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York University
Graduate Proramme in Education

ED5607.03 Special Topics:

Issues in Digital Technology in Education

July 15 to August 9, 1996

Instructor:

Dr. Ron Owston
Ross S869
Internet: ROwston@YorkU.CA
Telephone: 416-736-5002 (office)

• About the course
• Course organization and participant responsibilities
• Electronic seminar themes
• Assignments
• Grading
• Suggestions for moderating an on-line conference
• Selected bibliography
• Research tools

See what students who completed the course had to say about the experience.

About the course

Digital technology permeates the lives of students and teachers almost everywhere: school systems typically have at least one computer for every 15 students, teachers participate in on-line computer conferences with colleagues, schools are clamoring to be linked worldwide with the Internet, and video games and home computers are increasingly a routine part of students' experiences. The impact of this technology is not without its consequences, however. In this course, the social and pedagogical implications arising from the use of digital technology in education will be critically examined. Special attention will be given to the impact of Internet-based technology, although all forms of digital technology will be considered. The course will be conducted through a combination of face-to-face meetings and on-line electronic seminars.

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Course organization and participant responsibilities

The course will be organized around on-line electronic seminar themes. As a participant, you will be responsible for moderating on-line one selected seminar throughout the course. In addition, you will elect to participate regularly in two additional seminars for the first half of the course. During the second half of the course, you will elect to participate in another two different seminars. Therefore, by the end of the course you will have participated in on-line discussions in a total of five different seminars. Although you will have formal responsibility for five seminars, you will be expected to participate on-line at least once weekly in the three remaining seminars for which you do not have formal responsibility.

Once a week, when face-to-face meetings are scheduled, you will be expected to lead a 15-20 minute presentation on your seminar theme. The presentation will include a summary of issues and ideas raised during the previous week's discussions on your theme and a progress report of your own research on your theme.

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Electronic seminar themes:


The digital future

Suggested discussion topics:

• What scenarios are being presented for the future of society and schools as a direct result of digital technology?
• Who will benefit and who will not in the digital world economy?
• How is the status quo threatened by digital technology?
• Will machines ever be able to think?

Initial readings:

Tapscott, Miller, Negroponte and Stoll, Gates (1), Gates (2), Auletta, Gilder, Negroponte, Mitchell

Digital technology and literacy

Suggested discussion topics:

• How is technology affecting what it means to be literate today?
• Are there any unique skills that are needed for on-line reading and writing?
• How does word processing affect writing?
• How does electronic communication (i.e., e-mail) different from traditional written communication in style, tone, structure, and mechanics?
• How does hypertext relate to critical theory and postmodern theory?

Initial readings:

Tuman et al, Bolter, Zuboff, Stoll, Lanham, Goldpaugh, Moulthrop, Postmodern Culture (electonic journal), Landow

Pedagogy of technology

Suggested topics:

• Is there a unique pedagogy of technology?
• If students become empowered by using technology in the classroom, what happens to the teacher's power and authority?
• What do constructivist learning theory, anchored instruction, and situated learning theory contribute to our understanding of classroom use of technology?
• Are there any attributes of electronic media that can result in unique learnings?
• Initial readings:

Initial readings:

Learning with media debate (Clark & Kozma), Hannafin, Norman, (situated learning) J. Lave, Resnick (distributed constructionism), computer supported learning environments, anchored instruction (Bransford et al), "celebrities" in cognitive science (Papert, Vygotsky, et al)

Societal barriers, equity, and access to technology

Suggested topics:

• What are the barriers to online access and use?
• What evidence is there that we are evolving into society of technological "haves" and "have nots?"
• Many purport that on-line communication is gender and race neutral? Is this the case?

Initial readings:

Apple, Bowers, Provenzo, Postman, Haraway, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Balsamo, Hodas

Censorship, power and control

Suggested topics:

• Should the Internet be censored and regulated? If so, by whom and how could it be accomplished?
• What strategies are open to a teacher or parent wanting to control what a child accesses on the Internet?
• Over the last year the commercial world has "discovered" the Internet. What are the implications for education of the commercial takeover?
• What role to Internet Newsgroups play in mass communication?
• What is the meaning of publishing in the electronic age?

Initial readings:

Hodas, Apple, Bowers, Postman, This is Not a Paper (Burbules & Bruce), Lyon, Wexelblat, Electronic Frontier Foundation, TechWatch

Virtual communities

Suggested topics:

• What is a virtual community and what kinds presently exist? Can they substitute for a "real" community?
• What benefits can a virtual community offer that a "real" one cannot and vice versa?
• How is the emergence of virtual communities affecting human interaction?
• Role playing and gender swapping on the Internet

Initial readings:

Rheingold, Harasim, Owen, Owston, & Dickie, Johmann

Future of the university

Suggested topics:

• Post secondary education was founded
• How will the rise of "virtual universities" affect traditional universities?
• What is the future role of the professor?
• Can the quality of post secondary education be maintained if courses are delivered electronically?
• How prevalent are on-line university courses today?

Initial readings:

Noam, Educom Review, NLII, SFU Telelearning, Owston

K-12 education in the digital world

Suggested topics:

• How does the rise of the Internet challenge k-12 schools?
• The Internet has given home schooling a boost. Is this trend likely to erode public schooling?
• A relatively small proportion of teachers have had specific training in the use of technology and faculties of education have been slow to provide training to new teachers. Is a this a disservice to the profession?
• What are the implications of the Internet for the curriculum and textbooks?
• How are leading edge schools capitalizing on the capacities of the Internet?
• Initial readings:

Initial readings:

Gates (1), Gates (2), Owen, Owston, & Dickie, TeleEd Proceedings, Harris, Papert, Norman, Owston

Informal learning with digital technology

Suggested topics:

• What contribution do video games make to children's learning?
• What values do they teach?
• How are women portrayed in video games?
• How can the schools compete with the excitement and multimedia experience of video games?
• Manufacturers of electronic devices play a major role in education. Describe this role and its implications.

Initial readings:

Chandler, Turkle, Provenzo, Papert, Norman, Cesarone, Stallabras

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Assignments

1. A major formal report on your main seminar theme. This report should be a synthesis of your thinking and reading on the theme. You will be expected to have used the Internet for some of your research, through a combination of searching bibliographic databases, reading on-line articles, participating in Internet newsgroups, using e-mail, or doing electronic surveys. You should begin the report with a clear statement of the problem or issue being discussed, including the limitations and scope of your discussion. Then you should outline the methodology you used in researching your topic. You should next critically discuss the major trends or subthemes pertinent to your topic. All sources, including on-line references, should be fully cited using APA style. DUE AUGUST 9TH.

2. Mini-reports on each of the other four conference themes you selected. These reports are to be relatively brief (3 to 4 pages) and informal. They should reflect your personal thoughts and ideas on the topics. DUE JULY 26TH, AUGUST 9TH.

3. Select excerpts of the best on-line contributions you believe you made during the course and copy them into a file. Make sure the context of the contributions is clear by the content of the excerpt, or if it is not, add a brief note explaining the context. Submit this file to the instructor ON AUGUST 9TH.

Note: All assignments are to be submitted electronically as FirstClass mail attachments.

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Grading

Your final grade will be awarded as follows:

Major report - 40%

Mini-reports (4 @ 10%) - 40%

On-line contributions - 10%

Overall on-line and class participation - 10%

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Research Tools

The following links will take you to tools that you may find useful in researching your seminar themes:

• York University's library
• ERIC - The best single source for locating educational articles and reports. Some of these links do not work too well because they are experimental. If you have the TN3270 browser tool try at the University of Florida. This is my favourite way of searching ERIC. When you reach there, type LUIS, then enter choice 19, followed by choice 18.
• A good list of search engines (from Lawrence Publications)
• MetaCrawler at the University of Washington- a search engine of search engines
  

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