cse 619 syllabus summer 2012_620

7/31/2019 CSE 619 Syllabus Summer 2012_620

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Zobel/CSE619/Summer2012

University Mission: Western Oregon University is a comprehensive university that createspersonalized learning opportunities, supports the advancement of knowledge for the public goodand maximizes individual and professional development. Our environment is open to theexchange of ideas, where discovery, creativity and critical thinking flourish, and studentssucceed.

Western Oregon University

Division of Teacher Education

CSE 619: Big Thinkers in Educational Technology

Summer Term 2012

Online

This syllabus is subject to adjustment and changes at any time.

Instructor: Dr. Gregory Zobel Phone: 503-838-8728

Office: ED 238 Email: [email protected] Hours: Wed 10-4 &By arrangement.*

*I make every effort to be available to students. You are welcome to drop by my office if you have questions or need

to talk to me. I am also happy to schedule appointments, in-person, via Skype, Google+, or Gmail Chat at mutually

convenient times for you and me to meet. Communication between students and faculty is important. Please keep me

informed if for some reason you are experiencing difficulties with the class and I will do my best to work with you to

overcome them.

TeachingPhilosophy:Learning is one of the most exciting processes and experiences on the planet. My role is

to purposefully and meaningfully guide you through a dizzying array of information,media, resources, tools, experiences, and opinions to abet your developing the skills,

insights, theories, and perspectives you need to optimally employ technology to supportyour educational mission and goals. I also hope to help sustain and grow your passion for

learning, teaching, writing, and research.

CourseDescription:ED 619: Big Thinkers in Educational Technology Instructional Design (3) This seminar focuses on reading classic texts and groundbreaking recent texts in the field

of technology. Readings vary by term, focusing on themes such as media and culture,emerging technologies, technology in education, etc. Students should expect to read 3-5

books each term.


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Zobel/CSE619/Spring2012

TableofContents

TeachingPhilosophy:......................................................................................................................1

CourseDescription:.................................................................................................................1

AbouttheCourse......................................................................................................................2

HowThisCourseisTaught............................................................................................................2RequiredTexts...................................................................................................................................3CourseLearningGoalsandObjectives.......................................................................................3CourseOutcomesandCourseDeliverables.............................................................................4AbouttheDeliverables...................................................................................................................4

CourseManagement................................................................................................................5TechnologyProblems......................................................................................................................5LateWork,FamilyEmergencies,Illness,andOtherProblems..........................................5SampleWork&Assignments........................................................................................................6

AssessmentMethods...............................................................................................................6Grading.................................................................................................................................................6

OnlineDiscussions...........................................................................................................................6GuidelinesforaSuccessfulOnlineCourse...............................................................................6WhatYouCanExpectofMeasYourInstructor......................................................................7PlagiarismPolicy..............................................................................................................................8WOUStudentSupportServicesAvailable.................................................................................8

ClassCalendar...........................................................................................................................8

Assignments...............................................................................................................................9Foundation:Participation..............................................................................................................9Writing..................................................................................................................................................9FiveBlogPosts:40%(400points[80points/post)...........................................................10DigitalCitizenship:30%(300points)....................................................................................11ThreePersuasiveLetters:30%(300points).......................................................................12

TheTechnology:GettingSetUp.......................................................................................12 Privacy...............................................................................................................................................12

AbouttheCourse

HowThisCourseisTaughtThis is an online course with no meetings at WOU. The course may include a variety ofreadings, videos, podcasts, online demonstrations, activities, assignments, and/or onlinediscussions. Although there is some flexibility because it is an online course, students are

expected to keep up with the readings and respond to discussion questions in a timelymanner. Otherwise the online discussions are not effective. Please pay attention to posted

deadlines.


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This course will be taught as a series of different readings introduced each week. Newtopics will be posted by 8:00 am each Tuesday. All initial discussion responses are due

no later than Saturday evening by midnight. Responses to posts by other students are dueby midnight on Monday. All other assignments are due by Monday night at midnight.

You will be expected to log in to check discussions and other announcements several

times each week.

RequiredTexts

In order to complete this course, you will need to acquire these four books. The books areavailable online from diverse booksellers; Amazon is used simply because it provides all

the information you need to order a copy of the book. The WOU Bookstore also hascopies of these books.

Gleick, James: The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood

Levy, Steven: In the PlexMorville & Callender: Search Patterns

Vaidhyanathan, Siva: The Googlization of Everything (and why we should worry)[updated edition]

CourseLearningGoalsandObjectives

LearningGoals LearningObjectivesBe familiar with key issues

related to technology and

educational technology.

Know key issues central to the topic and practiceof search;

Know key concerns in relating to information, itsproliferation, and its potential impacts oneducation;

Understand Googles power and influence in therealm of search and our ability to handle

information;

Participate as a public

intellectual in the

blogosphere.

Know how to research, read, and respond toauthors in an ethical manner;

Understand how blogging differs from face-to-

face, forums, or micro-messagingcommunications;

Be able to state the costs and benefits of workingin a public as well as a walled environment.

Develop writing

confidence and power. Write over 3,700 words in six weeks;

Post in and participate in a class blog;

Author a total of three persuasive and professional


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pieces for supervisors, colleagues, and the general

public.

Read, review, and respond to colleagues writingsin a professional and constructive manner;

Practice the multi-stage drafting approach in

writing blog posts and letters.

CourseOutcomesandCourseDeliverablesOnce you have completed this course, you will have:

Generated a public facing class blog which you can use for professional and/or personalgoals;

Participated in multiple ongoing threads and conversations;

Understood the mechanics of maintaining a blog and working with multiple users on ablog;

Understood the elements of contributing in an online blogging community;

Authored, organized, and revised multiple posts on a theme;

Produced at least 3,700 words of writing;

Improved your writing, research, and revising skills so that capstone exams, theses, and

projects are much more accessible and much less intimidating;

Generated multiple persuasive documents that you can revise and/or submit for

publication.

Additionally, you will have completed the following deliverables that comprise your grade:

TheDeliverables

Five Blog Posts (500 word minimum) 40%

Practice Digital Citizenship, i.e. contribute relevant online resources, comment

on peers posts, and upgrade/improve the course blog weekly.

30%

Three Persuasive Letters to Supervisors, Colleagues, and the General Public 30%

For more specific information about each of the deliverables, please refer to the Assignment

section below.

AbouttheDeliverablesWhy is there so much emphasis on writing?

Writing is an essential tool for communicating. While multimedia have continued to

grow in importance, virtually all policy, hiring, and funding decisions are made viaalphabetic text on paper products: hard copies of writing. Writing is an important andintegral tool for communicating in your future role as technological evangelist, tech-using

teacher, instructional designer, or independent author, consultant, and media creator.

The MS:EdIT program also requires some significant writing performances in order tocomplete the program. You will eitherwrite a thesis, write a final project, create an


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online portfolio that features yourwriting, orwrite comprehensive exams. No matterhow you look at it, you will do a lot ofwriting.

CourseManagement

ClassAssignmentsandExpectations;NoLateWorkAccepted

Complete assigned readings and explore relevant resources weekly and be prepared toactively write, post, and respond to issues raised in these readings. Simply cranking out a

single draft or posting thoughts off of the top of your head is notbest practice, nor will itearn you the grade that you are capable of earning. Brainstorm, draft, revise, pause,

revise, and THEN post. The blog posts and comments in this class are not meant to befinal drafts, but they are not meant to be first drafts either. All of your posted, public

writing should be thoughtful and decently organized content that addresses the promptand/or readings and shows respect for the reader and author.

All assignments are due on the date listed. NO EXCEPTIONS. Late work is NOTaccepted. Why? If you show up late for an interview a day late, if you submit yourcontracted publication a week late, or if you go to see the World Cup a month late you

will face the same result: people will be confused, upset, or unwilling to work with you.Deadlines exist for a reason.

TechnologyProblems

Technology is NOT an excuse to not meet your deadlines. You should always havebackup, cloud based or thumb drive or what have you. Invariably, other people around

you will or should have computers. As an educational technologist in training, it is your

responsibility and duty to determine multiple workarounds and solutions in case things gobad or get weird. Why? Technology always does weird stuff at some of the worst times.For example, I wrote part of this syllabus on a borrowed computer. Im storing files in

Gmail and DropBox and several hard drives. I know that if the university network goesdown (which it did last Sunday) that I can go to Koyotes off campus to get WiFi. Back

up plans, data storage, and working devices are all important.

If you literally live in the Alaskan Bush, like some of our students do, or if there is onlyone hard line for data in/out of your area, let me know at the start of the term. Alerting

me to potential problems ahead of time makes it much easier on all of us if an eventoccurs.

LateWork,FamilyEmergencies,Illness,andOtherProblems

If you think there is going to be a problem meeting a due date or deadline, please contactme immediately. Keeping me in the dark does not help either one of us. Letting me

knowbriefly, efficiently, and without too many personal detailsthat your life has afew bumps will go a long way in relieving stress for all of us.


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If you have a family emergency, simply email me that with estimated date(s) and time(s)this will impact you and when you think life will become normal again. I do not need nor

want doctors notes, detailed descriptions, nor epic sagas; your personal lives are yourownif there is a crisis significant enough to warrant telling me about it, all I need to

know is that things are bumpy. Your attention is best spent on the situation and handling

it the best that you can.

The key to minimizing stress and maximizing your performance during difficult

times is clear, effective communication.

SampleWork&Assignments

Examples of quality student blogs will be linked to on the course blog.

AssessmentMethods

Grading

It is possible to earn 1,000 points in this class.

Grades (%)

A 930-1,000

A- 900-920

B+ 880-890

B 830-870

B- 800-820

C+ 780-790

C 730-770

C- 700-720

D 600-690

F below 600

OnlineDiscussions

Students are expected to do scheduled readings, respond to prompts by the posted date

and time, and then respond to other students and the instructor. Appropriate responsesmake a substantial contribution to the discussion. Do not simply reply, I like that, good

job. Rather, add new ideas of your own, cite views from readings, comment on why youfind a particular idea intriguing, or lead us to related articles.

GuidelinesforaSuccessfulOnlineCourseModified from Palloff, R. & Pratt, K. (2007). Building Online Learning Communities:

Effective Strategies for the Virtual Classroom. Jossey-Bass:San Francisco, CA.

1. This is not a self-paced course. It is designed on a weekly format and to besuccessful you will need to login to check the course several times each week.


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2. Discussions require frequent checking and participation. Check often. Staycurrent and up-to-date. Replies posted late will not become a part of the

discussion and will likely be missed by other participants. Discussions cannot becaught-up once others have moved on. Monitor discussions for responses to

your own posts and be prepared to post follow-up messages.

3. If possible, complete readings near the beginning of the week so that you havetime to think about them and draw from them as you complete assignments and/or

discussions for the week.

4. Have contingency plans for computer problems. Become familiar with theInternet services at your public library. Seek out friends or family members who

will let you use their Internet services in the case yours crashes. Do not expect tobe able to catch up after missing two or more weeks of class.

5. Online learning happens in real time. As with on-campus classes, you will need to

juggle your commitments even when personal or work activities encroach on yourstudy time. Your success depends upon your ability to master course content at

the same time you deal with other life challenges. If an unforeseen event occursand work cannot be submitted on time, get yourself back on track as soon as

possible. Contact me immediately if you are having problems. I am understandingand will work with you, but it is difficult to help when students fall far behind.

6. Because this is an online class, your schedule can be quite flexible. This does notmean, however, that there is less work than in a 3-credit face-to-face class.Graduate courses at WOU carry an expectation of 4 hours of homework for every

1 hour in class. This equates to 15 hours/week for a 3-credit course. While this

will vary from week to week and there will certainly be light weeks, please beprepared to schedule your time to manage weeks when there is a heavy workload.I will do my best to make this manageable, and I think you will find our readings

and assignments to be interesting and relevant.

WhatYouCanExpectofMeasYourInstructor

Modified from Palloff, R. & Pratt, K. (2007). Building Online Learning Communities:

Effective Strategies for the Virtual Classroom. Jossey-Bass:San Francisco, CA.

1. I understand the uncertainties of online communication. When you email me, Iwill respond within 48 hours (usually much faster). If you send me something, I

will respond with a Got it email. If you do not hear from me, check to makesure I received it. (Assignments submitted on Moodle should show you when they

have been posted successfully).

2. Open communication and instructor availability are critical to the success of anonline course. Email me any time you have questions. This is the fastest way to

reach me. If you need to talk by phone, my number is 503-838-8728. Please email


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me to let me know you are trying to reach me by phone and I will arrange anappointment to talk.

3. Please email me anytime you are confused or unclear on instructions. I willrespond quickly. If your question would be of interest to others in the class, I will

post my responses on our course announcements page.

4. Although I may be traveling for conferences a few times during the term, I willcontinue to check our class regularly. If for any reason I will be unable to connect,I will post a message to let you know.

5. I will do my best to respond to assignments with feedback within a week. BecauseI have two other online classes, I may have conflicts that slow this down. Pleaseknow that I will do my best to provide feedback as quickly as possible.

PlagiarismPolicy

Much of the work we do in this class involves using online electronic texts andimages as a resource. If you use material you have found online, you are expected to

acknowledge the source and, in the case of text, paraphrase as appropriate. If you useanother writers words, you must put those words in quotation marks (or use block

quote formatting) and formally cite where they came from. If you cut and paste textor any other material without crediting your source, you are plagiarizing. Plagiarism

is unethical. If discovered, intentional plagiarists fail.

WOUStudentSupportServicesAvailable

Disability Accommodation: If you have a documented disability that my requireassistance, you will need to contact the Office of Disabilities Services (ODS) forcoordination in your academic accommodations. The ODS is located in the

Academic Programs and support Center (APSC) Suite 405. The phone/TTY is(503) 838-8250

Writing Center (www.wou.edu/las/humanities/writingctr)

Learning Resource Center (www.wou.edu/provost/aalc/learning)

Counseling Center (http://www.wou.edu/student/health)

Department or College Resources

ClassCalendar

Weeks run from Tuesdays (6/26) through the next Monday (7/2).

Please note: initial blog posts are always due by Midnight Saturday (6/30) while follow up

comments are always due by Midnight Monday (7/2). This means that your posts may be a little

bit behind what you are reading; i.e. when you post in Week 2 (Saturday 7/7), you may have only

completed the reading for Week 1 and part of the reading for Week 2.


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Week Reading AssignmentsDueDates1

6/26 7/2

Search Patterns: preface 80 (Ch. 3)

The Information: 3 124 (Prologue throughCh. 4) {circa 200 pages}

6/30 Introduction

6/30 Blog post 1

2

7/3 7/9

Search Patterns: 81 172 (Ch. 4 end)

The Information: 125 309 (Ch. 5 throughCh. 10) {circa 270 pages}

7/7 Blog post 2

37/10

7/16

The Information: 310 426 (Ch. 11 Epilogue) {circa 115 pages}

7/14 Blog post 3

4

7/17 7/23

Googlization: 1 148 (Intro through Ch. 4)

{circa 150 pages}

7/21 Blog post 4

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7/30

Googlization : 149 210 (finish the book)In the Plex: 1 120 (Prologue through Part 2)

{circa 180 pages}

7/28 Blog post 5

68/1 8/6

In the Plex: Complete as much of the test asyou can {circa 200 pages}

8/3 Blog post 68/6 Three persuasive letter

Remember:Digital Citizenship should be practiced regularly. Whether you do bursts offour hours at once or several times a week for 30 minutes, you need to participate and

contribute in a meaningful way each week.

Assignments

Foundation:Participation

In order to earn a grade in the course, you must post a 300-500 word introductionby July 1

st, 2012. Failure to post an introduction will result in an F for the course.

We are a learning community, and we need to know something about you and each

other.

Writing

Key to all the writing assignments is several simple principles. Simple does not meaneasy. Simple does not mean stupid. Simple does not mean you should dismiss it. (Hint: A

rapid way to improve your writing is to acquire and read Rudolf Fleschs The Art ofReadable Writing, Fleschs The Art of Plain Talk, or Kelsch & Kelschs Writing

Effectively: A Practical Guide.)1. Respect your reader.

a. Use accessible academic English and clear writing.b. Assume they are intelligent, inquisitive, and critical thinkers like you.c. Be engaging, i.e. do not bore us.

2. Support your claims.a. Respect your reader by showing roughly where the information came

from.


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b. Respect your reader by summarizing the work for themdont make thereader work through the quotes that you should work through.

3. Have something to say. Make a point and connect the dots.a. All of this content is interesting, and it all addresses multiple issues in

which most of the public is concerned and invested. This is an easy

conversation to join, and it is a conversation to which you can make avaluable contribution. This means thinking and drafting before youwritebe very clear about what you want to say. Say it well when you say

it. Make a point, and then move on to your next point. Before you close,remember to connect all of the dots. Do not assume your reader will get

it just because it seems obvious to you. Instead, your post, your writing,your argument should make the point so obvious that the reader is led to it.

FiveBlogPosts:40%(400points[80points/post])

Over the six weeks that we read four books, you will author five blog posts. The five

posts will be reflective posts that directly connect what you are reading to your ownprofessional life and development. All blog posts should fit within the framework of one

or several of these questions:

What new did you learn?

How does this match or challenge what you already understand?

How persuasive was the argument?

How will this change how you think about what you learned?

How will this change how you act or what you do on the job?

How will this change you how you teach your students?

How does this impact your pedagogy?

How does this impact your philosophy of teaching?

How does this impact your philosophy of teaching with technology?These questions should serve as prompts for you for the entire term. You can address thesame question each week or a new question each weekthe choice is yours. Just make

sure that your work is thoughtful and connects the readings to your teaching, thinking,and professional lives.

Your posts will be on our class blog. Each blog post should:

Be at least 500 words long; three of your five posts may be in the form of ascreencast, video, PowerPoint, or audio that is between 3-5 minutes long.

Summarize at least 3 of the authors ideas or statements. When yousummarize, indicate where youre pulling that from in the authors work. Yes, this

is almost like citing. Why are we doing it? If you make claims but do not have theevidence, your argument becomes rubble. Instead, by indicating in advance wherethe ideas come from (Chapter 2; page 25; etc.) you show that you have done your

work. The reader can go to her own copy and confirm what you wrote.

Note: a summary is NOT a quote. Do not quote unless absolutely necessary; ifyou do quote, make sure it is under 30 words. The point of blogging and reading

blogs is not just reading what experts say but to read what other people thinkabout those experts. Similarly, in the academic world, over use of quotes


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demonstrates a reliance upon experts and implies the author has not taken the timeto digest and synthesize the ideasinstead, the writer expects you, the reader, to

do that.

Employ proper, near-academic English. Yes, you may be a bit informal. Yes, youcan use sentence fragments in a very limited way. And yes, you can be playful or

use humor. However, these posts should not be first drafts. First drafts are rough,clunky, and often lack evidence. They skip around. Theyre tedious to read. Theyoften show little respect for the reader. Respect your reader (and your faculty is

not your only reader.)

Written organization: well-constructed argument, smooth transitions, goodstructure.

The post is properly tagged with Week 1, Week 2, etc.

In short, I am looking for clear evidence that you are thinking through issues raised by

the author, implications of the author's discussion socially and educationally, and howsignificant those impacts are. I also want to see you cite or refer to evidence; while APA

style is not required, proper citing will make writing your paper later much easier.

The course runs six weeks, but no blog posts will be accepted after August 5th

, 2012.

DigitalCitizenship:30%(300points)Our class and our course blog is an online community. Our goal is to learn, develop, and

become more informed and educated educators, teachers, students, and citizens. Learningis a social activity: we rely upon the knowledge, experience, teachings, and research of

others. Learning on our own is impossible without others.

Thriving, not merely surviving, in graduate school is much easier to do when you work,help, and collaborate with others. You can share resources, insights, expectations,

experiences, and concepts.

To demonstrate digital citizenship in this class, do the following things:

Give constructive, meaningful, and thoughtful feedback to several peers and theirwritings each week;

Share resources (articles, videos, audio, images, links, etc.) with your peers on theblog. These resources should supplement and inform our readings on search,

information, and Google. Please keep copyright issues clearly in mind when youshare/cite. This means not just posting an image or video, but providing some

context and discussion of why and how it is important and relevant in anacademic manner. Also, be sure that you indicate the author as well as provide a

link to the original source.

Help improve the course blog. You can add widgets and plugins to improve theblog. Before you make changes, consider posting about potential changes so that

the community can give you feedback.


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Z b l/CSE 619/S i 2012

ThreePersuasiveLetters:30%(300points)

You will compose three persuasive letters or editorials. These three documents must meet

the following criteria:

Clearly address a specific audience (specific employer, boss, or supervisor; aspecific population of colleagues, i.e. people with whom you work; the general

public [select a specific newspaper, magazine, or website where you wouldsubmit this piece]);

Be written in a voice appropriate to that audience;

Be written in a persuasive manner;

Be written in a professional and grammatically correct manner;

Offer an orderly and convincing argument;

Use ethos,pathos, and logos effectively;

Address one or several topics raised in the readings this term;

Be relevant to the audience/reader, i.e. the material must be directly connected toa real-life issue which concerns them;

Be 400-800 words long.

Letters should be submitted to me directly via email. If you would like to write and

submit letters before the due date, i.e. earlier in the term, you may do so. Simply contactme and we can

TheTechnology:GettingSetUpIn it is critical to your success that you become familiar with the course blog during the

first week of class. If you prepare, most things will likely go smoothly. If you do notprepare, if you assume, then you risk doom.

PrivacyAll of our activities online are tracked, searched, documented, recorded, and harvested. It

is important to understand that tracking occurs. As Educational Technologists, this is thereality we faceand we work in environments where numerous vested and anonymous

parties harvest data.

Since all of your blogs and digital citizenship activities must be posted to the course blogfor this class, I attempt to mitigate the impact of this tracking on our professional lives.

To protect your identities, you, students/users, are only referred to by your first names. Ifyou wish to use your last name, that is your choice. However, I will not enforce such a

policy.

If you have further concerns about your privacy or privacy related issues, please let meknow.

cse 619 syllabus summer 2012_620

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