Instructional Technology

Catalog description

What does it mean to integrate technology into instruction? What is “technology”? Is it limited to the latest digital devices – computers, tablets, smartphones, and 3D printers? Or is it something more broad – the tools we use to augment spaces and practices for teaching and learning? We may agree that a laptop is a technology, but what about the technical innovations that enchanted policymakers, school leaders, and teachers of the past: moveable desks, overhead projectors, personal chalkboards, bell-schedules, or pencils? Even if we were to resolve these tensions, we are still left with the question of “integration.” What is it we integrate when we bring technologies into schools and classrooms? Are we integrating tools to be pedagogical resources – that is, as instruments to aid in making instruction more efficient or effective? Or are we integrating them to keep up with the demands of a changing world – one where students are expected to be prepared for “jobs that don’t yet exist” or to adapt to shifting standards for college- and career-readiness? How we answer such questions will undoubtedly shape our approach to technological integration. This module is designed as a shared inquiry into such questions and the beliefs and assumptions that condition our own (and others’) ways of addressing them. It involves exploration and analysis of historical and contemporary ideas about instructional technology, as well as the development of practical applications for such theories. Our focus will be on K—12 contexts; however, we will also consider how relevant experiences and practices with technologies outside of schools are related to what happens within.