AIL 690: Seminar in instructional technology
Course Description:
Provides a critical analysis of technology, focusing on the ways (positive and negative) it affects society and schooling. Provides analysis of technology's role in informing/reforming educational practices, policy, and theory. Provides practical application of technology for educators (administrators, teachers, and other leaders in the education field). Provides an examination of extant literature of technology in education, including its uses, effectiveness, and drawbacks.
Course Reflection:
It is with great enthusiasm that I reflect upon my experiences in AIL 690. This was a wonderful introductory course into a doctoral program focusing on instructional technology. This was an ideal introductory course in that the assignments inspired a great deal of thought and reflection on society’s interaction with technology. Additionally, it involved lively discussions among classmates on the readings and a presentation on how technology affects society.
The primary text for this course was The Best Technology Writing 2010 edited by Julian Dibbell. I found the articles in this text to be well written and thought provoking. Of the required readings from the text, my favorite was In Defense of Distraction by Sam Anderson. In this article, the author makes us aware of how ineffective we really are at multitasking. Many of us believe we’re able to watch television, check e-mail, post to Facebook, answer a text message, and read the newspaper simultaneously. However, that is simply not the case. In reality, when try to multiple things at once, it reduces our effectiveness at each of the activities we’re trying to juggle. I think this article is reflective of what many of us do, and arguably fail at, each and every day. Beyond the text, we also read the article Five Things We Need to Know About Technological Change by Neil Postman.
With regard to the course description and objectives, I think the course did an excellent job of providing “a critical analysis of technology, focusing on the ways (positive and negative) it affects society and schooling.” The readings creatively illustrated how technology affects society from a variety of perspectives. Those perspectives included how GPS could be affecting us, how computer chips could be becoming more like the human brain, how we may be so addicted to Facebook that we’ll compromise our privacy, and how technology does not make us better at multitasking. Additionally, because most of the articles we read were fairly recent, the readings “provided an examination of extant literature of technology in education, including its uses, effectiveness, and drawbacks.”
For me, the most informational assignment of the course was the presentation. My topic was “Positives and Negatives of How Technology Affects Society.” My group chose to present this topic by creating a Prezi presentation showing the effect of technology through four major periods; the agricultural revolution, the industrial revolution, the information revolution, and the perceived future. My portion of the presentation centered on the Information Revolution. In doing my research, I realized how difficult it is to research an era of history when you’re right in the middle of it. While much of the research argues that the Information Revolution (or Information Age) begins in the 1940’s, this is rather arbitrary as arguments could be made that it began somewhat earlier. Of course, if you’re basing the Information Revolution on the rise of the Internet, then the era began later. Beyond just the argument about the time period, the research focused much more on the negative effects of the Information Revolution than the positives. For example, we seem to be experience “information overload” in our society today. This is problematic because we’re having a difficult time deciphering the good information from the bad information. At the end of the day, I really liked the readings because they were not necessarily “educational” in nature. They brought perspectives from outside the field of education that I think were applicable to what we’re studying.
Ultimately, I found the course structure to be effective. I found that the discussion boards offered some interaction that was, for the most part, informative and well written. I also found that working with my group was rewarding as well. For example, I feel like I gained a great deal of inspiration and ideas from the discussions. Additionally, in doing the group presentation, I was forced to use technologies that I’ve not had much exposure to (i.e., Prezi and wikis). I also like the pacing of the course. It wasn’t too overwhelming and provided so many opportunities to reflect upon the technology field.
In closing, I feel like I have a new found way of thinking about technology and how it affects us. I think this new personal perspective will influence me to think critically about current and new technologies as they emerge. I will now analyze and deeply consider the advantages and disadvantages of these technologies. With that being said, I certainly feel that this class was only the beginning to a fascinating field of study. I realize that I have a long way to go before I can call myself an expert in instructional technology. However, I know, more than ever, this is exactly what I want to be doing for my doctoral work.
Provides a critical analysis of technology, focusing on the ways (positive and negative) it affects society and schooling. Provides analysis of technology's role in informing/reforming educational practices, policy, and theory. Provides practical application of technology for educators (administrators, teachers, and other leaders in the education field). Provides an examination of extant literature of technology in education, including its uses, effectiveness, and drawbacks.
Course Reflection:
It is with great enthusiasm that I reflect upon my experiences in AIL 690. This was a wonderful introductory course into a doctoral program focusing on instructional technology. This was an ideal introductory course in that the assignments inspired a great deal of thought and reflection on society’s interaction with technology. Additionally, it involved lively discussions among classmates on the readings and a presentation on how technology affects society.
The primary text for this course was The Best Technology Writing 2010 edited by Julian Dibbell. I found the articles in this text to be well written and thought provoking. Of the required readings from the text, my favorite was In Defense of Distraction by Sam Anderson. In this article, the author makes us aware of how ineffective we really are at multitasking. Many of us believe we’re able to watch television, check e-mail, post to Facebook, answer a text message, and read the newspaper simultaneously. However, that is simply not the case. In reality, when try to multiple things at once, it reduces our effectiveness at each of the activities we’re trying to juggle. I think this article is reflective of what many of us do, and arguably fail at, each and every day. Beyond the text, we also read the article Five Things We Need to Know About Technological Change by Neil Postman.
With regard to the course description and objectives, I think the course did an excellent job of providing “a critical analysis of technology, focusing on the ways (positive and negative) it affects society and schooling.” The readings creatively illustrated how technology affects society from a variety of perspectives. Those perspectives included how GPS could be affecting us, how computer chips could be becoming more like the human brain, how we may be so addicted to Facebook that we’ll compromise our privacy, and how technology does not make us better at multitasking. Additionally, because most of the articles we read were fairly recent, the readings “provided an examination of extant literature of technology in education, including its uses, effectiveness, and drawbacks.”
For me, the most informational assignment of the course was the presentation. My topic was “Positives and Negatives of How Technology Affects Society.” My group chose to present this topic by creating a Prezi presentation showing the effect of technology through four major periods; the agricultural revolution, the industrial revolution, the information revolution, and the perceived future. My portion of the presentation centered on the Information Revolution. In doing my research, I realized how difficult it is to research an era of history when you’re right in the middle of it. While much of the research argues that the Information Revolution (or Information Age) begins in the 1940’s, this is rather arbitrary as arguments could be made that it began somewhat earlier. Of course, if you’re basing the Information Revolution on the rise of the Internet, then the era began later. Beyond just the argument about the time period, the research focused much more on the negative effects of the Information Revolution than the positives. For example, we seem to be experience “information overload” in our society today. This is problematic because we’re having a difficult time deciphering the good information from the bad information. At the end of the day, I really liked the readings because they were not necessarily “educational” in nature. They brought perspectives from outside the field of education that I think were applicable to what we’re studying.
Ultimately, I found the course structure to be effective. I found that the discussion boards offered some interaction that was, for the most part, informative and well written. I also found that working with my group was rewarding as well. For example, I feel like I gained a great deal of inspiration and ideas from the discussions. Additionally, in doing the group presentation, I was forced to use technologies that I’ve not had much exposure to (i.e., Prezi and wikis). I also like the pacing of the course. It wasn’t too overwhelming and provided so many opportunities to reflect upon the technology field.
In closing, I feel like I have a new found way of thinking about technology and how it affects us. I think this new personal perspective will influence me to think critically about current and new technologies as they emerge. I will now analyze and deeply consider the advantages and disadvantages of these technologies. With that being said, I certainly feel that this class was only the beginning to a fascinating field of study. I realize that I have a long way to go before I can call myself an expert in instructional technology. However, I know, more than ever, this is exactly what I want to be doing for my doctoral work.
syllabus
| AIL 690 Syllabus |
