Description
The Design of Technology-Supported Learning Environments is an online seminar examining research and related exemplary participatory, networked media tools, as these inform the design of technology-mediated environments. We will explore constructivist and cultural theories of mind, education, digital authoring and communication and their significance for the design of dynamic pedagogical environments that support 21C modes of making, sharing, literacies and learning. Students will author and share digital artifacts and collaboratively design a technology-supported learning environment.
ETEC 510 requires participants (a) to engage reflexively with academic literature concerning Digital Media, Pedagogical Spaces, Constructionist theory, the Design of Spaces for Learning, and emerging scholarship on AI/GenAI and Social Media, as well as (b) to author various digital artifacts, including the production of a digital story, experimentation with a digital tool/platform of their choice and the production, as part of a collaborative group, of a “proof of concept” technology-supported environment for learning. This course will support participants’ development of expertise, experience and comfort with the area of academic research concerning Digital Media, Pedagogical Spaces, and the Design of Spaces for Learning as well as with using digital authoring and interactive making and sharing of digital artifacts.
Learning Objectives
At the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Critically reflect on how models of technology integration and learning theories relate to the development and implementation of information and communications technology (ICT) based learning experiences.
- Apply principles of User Experience (UX) Design to the implementation of ICT-based learning experiences.
- Propose technology-enabled solutions to a range of challenges across different educational contexts and justify choices made in the selection and design of ICT-based learning experiences based on academic literature.
- Explore a range of educational media and apply principles of design thinking to plan learning experiences appropriate to specific educational contexts.
- Develop a collaborative learning environment, including considerations for informal learning, gamification, AI/genAI, self-paced tutorials, distance education and social media tools.
Activities
In this course, you will be expected to use, individually, and sometimes in groups, the discussion forums on the course site to discuss keywords that anchor the primary arguments and threads discussed in the readings and module interactivities. These keyword discussion groups will provide you with an opportunity to share your knowledge, to seek feedback from fellow students as well as your instructor on your ideas, and to ask for help when you need it. In addition, students will engage in experiential learning via playful design with a selected digital tool or platform. Finally, students will participate in a group-based project whose primary aim is the production of a “proof of concept” digital artifact/tool for a technology-supported learning environment. This project is broken into several steps that will unfold over the duration of the course and culminate in synchronous presentations, where each group will be invited to share and demonstrate their work.
Course modules include:
- Module 1 – Course Introduction: Media Education for the 21st Century
- Module 2 – Designing Educational Futures, Now
- Module 3 – Designs for Thinking, Designs for Making
- Module 4 – Inclusion by Design
- Module 5 – Designs for Online and Hybrid Learning Environments
- Module 6 – Designs for Serious Play
- Module 7 – Teaching, Learning, and Social Media
- Module 8 – Technology, Design, and AI/GenAI Futures
Readings & Resources
This course uses academic texts and articles, as well as case studies, online videos, and other online reference materials, along with facilitated online discussions, group work, and iterative assignment work to reach course outcomes.
Examples of required readings and resources
- Couldry, N. (2024). The space of the world: Can human solidarity survive social media and what if it can’t? Polity Press.
- Jenkins, H. (2009). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century. MIT Press.
- Kalantzis, M. & Cope, B. (2010). (1996). The teacher as designer: Pedagogy in the new media age. E-learning and Digital Media, 7(3), 200-222.
- New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 60-92.
- Suchman, L. (2023). The uncontroversial ‘thingness’ of AI. Big Data & Society, 10(2) https://doi.org/10.1177/20539517231206794
- Walters, A., Ammari, T., Garimella, K., & Jhaver, S. (2024). Online knowledge production in polarized political memes: The case of critical race theory. New Media & Society, 27(9), 4997–5021. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448241252591
Assignments & Assessment
During the course, in addition to participating in the discussion forums, you will complete two assignments that ask you to engage with the design of technology supported learning environments: A ‘playing with design’ assignment that involves experimenting with a digital tool or platform, and a group-based collaborative project that will unfold in multiple steps.
- Weekly Keyword Entries (30%)
- Playing with Design (15%)
- Design Project Phase 1 – Proposal (10%)
- Design Project Phase 2 – Curriculum User Guide Draft (0%)
- Design Project Phase 2 – Group Feedback for Curriculum User Guide Draft (5%)
- Design Project Phase 3 – Synchronous Presentations for designed objects (5%)
- Design Project Phase 4 – Final Project Submission (including completed Curriculum User Guide) (30%)
- Design Project Phase 5 – Individual Self-reflection (5%)
Minor course topics, activities, readings/resources, and assignment details may change from year to year.