Syllabus

Course Textbooks

• The Jossey-Bass Reader on Technology and Learning. 2000. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Burbules, N. C., & Callister, T. A. (2000). Watch It: The Risks and Promises of Information Technologies for Education. Westview Press.
• Reiser, R. A., & Dempsey, J. W. (2002). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall.

Course Schedule

Course Requirements and Grading Criteria

Course Grades will be based on the following five types of activities:

1. Leading Class Discussion on Daily Topic: 30%
2. Position Paper: 25%
3. Show and Critique Presentation: 15%
4. Book/Paper Review: 15%
5. Class Discussion: 15%

Because many of the current materials relevant to Instructional Systems and Technology are located on the Internet, access to the Internet and e-mail is important to class participation. Weekly class session have several web sites with related materials.

Leading of Class Discussion

Schedule of Topics and Teams for Fall 2002

The purpose of this requirement is encourage the presentation of different perspectives on the topics for the week, to encourage class discussion, and to involve each student in the key ideas and issues related to instructional technology. Depending upon the number of students in the class, these discussions may be lead by a group of two to four students. This possibility will be discussed in class.

Please note: The purpose of this assignment is class discussion--not an individual or group presentation of ideas in the course readings. The challenge is to encourage conversation and even debate about the ideas in the Instructional Systems and Technology literature.

These activities are not easy to evaluate since different people can use different styles for presenting ideas and encouraging class discussion. The following aspects will be important to consider. However, in-class discussion will be used to establish the criteria that the class wishes to have applied to these weekly discussions lead by a class member.

• Initial presentation of key ideas from the readings.
• Evidence of drawing on resources outside of the assigned class readings.
• Raising questions about the courese readings, such as:

• inconsistencies in the readings,
• questions raised (but not answered) by the readings,
• ideas mentioned by authors that require fuller explanation,
• omission of ideas considered relevant.

• Respectful inclusion of opinions from other class members.
• Use of relevant media (Internet, computer software, presentation tools) to clarify or illustrate key ideas. 

Criteria for Discussion Leading

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Position Paper

The purpose of the position paper assignment is to allow you to explore, in depth, an issue of your choice related to instructional technology. You can align this topic with both your Book Review and with the topic of your Discussion Group. Midway through the semester, your topic choice and initial outline will be shared with one other class member for review and feedback. The key question to be critiqued by a classmember is the clarity of the issue topic you have chosen. At least two different perspectives on the issue need to be apparent in your topic description. After this review, your topic and intial outline should be placed at the class WebCT site so that all of the topic choices can be shared with the class.

You final Position Paper should include citations from three major sources:

• Foundational literature in the field of Instructional Systems and Technology, such as research handbooks, single-authored books, edited reading compilations, and enclopedia articles specific to the field.
• Refereed periodicaly literature specific to the field and available in paper form.
• Web-based literature specific to the field and selected using criteria for judging accuracy, quality of scholarship, credientials of author(s), and timeliness.

In order to allow the entire class to benefit from the thinking and different perspectives of all class members, the basic organization of these papers in the form of concept maps will be placed on a Class of Fall 2002 Website at the end of the semester. This activity will be discussed more fully in class.

Scoring position papers on a variety of topics is a difficult task. Consequently, the following criteria will be used to guide decision making for assigning grades. Scoring will be on a 6-point scale for each category.

The criteria used for evaluating these papers are summarized online and will be discussed in class.

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Show and Critique Presentation

The extreme public interest in using technology for a variety of purposes (business, entertainment, learning) has made instructional uses of technology more visible in the media, in public school settings, and in industry training activities. The purpose of this activity is to capture some of this current activity, to recognize the diverse experiences and interests of class members, and to encourage class members to apply a critical perspective to what they hear about, read in the newspapers, or see being implemented in their work settings.

At least once during the quarter, each class member should bring to class an example of how instructional uses of technology is being currently portrayed in the media, in their school or other work setting, or in any other public site. These "show and critique" items will be presented orally for class discussion. The following brief summary should be presented orally and submitted in writing by uploading to the WebCT course website.

Notice in the criteria below that your interpretation of the item and linking of this experience to class readings is more important than the event itself, interesting as this event may be!

1. Description of the experience, article, or event observed. (5 points)
2. Relation of the incident to current class readings. (10 points)
3. Perspective implicit in the incident (such as unstated assumptions; interests represented. persons or groups affected) (15 points)
4. Your perspective on what this incident implies about the educational impact of technology. (10 points)

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Book/Paper Review

One purpose of this course is to prepare graduate students to pass the preliminary and final examinations in their programs by having a command of the fundamental literature in the field of Instructional Systems and Technology. To this end, this book/paper review assignment is intended to encourage wide reading in this field, and to give students a choice in what they read. You may use the resources identifed in class and on the course Bibliography to find a book or substantial report to read in its entirety. This material should be related to your Position Paper topic so that you can make double use of this assignment.

Check the book or paper of your choice with the instructor before making a final selection.

The book/paper review should be posted to the entire class on the WebCT course website. Samples of book reviews can be found in many professional journal, such as ETRD and the AERA journals. Further, Education Review is an electronic journal publishing reviews of recent books in education. The Education Review has published over 400 reviews since its inceptionin 1998. All reviews are freely accessible on the internet at
http://coe.asu.edu/edrev/. Needless to say, these particular books are not ones to choose for review, unfortunately. Here is another sample of a book review about the book The Complete Computer Trainer by Paul Clothier.

Criteria used to evaluate book reviews will be discussed and amended or annotated in class..

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In-Class Participation

This class is intended to develop contrasting opinions, stimulate debate, and challenge commonly help beliefs. Every class member's ideas are important to our discussion of how technology is being used to support learning. To encourage the full participation and sharing of ideas for students within the context of our class, it is important that everybody:

• read the assigned papers;
• discuss issues relating to the readings; and,
• enter class with an open mind ready to share ideas with class members;
• show respectful attention and responsiveness to the ideas shared.

Class discussion, both during class sessions and outside of class through use of the class Listserv and WebCT, will be considered within the final course grade, and you will be asked to evaluate your own class participation at the end of the course. These online criteria will be used

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