EDUC 870: Education Development and Technology
Spring 2017
Associate Professor
Department of EPRA / IE Program
/ Doctoral Candidate
Department of TECS / MSLT Program
Spring 2017: Tuesdays / 4:00 – 6:30PM / Library 720 / #educ870
T
oday, 124 million children are denied their human right to education (UNICEF, 2015) and many millions poor do not have access to high quality education (World Bank 2016; UNICEF 2016). Technology has the potential to reach and provide quality education to all children around the globe, however by itself it is not a panacea. Together, we’ll investigate how to harness the potentials of technological solutions while maximizing quality learning and socially just education.
Throughout the semester students will engage in team-based activities and discussions in order to critically examine the underlying theoretical assumptions regarding education technology inlow resource areasglobally. Studentswill engage in hands-on projects, applying theory to practice byexperimenting, innovating and leveragingtechnology resources at UMass Amherst.
Together, we’ll explore education technology in developing areas, challenge the affordances and limitations of digital tools, andseek out opportunities to maximize quality learning. In other words, it’s our mission to glean education from technology.
Course Objectives:
Through this course, students will learn to:
- Analyze the ever-changing landscape of education technology in global educational development
- Develop a solid theoretical framework to critically engage the intersection of education and technology
- Develop skills and practices to apply theory to practice through hands on activities in team based learning classroom maximizing Innovate@UMass Amherst’s curricula investements
- Leverage Professional Learning Networks (PLNs)for educational solutions in developing areas
- Apply critically relevant education technology solutions for low resourced educational contexts
- Collaboratively apply technology to addresseducation in developing areas or crisis and emergency setting(s)
Innovate@UMass Amherst
Based on the topic and curricular demands, this course is intentionallydesigned to fully use theExperimental Classroomlocated within the Du Bois Library. Here, we are involved in a large curricular movement known as innovate@UMass Amherst. This new learning environment providesadult learners, like ourselves, with an opportunity to engage in student-centered learning pedagogieswhile applycutting edge instructional tools.
This learning environment allows us to investigate technology within the UMass community. Examples of educational opportunities in this space may include such things as mobile app collaboration, hacking-for-education, real time collaboration with technology partners in the field, experimentation of technological solutions for quality education, among others.
This is a stark contrast to other places in the United States, low resource contexts domestically and globally,where basic human rights, including quality education are not accessible. This is a privileged opportunity for us to learn and engage our praxis-with-theory in a transformative and socially just manner.
Texts
Postman, N. (1992). Technopoly: the surrender of culture to technology. Vintage, New York, NY. / Huang, R., Kinshuk, & Price, J. K. (Eds.). (2016). ICT in Education in Global Context. Springer Berlin Heidelberg.Other Materials
Course materials and additional readings will be posted and assignments will be available via the UMassMoodle website at: (insert link here). If you are registered for the course, you should have access to the site; follow the directions on the login page.
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EDUC 870: Education Development and Technology
Spring 2017
Learning Assignments
International EdTechTheory / EdTech
Professional Learning Network (PLN) / International
EdTech Innovation
This assignment is designed to help you cultivate your epistimelogical and theoretical approachs to EdTech in developing settings.
- What theories are important and why?
- How do cluture, power, and technology connect?
- Describe practitioner applications
- What are your current resources
- How can you build digital resources?
- Curate and learn from peers
- What is the education challenge?
- Identify theoretical underpinnigns & practitioner solutions
- How can these be tested at UMass?
8 page APA cited research paper
Concept Map / Online discussion posts
Teleconferencew/PLN colleage / E-Portfolio
Digital Poster
20% of Grade
Instructor / 20% of Grade
Instructor/Peer / 60% of Grade
Instructor/Peer
Course Plan
Week / Topic / Readings / Activity | Event0 / EDUC 870 Team Connections / ----- / E-Introductions
Pre-class survey/biography
1 / Course Overview / Syllabus/Assignments
Develop PLN
2 / EdTech Theories / Theoretical Framework Overview
Group Activity
3 / EdTech by Global Region / Case Studies
4 / GIS & Education in Crisis
5 / Mobile Devices in Development
6 / OpenSource Technologies
7 / Social Media/Change in Development / Case Studies
8 / MakerSpace
9 / Digital Media
10 / EdTech Lessons Learned
10 / Future of EdTech in Development
12 / Teamwork / Team-time
13 / Digital Poster Session / ----- / 1-off meeting in Libr 025 (if possible)
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EDUC 870: Education Development and Technology
Spring 2017
Grading Procedures
Grade allocation is as follows. For details about each item, see the separate Assignments document (posted on the course website under Course Information). Assignments will be graded with number grades.Your final course grade will be determined as follows: A (94-100), A- (90-93), B+ (87-89), B (84-86), B-(80-83), C+(77-79), C (74-76), C- (70-73), U (below 70, unsatisfactory work, no credit awarded), W (withdrawn), and I (incomplete).
Course Policy
- Unless otherwise stated, all assignments must be completed by midnight on published due date.
- Assignments must be made up within one week, and will be accepted only at the instructor’s discretion. Students are advised that any late assignments will receive one grade lower than assignments passed in on time.
- If you encounter specific hardware or network problems that prohibit you from completing an assignment on time, contact the instructor immediately via telephone or email.
University Policies
Accommodation Policy
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is committed to providing an equal educational opportunity for all students. If you are in need of accommodation for a documented disability, register with Disability Services to have an accommodation letter sent to your faculty. It is your responsibility to initiate these services and to communicate with faculty ahead of time to manage accommodations in a timely manner. For more information, consult the
Disability Services website at
Academic Honesty
Since the integrity of the academic enterprise of any institution of higher education requires honesty in scholarship and research, academic honesty is required of all students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Academic dishonesty is prohibited in all programs of the University. Academic dishonesty includes but is not limited to: cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, and facilitating dishonesty. Appropriate sanctions may be imposed on any student who has committed an act of academic dishonesty. Instructors should take reasonable steps to address academic misconduct. Any person who has reason to believe that a student has committed academic dishonesty should bring such information to the attention of the appropriate course instructor as soon as possible. Instances of academic dishonesty not related to a specific course should be brought to the attention of the appropriate department Head or Chair. Since students are expected to be familiar with this policy and the commonly accepted standards of academic integrity, ignorance of such standards is not normally sufficient evidence of lack of intent. Follow the link below for detailed information on the Academic Honesty Policy
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