IT 6740 Syllabus Spring 2004

Learning Processes Applied to Instructional Technology

Credit: 2 hours

Dates: January 10 - May 8, 2004

Times: Selected Saturdays, 8:30 am - 4:30 pm

Location: NC 5032A, South Lab

Instructor: Dr. Wes Leggett

Email: wes@wesleggett.com

Office: 970.490.3025

Web: wesleggett.com

Course Description

Principles of learning and instruction for technology-mediated learning materials. Topics include case- and project-based teaching and other inquiry-learning strategies; tutorial and direct-instruction strategies for rule and procedure learning; schema-based learning for conceptual change; and self-directed learning.

Sequence in Plan of Study

This course should be taken around the middle of the ILT program.

Link to ILT Responsibilities

This course is most directly linked to the following learning outcome of the ILT program:

No. 1. Continued improvement of professional practice that requires critical inquiry, professional development, and reflective practice.

In addition, reflection on teaching from the two perspectives: (1) cognitive theories of learning and instruction; and (2) social-justice principles derived from critical pedagogy.

Fundamental Course Goals

This class provides an introduction to some fundamental principles of learning and instruction. If you find these principles useful, they can then serve as a foundation for your technology use as a teacher, and for your development of innovative curriculum.

The main goals of the course are to help you:

--Get knowledgeable and skilled at applying theories of learning and instruction. You will learn the basic language of information-processing theory. You will learn to relate these concepts to your teaching practice. You will begin to critique

your work and apply these models to your teaching and design activities.

--Learn how our educational practices impact different students in different ways. You will be introduced to principles of critical theory or critical pedagogy. These principles approach educational practices from cultural and political

perspectives and rely on humanities-inspired methods of criticism and analysis (rather than social-science methods of research). The intent is to increase your awareness and sensitivity to the impact of your work—not necessarily to effect a major

change in your practice.

Texts and Required Readings

A book edited by John Bransford and colleagues is available at:

http://www.nap.edu/html/howpeople1/

An expanded edition is available at:

http://books.nap.edu/books/0309070368/html/

Alternatively, you may choose to purchase this text:

Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., Cocking, R. R. (Eds.). (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school (expanded edition). Washington D. C.: National Academy Press. Paperback, around $18 from Amazon.

Additional texts and readings may be required.

Instructional Strategies

The course is taught primarily as a readings-based seminar, with e-mail discussions to enhance in-class discussions and presentations.

Activities include:

--small-group in-class and online activities;

--individual and collaborative writing;

--project work.

Course Requirements

To be determined.

Submission of Assignments

To be determined.

Goals for Online Discussions, Activities, and Projects

--Highlight key points in each reading that are important to your overall understanding of cognition and learning.

--Reason freely and use professional judgment in your conversation about important problems of practice and cognition. Know the difference between personal opinion and well-supported reasoning grounded on the literature or professional experience.

Know the limits of generalization due to context and the systemic interaction of variables.

--Strengthen a sense of community by sharing perspectives, responding to each other’s comments, and supporting each other's work.

Course Policies

Students have an obligation to conduct themselves at all times in a manner that reflects honesty, integrity, and respect for others and to show a strong commitment to the ILT program. As a CU-Denver student, you must adhere to the Academic Honor Code: http://carbon.cudenver.edu/catalog//pdf/Cat6.pdf

Software Piracy, Use of Copyrighted Material

All students in the ILT program are expected to maintain high academic, professional, and ethical standards. Students should adhere to the CU-Denver computing policies: http://www.cudenver.edu/cins/policy/policy.html Inappropriate or unprofessional conduct is cause for discipline or dismissal from the program.

E-Mail Use

You should have access to email at least every other day, including weekends if possible. A number of university labs are open and available to students, including the IT Mac Lab located at NC 5032 (303-556-6022) and NC 2206 (303-556-2895). Tech support is available at the desktop icon titled "How to Use CEO." You can also dial 303-556-6100 for voicemail or send email to helpme@carbon.cudenver.edu for tech support not related to CEO.

Basic E-mail Etiquette

Simple courtesies still apply to email as well as personal conversations and letter writing. The following guidelines will help ensure that your email posts will be read in the way you want them to be read.

--Open the message with a greeting, close with a salutation and other information as needed. For example, provide a telephone number if there is any likelihood the person will need to contact you by phone.

--Keep your post short and to the point. Long posts tend to be ignored. One screen is a good rule of thumb.

--Don't worry excessively about spelling, punctuation, and technical form. E-mail lies between formal written and oral discourse, so many written conventions can be relaxed. But remember the readability rule: Anything that gets in the way of readability (length, look, etc.) will make your post easier to skip over.

--Try to write like a journalist. Put key information at the top of your post, using short paragraphs to allow quick scanning.

--Be careful with humor. Because we lack nonverbal cues, sarcasm or subtle humor can be hard to interpret and may offend.

--Be careful about forwarding private correspondence. In general, private posts should be kept private and not distributed to a larger group without permission.

--Change your CEO Preferences file to reply only to the sender. Then use a "reply all" option to reply to an entire group. Reply only to those people interested in your message.

--Lowercase is easier to read. AVOID ALL CAPS; IT IS CONSIDERED SHOUTING.

Grading and Late Work

Each assignment will be assigned a number grade. Late assignments will be penalized 10% for each day they are late. Partially completed assignments will be returned without a grade. Assignments will be accepted until the beginning of the last class meeting.

Incompletes

"An incomplete is only awarded when special circumstances prevent a student from completing the course during the term" (from the UCD catalog). Special circumstances for the purposes of this course may generally be defined as tragic and/or severe medical problems. The decision to grant an incomplete rests entirely with the instructor based on their judgment of the situation.

Requests for incompletes should be made to me in writing. Each request should be accompanied by a planned schedule of completion. If I agree to an Incomplete I will assign you a grade of IF. That means that you have one year from the date of the course to complete your work, or your grade will automatically turn to an "F" on your transcripts. Assignments turned in under an agreement for an incomplete will not be subjected to resubmit options. If you do not adhere to your planned schedule for completion, I will hold the option of lowering your grade.

A withdrawal is almost always preferable to an Incomplete or an F. If personal, work or family problems arise that interfere with your ability to complete or continue this course, see me immediately. We can work together to help you resolve the problems with the course.

Non-discrimination

The University of Colorado at Denver is committed to providing reasonable accommodation and access to programs and services to persons with disabilities. Students should contact the Disability Services Office, Arts Building 177, 303-556-8387, TTY 303-556-8484. Any other person requiring accommodation in order to access programs and services of the University of Colorado at Denver, either on or off campus, should request accommodation from the individual or office responsible for providing the program or service. This request should be made in a timely fashion to allow the individual or office adequate opportunity to provide reasonable accommodation.

Back Up ALL Work

Make and keep back-up copies of ALL assignments. When working with computers, STUFF HAPPENS. Back up everything frequently. Expect disks to go bad. Technology failure is not an excuse for late or incomplete projects.

Food and Drink

Food and drink are not permitted in the 5032 labs.

Pagers and Cell Phones

I ask that you put them on "vibrate" mode. When beeping or ringing interrupts class, it detracts from our learning time together and means your focus is elsewhere and not with us. Please see me if there is a family emergency that may draw you out of class to speak on the phone.

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IT 6740 Resource Links

Educational Technology Overview & Contemporary Views

Dede, C. (1998). Six challenges for educational technology.

http://www.virtual.gmu.edu/pdf/ASCD.pdf

Ely, D. (2000). The Field of Educational Technology: Update 2000 -- A Dozen Frequently Asked Questions.

http://ericir.syr.edu/ithome/digests/EDO-IR-2000-01.html

Alessi, S. (1997). Seeking common ground: Our conflicting viewpoints about learning and technology.

http://www.gsu.edu/~wwwitr/docs/common/

Communities of Learners/Practice

Brown, J. S., & Duguid, P. 1991. Organizational learning and communities-of-practice: Toward a unified view of working, learning and innovation. Organization Science (2), 40-57.

http://www.parc.xerox.com/ops/members/brown/papers/orglearning.html

Gordin, D. N., Gomez, L. M., Pea, R. D., & Fishman, B. J. (1996). Using the World Wide Web to Build Learning Communities in K-12. Journal of Computer Mediated Communication (3).

http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol2/issue3/gordin.html

Johnson, D., & Johnson, R. Cooperation and the Use of Technology.

http://www.aect.org/Intranet/Publications/edtech/35/index.html

Shotter, J. (2000). Constructing ‘Resourceful or Mutually Enabling’ Communities: Putting a New (Dialogical) Practice into Our Practices. http://www.learndev.org/dl/DenverShotter.PDF

National Policy on Technology and Education

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/03/20010328-2.html

http://www.ed.gov/Speeches/02-2001/010228.html

http://www.ed.gov/Technology/elearning/index.html

http://interact.hpcnet.org/webcommission/index.htm

Distance Education

Feenberg, A. (1999). Distance Learning: Promise or Threat?

http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/feenberg/TELE3.HTM

Students’ Distress with a Web-based Distance Education Course: An Ethnographic Study of Participants' Experiences. http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue4_12/hara/index.html

Knowledge Forum and other Computer-supported Cooperative Learning

Scardamalia, M., & Bereiter, C. (1994). Computer support for knowledge-building communities. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 3(3), 265-283. http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~bwilson/building.html

Scardamalia, M., & Bereiter, C. (1999). Schools as knowledge building organizations. In D. Keating & C. Hertzman (Eds.), Today's children, tomorrow's society: The developmental health and wealth of nations (pp. 274-289). New York: Guilford.

http://csile.oise.utoronto.ca/abstracts/ciar-understanding.html

Critical Reviews of Technology in Education

Oppenheimer, T. (1997). The Computer Delusion.

http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97jul/computer.htm

Kirkpatrick, H., & Cuban, L. Computers Make Kids Smarter--Right?

http://www.technos.net/journal/volume7/2cuban.htm

Kraut, R., et al. (1998). Internet Paradox: A Social Technology That Reduces Social Involvement and Psychological Well-Being? http://www.apa.org/journals/amp/amp5391017.html

NTIA (1999). Falling Through the Net: Defining the Digital Divide.

http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/fttn99/contents.html

Pea, R. D. (2001). Technology, Equity and K-12 Learning. Bridging the Digital Divide: California Public Affairs Forum. Published by the California Council on Science and Technology, March 2001, pp. 39-51.

http://www.cilt.org/seedgrant/Ca_council.pdf

Technology and Learning

Reeves, T. (1998). The Impact of Media and Technology in Schools.

http://www.athensacademy.org/instruct/media_tech/reeves0.html

Riel, M., & Fulton, K. (1998). Technology in the Classroom: Tools for Doing Things Differently or Doing Different Things. http://www.gse.uci.edu/vkiosk/faculty/riel/riel-fulton.html

Bransford, J., Brown, A., & Cocking, R. (Eds.) (1999). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. Chapter 9 – Technology to Support Learning. http://books.nap.edu/html/howpeople1/ch9.html

Bransford, Evolutions in Vanderbilt's thinking about the design of problem-based environments

http://www.nsti.tec.tn.us/SEATEC/papers/forum_1_bransford/Bransford1.htm

Leamnson, R. (2001). Does Technology Present a New Way of Learning?

http://ifets.ieee.org/periodical/vol_1_2001/leamnson.html

Turkle, S. (1997). Seeing Through Computers: Education in a Culture of Simulation.

http://www.prospect.org/print/V8/31/turkle-s.html

Veenema, S. & Gardner, H. (1996). Multimedia and Multiple Intelligences.

http://www.prospect.org/print/V7/29/veenema-s.html

Glazer, E. (unknown). Instructional Models for Problem-Based Inquiry.

http://it.coe.uga.edu/%7Emorey/epltt/pbl.html

Day, S., & Edwards, B. (1996). Assistive Technology for Postsecondary Students with Learning Disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, Volume 29, Number 5, pp. 486-492.

http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/technology/postsecondary_tech.html