The Role of Technology in Learning in the 21st Century
Course Number: 05-438 (undergraduate) and 05-838 (graduate)
Day/Time:
Tuesdays and Thursdays 12pm to 1:20pm (Spring 2011)
Location: GHC 4301
Units:
12
Books: See below
Instructor:
Prof.
Matthew Kam (Human-Computer Interaction Institute)
Newell Simon Hall, Room 3525
Office Hours: Tuesdays 2:30pm to 3:30pm, and by appointment
Prerequisites:
This course targets juniors, seniors and graduate students in computer science,
psychology and other disciplines interested in improving education using
technology. Undergraduates who have not reached junior standing may enroll with
the instructor's permission.
Course Summary
Computing is increasingly harnessed to address pressing educational challenges of the 21st century: under-performing inner-city schools, integrating immigrants into the school system, irregular school attendance in rural developing regions, and women empowerment in the developing world. For educational technology solutions to be effective, however, their designs will in turn have to be informed by theories and prior research on how people learn. In this course, we will cover theory and practical applications of the Learning Sciences, Educational Technology and Human-Computer Interaction. These concepts will be framed around the above authentic problems, so as to help students fully appreciate the real-world relevance of the major theories behind how people learn.
This course is open to all undergrads and grad students, with technical or non-technical backgrounds. It aims to prepare students to become leaders who can effectively spearhead innovations on classroom, workplace and/or lifelong learning in their future careers. By the end of the course, students will (i) have acquired a broad overview of the major learning theories, (ii) learn how to apply these theories to design and evaluate systems that target pressing educational challenges in today's world, and (iii) be sufficiently informed about how state-of-the-art educational technologies are impacting learning in the 21st century.
Deliverables and Grading
The course will not be graded on a curve. Each undergraduate (or graduate) student will be graded on the extent to which his or her deliverables meet the expectations of good quality work for an undergraduate (or graduate) course.
Class attendance and participation is important. Learning theories are often abstract for students to grasp. We will therefore use class time to make these theories more concrete for students through demos. Interactive classroom activities will provide the instructor with more feedback on how well students are understanding the material, and the opportunity to give students more real-time coaching. Since class time is a scarce resource that should be used to help students better understand key concepts, students are expected to show up in class having already completed the assigned readings.
Students will work in teams on semester-length design projects to tackle educational problems of their choice, on platforms such as cellphones, interactive videos or gaming (Nintendo's Wii/DS/$10 TV-Computer). Students will apply some of the learning theories covered in class to their projects. The instructor will provide technical support for students who wish to prototype for the cellphone platform. Students who are interested in prototyping on other platforms should be reasonably confident about acquiring the necessary technical skills, and will be expected to acquire these skills on their own. Students are required to present project milestones in class and a public demo session at the end of the semester.
Students will also work on short individual assignments that allow them to enhance their understanding of the course material. Students will apply concepts from the course to examine existing solutions such as Sesame Street, The Electric Company, Leapfrog's literacy gadgets and the $100 laptop. These review exercises will take the form of short (i.e. 2-3 pages) write-ups. Students will also apply these concepts to provide other project teams with constructive feedback on their projects. Such feedback will again the take form of short (i.e. 1-2 pages) write-ups. Finally, students will be required to make class presentations on special topics. This lecture exercise provides students with the opportunity to delve more deeply into a topic that they are interested in, and to relate the topic to the course material.
The breakdown of the final grade is as follows:
20% Class attendance and participation
35% Individual assignments
45% Team project
Textbooks
Required: How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. John D. Bransford, Ann L. Brown, and Rodney R. Cocking (Eds.). Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1999. E-Text available for free on National Academies Press.
Optional: Efficient Learning for the Poor: Insights From the Frontier of Cognitive Neuroscience. Helen Abadzi. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank, Directions in Development Series, 2006. E-Text available for free on Google Books.
Schedule
January 11, 2011 - The Case for Technology in Education
Reading:
There Are No Technology Shortcuts to Good Education. Kentaro Toyama. In edutechdebate.org, January 6, 2011. (article)
January 13, 2011 - Mobile Phones and Language Literacy in Rural Developing Regions
Reading:
Designing E-Learning Games for Rural Children in India: A Format for Balancing Learning with Fun. Matthew Kam, Aishvarya Agarwal, Anuj Kumar, Siddhartha Lal, Akhil Mathur, Anuj Tewari, and John Canny. In Proceedings of ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS '08), Cape Town, South Africa, February 25-27, 2008. (paper)
January 18, 2011 - Primary Schooling for the Poor in South Asia
Readings:
The Beautiful Tree: A Personal Journey Into How the World's Poorest People are Educating Themselves. James Tooley. Washington, D.C.: Cato Institute, 2009.
Chapter 1: A Discovery in India ...
Chapter 2: ... That Was No Discovery After All
Imagining India: The Idea of a Renewed Nation. Nandan Nilekani. New York: The Penguin Press, 2009.
Chapter "S is for Schools: The Challenges in India's Classrooms", pp. 172-194.
Optional readings:
The Beautiful Tree: A Personal Journey Into How the World's Poorest People are Educating Themselves. James Tooley. Washington, D.C.: Cato Institute, 2009.
Chapter 4: The Shifting Goalposts, Ghana
Chapter 6: A Kenyan Conundrum -- and Its Solution
Chapter 7: Poor Ignoramuses
January 20, 2011 - Survey of Educational Technologies in the Developing World
Reading:
Information and Communication Technologies for Employability in India. Ayan Kishore. Term paper for graduate-level HCI4D seminar class, Spring 2009.
Optional readings:
Transforming Schools with Technology: How Smart Use of Digital Tools Help Achieve Six Key Educational Goals. Andrew A. Zucker. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard Education Press, 2008.
Metasurvey on the Use of Technologies in Education in Asia and the Pacific. Glen Farrell and Cedric Wachholz (Editors). Bangkok, Thailand: UNESCO Bangkok, 2003.
Chapter from Part II: An Overview of Developments and Trends in the Application of Information and Communication Technologies in Education
Chapter from Part II: Gender-Based Issues and Trends in ICT Applications in Education in Asia and the Pacific
National Focus Group on Educational Technology.
Position paper. New Delhi, India: National Council of Educational Research and Training,
2006.
January 25, 2011 - Project Checkpoint I
January 27, 2011 - How Experts Differ from Novices
Readings:
How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. John D. Bransford, Ann L. Brown, and Rodney R. Cocking (Eds.). Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1999.
Chapter 1: Learning: From Speculation to Science
Chapter 2: How Experts Differ from Novices
Optional readings:
Efficient Learning for the Poor: Insights From the Frontier of Cognitive Neuroscience. Helen Abadzi. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank, Directions in Development Series, 2006.
Overview
Chapter 1: The Pedagogy of Poverty
February 1, 2011 - Prior Knowledge I
Readings:
How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. John D. Bransford, Ann L. Brown, and Rodney R. Cocking (Eds.). Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1999.
Chapter 10: Conclusions
Optional readings:
How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. John D. Bransford, Ann L. Brown, and Rodney R. Cocking (Eds.). Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1999.
Chapter 9: Technology to Support Learning
February 3, 2011 - Prior Knowledge II
Readings:
TBA portions from Pratham's Annual Status of Education Report nation-wide survey
February 8, 2011 - Memory and Learning
Readings:
Working Memory: Looking Back and Looking Forward. Alan Baddeley. In Neuroscience, 4 (10), 2003: 829?9.
Optional readings:
Efficient Learning for the Poor: Insights From the Frontier of Cognitive Neuroscience. Helen Abadzi. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank, Directions in Development Series, 2006.
Chapter 3: Nervous System Linkages with School Performance
Chapter 4: Memory and Basic Skills Acquisition
February 10, 2011 - Constructivism
Readings:
How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. John D. Bransford, Ann L. Brown, and Rodney R. Cocking (Eds.). Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1999.
Chapter 4: How Children Learn
Constructivist Learning Environments: Case Studies in Instructional Design. Brent. G. Wilson (Ed.). Edgewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Educational Technology Publications, 1996.
Chapter 1: What is a Constructivist Learning Environment?
Chapter 2: Seven Goals for the Design of Constructivist Learning Environments.
Optional readings:
Constructivism: A Psychological Theory of Learning. Catherine Twomey Fosnot and Randall Stewart Perry. In C. T. Fosnot (Ed.), Constructivism: Theory, Perspectives, and Practice. New York: Teachers College Press, 2005.
Short review exercise I due
February 15, 2011 - Project Checkpoint II
February 17, 2011 - Conceptual Understanding vis-a-vis Automaticity
Readings:
TBA
February 22, 2011 - Learning and Transfer
Readings:
How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. John D. Bransford, Ann L. Brown, and Rodney R. Cocking (Eds.). Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1999.
Chapter 3: Learning and Transfer
February 24, 2011 - Instructional Design
Readings:
How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. John D. Bransford, Ann L. Brown, and Rodney R. Cocking (Eds.). Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1999.
Chapter 6: The Design of Learning Environments
Optional readings::
Efficient Learning for the Poor: Insights From the Frontier of Cognitive Neuroscience. Helen Abadzi. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank, Directions in Development Series, 2006.
Chapter 8: The Cognitive Effects of Classroom Events
Chapter 10: Use and Wastage of Instructional Time
Chapter 11: A Textbook for Every Children to Take Home
Chapter 12: Improving Instructional Support
March 3, 2011 - Project Checkpoint III
March 8, 2011 - No class due to Spring Break
March 10, 2011 - No class due to Spring Break
March 15 - STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)
Readings:
How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. John D. Bransford, Ann L. Brown, and Rodney R. Cocking (Eds.). Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1999.
Chapter 7: Effective Teaching: Examples in History, Mathematics, and Science
March 17, 2011 - Reading Literacy
Readings:
Efficient Learning for the Poor: Insights From the Frontier of Cognitive Neuroscience. Helen Abadzi. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank, Directions in Development Series, 2006.
Chapter 5: Literacy Acquisition and the Biology of Reading
More TBA
Short review exercise II due
March 22, 2011 - Bilingualism
Readings:
Efficient Learning for the Poor: Insights From the Frontier of Cognitive Neuroscience. Helen Abadzi. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank, Directions in Development Series, 2006.
Chapter 6: Why Mother-Tongue Instruction Improves Achievement
More TBA
March 24, 2011 - Dual Channel Theory and Multimedia Learning
Readings:
Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning. Richard Mayer. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Chapter 3: Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning.
The Cambridge Handbook of Visuospatial Thinking. Priti Shah and Akira Miyake (Editors). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Chapter 12: Multimedia Learning: Guiding Visuospatial Thinking with Instructional Animation.
March 29, 2011 - Reading in the Content Areas
Optional readings:
Integrating Instruction: Literacy and Science. Judy McKee and Donna Ogle. The Guilford Press, 2005.
Chapter 3: Integrating Science and Language in Science Units.
March 31, 2011 - Project Checkpoint IV
April 5, 2011 - Student Presentation on Sesame Street
Short review exercise III due
April 7, 2011 - Guest Lecture by Michael Trucano from the World Bank
April 12, 2011 - Guest Lecture on cognitive tutors by Prof. Albert Corbett
April 14, 2011 - No class due to Spring Carnival
April 19, 2011 - Student Presentations on Multiple Mice Computer and Talking Pen
April 21, 2011 - Student Presentation on Digital Study Hall
April 26, 2011 - Guest Lecture by Anthony Bloome from the US Agency for International Development
April 28, 2011 - Poster and demo session