1. Schooling in the age of computers
Week 1 (August 28)We open the course with an overview of the major themes of the course. In small discussion groups, we connect these themes to our own past experience and to our existing priorities as educators. We examine several case studies of how computers currently shape learning and schooling. This provides the occasion for introducing the reading journal and technobiography assignments. We will conclude by reflecting on how our discussion of computers and schooling challenges our assumptions (e.g. where is a school? what are its boundaries?) and surfaces essential questions about education.
Preparing for class
- Read over the syllabus. We'll go through it in class.
- Compete the assigned reading. This week's reading is a book, which is a lot but also not uncommon for a graduate course. Do you need to read every page? No. You should come to class ready to discuss the book's argument, and ready to present on one specific case study which you found interesting. In order to accomplish this most economically, I suggest reading the introduction (pp. 1-28) and the conclusion (pp. 339-353), and then skimming the beginning and end of each chapter to get a sense of what it's about. You'll want to be familiar with the concepts laid out in Chapter 1, Media Ecologies (pp. 29-78). Then focus on one particular chapter which feels interesting or relevant to your research and select a case study to share.
- We will each introduce ourselves in class. There will be some time to prepare, but you may want to think about what you'll say.
Agenda
| Act | Activities |
|---|---|
| I | Introductions, goal-setting |
| II | CS learning case studies; discuss reading; conceptual overview |
| III | Course logistics |