Special Topics: Emerging Learning Technologies
Course Description
One of the most frequently consulted publications when it comes to anticipating future trends and developments in the field of educational technology is the Horizon Report. In its 2018 issue, a broad panel of teachers, scholars and administrators identified several different trends that deserve focused attention such as Augmented and Mixed Reality, Open Educational Resources, Digital Badges, Learning Analytics and Artificial Intelligence. In this course, we will explore these and similar developments through discussions of relevant reports, articles, videos and podcasts. Explorations of these trends will occur through experiments with augmented reality, evaluating and creating Open Educational Resources and developing a proposal for a digital badge or micro-credential. The major project will involve the production of a digital research brief on a development of personal interest that can be used within the student’s respective context of professional work.
Course Objectives
- Analyze practices and principles pertaining to emerging technologies
- Experiment with various emerging learning technologies
- Create learning artifacts with emerging technologies and platforms
- Produce a web-based research brief that analyzes an emerging learning technology trend or issue
| Assignments & Grading | |
|---|---|
| Discussions | 10% |
| Open Educational Resource assignments (2x) | 20% |
| Augmented Reality (2x) | 20% |
| Digital Badge/Micro-Credential Proposal | 10% |
| Research Brief (Phases 1-3) | 35% |
| Course Reflection & Feedback | 5% |
Below are brief descriptions of the assignments. For more detailed guidelines, see the corresponding link in Blackboard.
Discussions (BB Discussion Forum)
Many of our course-related discussions in Blackboard, however, we will also use the web-based tool, Hypothesis as well. In general, I will provide you with some questions to respond to.
Open Educational Resource assignments
The increasing rise in costs of textbooks has been one of the factors that has sparked the emergent development known as Open Educational Resources (OER), which makes educational materials available for little to no cost. You will learn more about OER by first evaluating an OER and then remixing or creating an existing OER.
Augmented & Virtual Reality (AR/VR)
This will involve you experimenting with a minimum of two augmented reality or virtual reality apps and developing an analysis of that tool and its potential for learning by way of a series of questions provided by me.
Digital Badge/Micro-Credential Proposal
First developed between a collaboration between the Mozilla and MacArthur Foundations, Digital Badges and Micro-Credentials have gained recognition by the way in which they aim to meet people’s need to learn and demonstrate competency in a discrete skill or practice that they can then incorporate as part of a larger digital portfolio (e.g., applying for jobs). You will gain familiarity and experience with this emergent development by developing a short proposal for a digital badge or micro-credential relevant to your interests and/or the place where you work.
Research Brief
After learning about some of the key, emergent trends in educational technology, you will select one to investigate more deeply and write a short research brief geared towards learning technology professionals and/or executive decision-makers in your organization. The format of this brief will be web-based and make generous use of multi-media in a way similar to Educause Review or Edsurge.
Course Reflection & Feedback
Near the end of the course, you will write a short reflection on your learning experience and offer feedback on the course.
