and computational thinking skills for the digital generation. Finally, participants will have the opportunity to develop their own technology-enhanced curriculum units or projects that could be applied in their own classrooms or workplaces. Six learning objectives guide the course design as follows:
- Students will develop a deep understanding of the role of technology in facilitating teaching and learning in K-20 settings.
- Students will be able to define the types of knowledge required for effective technology integration by teachers.
- Students will explore a variety of Learning Technologies that can be used to support student learning.
- Students will become familiar with current state and national educational technology standards.
- Students will become familiar with many of the leaders in the field of educational technology.
- Students will be able to design interdisciplinary technology-enhanced curriculum units that foster student learning.
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: Online 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 choose the Discussions option. One of the first messages you write in the forum should respond to the Welcome message in which classmates introduce yourselves to one another. The discussion forum is an excellent place to network with your fellow students and form teams in which you can work together to create your projects. During the course, five "graded discussions" will appear in your Canvas discussions menu. Follow this link to see the rubric that your instructor uses to grade your discussion posts. In order to earn all the points for the discussion assignment, you must be sure to:
- Participate actively all throughout the course.
- Interact with your fellow classmates and refer to their opinions.
- Refer to the assigned readings and explain how they inform your designs in terms of learning theory, standards, and researched best practices.
- Respond effectively to each one of the five "graded discussions" that will appear on your Canvas discussions menu as the course progresses.
Assignment #2: Presentation Topic
During the course of the semester you (individually or with a partner) will be responsible for presenting one of these Learning Environments (or one of your choice if approved by the instructor). New technologies become obsolete very quickly. The purpose of this activity is therefore twofold: First, it will enable you to enhance your skills by exploring a technology-enhanced learning environment or tool that you want to explore and maybe you haven't seen before. Second, it will help you develop your skills as instructor, trainer, or administrator. As you prepare for this activity, here are some things you need to keep in mind:
- Provide an overview focusing especially on the principles upon which your topic is based.
- Explain applicable characteristics such as availability, hardware requirements, appropriate age levels, pricing, publication date, etc.
- If appropriate, download and install the appropriate plug-in on your computer and acquire all necessary passwords.
- Identify the key features of the learning environment or tool and discuss how they support (or do not support) the principles of how people learn.
- Try to prepare an interactive presentation. For example, you can create some role playing activities for your classmates, pretend that you are introducing the tool or environment 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.
- Check the schedule to make sure nobody else has chosen your topic yet. If they have, you can perhaps talk with them about the possibility of working together and co-presenting. The presentation schedule is a link on your course home page in Canvas.
In response to the Presentation Topic assignment, please indicate which learning environment you would like to present, and give one or two preferred class dates when you would like to make 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. If you are presenting about a tool or an app, actually use it during your presentation so the attendees can experience it in action. If you are presenting about a quizzing tool, for example, actually use it to quiz your fellow classmates.
Assignment #3: Presentation Delivery
This is where your instructor will grade the presentation of your chosen learning environment. Your grade will be determined as follows:
- Provides a clear description of the Learning Environment: 5 points
- Articulates the connection between learning theory and the design of the Learning Environment: 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
If you are presenting about a tool or an app, actually use it during your presentation so the attendees can experience it in action. If you are presenting about a quizzing tool, for example, actually use it to quiz your fellow classmates.
Assignment #4: Final Project Idea
Submit a couple of paragraphs explaining your initial thinking about what your final project will be. For your Final Project you will work individually or in groups to design and develop one or more modules on a topic of strategic importance to the curriculum of your school or workplace that integrate types of learning technologies. The goal of the project is for you to demonstrate that you are capable of integrating technology & learning (school-based, workplace or informal learning) in an educationally sound manner. The final project needs to:
- Reflect your understanding of the literature covered in the course.
- Be based on a project-based approach. Your role is not to develop a simple 45–minute lesson plan but a complete module or unit.
- Specifically address the use of technology for educational purposes.
- Be accompanied by a curriculum guide (or handout) containing implementation guidelines for teachers, employees, or intended users.
The final project progresses incrementally during the semester. In the Forums, for example, one of the graded discussions will prompt you to post one paragraph summarizing your idea for a final project. During that week, you must read and respond to at least one other student's idea.
Students in the EDTC Master's Program will be assessed using the Program Assessment Unit on Instructional Design described on page 22 of the EDTC Program Assessment Framework.
Assignment #5: Final Project Proposal
The project proposal is essentially a paper that summarizes your ideas for your final instructional program. Your paper should explicitly refer to the following points:
- Provide some background literature on the chosen topic.
- Identify the problem that your product seeks to solve.
- Describe the characteristics of the target audience, its needs and any prior knowledge required.
- Describe your educational objectives, i.e., what you expect learners/users to learn/gain as a result of using your product.
- Define the learning theory upon which your product will be developed (If appropriate, you can take components from different theories).
- Describe the different design elements (or sections) of your project and how they reflect the learning theory (or theories) chosen.
- Describe the setting and context in which your product will be used or implemented.
- Discuss possible difficulties and successes you foresee.
Limit your Project Proposal to 6 double-spaced pages.
Assignment #6: Final Project Submission
Final versions of design projects must be mounted on the Web for Dr. Fred to review and grade. Post the URL (if relevant) of your final project in Canvas or submit your final product (e.g., instructional design for M.Ed. students).
Assignment #7: Course Evaluation
Your final assignment in this course is to evaluate it. Toward the end of the course, you will receive an email from the School of Education sent to your udel.edu email address. This email tells you when the course evaluation window is open. 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.
Assignment Policies
- In all of these assignments, you should draw heavily on course readings. Even though your instructor is interested in hearing your individual opinion, you must also explain how the course readings and relevant studies support your opinion.
- Professionalism is important. Grammar, spelling, style, organization, and clarity count.
- You are expected to cite all references in APA format. If you do not know how to cite in APA, you can get the APA "Manual of Style" from the UD Bookstore.
- You are welcome to ask the instructor for feedback prior to submitting any assignment.
- All assignments need to be submitted on the specific due dates. Late work will not be accepted except under special circumstances such as illness or prior permission from the instructor.
- Academic Integrity: You are expected to be honest in all of your academic work. Be sure to review the University of Delaware's policy regarding academic honesty by following this link to sites.udel.edu/studentconduct/academic-integrity/.
