EDIT 6600 - Muticultural Perspectives on Technology

Summer 2011 :: Syllabus

Instructors: Dr. Michael Orey [you can e-mail me in eLC]

Office Hours: Orey 10:30 in Wimba; Evans 9:00a in Wimba

Description :: In this course, students will investigate the concept of culture and many of the most expressive elements of cultural construction and identity formation: race/ethnicity, gender, disability, language, nationality, and religion. The course will begin by discussing the concept of technology and its social implications, followed by an emphasis on the use of the communicative functions of educational technologies. Students will select a semester-long school-based projects in order to examine of using educational technologies in fostering dialogue and interaction can help teach for diversity and make culture and identity at the focus of teaching and learning.

Tools :: We will use WebCT to e-mail and submit assignments. We will use BabelWith.Me to communicate, and discuss. We will meet online (synchronously) using Wimba, on Fridays and as the last class. We will work asynchronously for the other parts of the class. You will need a headset. If you would like further information about headsets, I conducted a comparison of many headsets. Click here for the results of the comparison.

Readings :: Will be available in WebCT in digital (PDF or HTML) format.

Project :: This is an experiential learning course. Students will select a semester-long project to engage in, working with students in local schools (if you teach, then you can work in your own school). Projects will involved educational technologies and the principles of teaching diversity discussed here. Sample (previous) projects will be discussed with successful examples emphasized. You will be able to work in groups. During the previous semester, students undertook projects focusing on the communicative functions connecting students of different countries, socio-economic conditions (etc). The main objective of your project is to apply the principles (some, many) of multicultural education and technology use into your classroom and your school. This could happen in many forms: a lesson you teach (existing or new lesson plan), policies in your school (administration, plans), the organization of the computer lab, teacher training/professional development, pedagogies that are employed, principles/guidelines that are followed, etc. You can focus on any of these domains. Your final project can be (suggestions):
- A new lesson plan that you will implement by the end of the semester (new or modifying a previous plan)
- A report/plan on changes you will attempt to make in your classroom/computer lab/school (policy)
- A collaborative project with another teacher/classroom
- A community-school based collaborative project

Whatever choice you make, it is important that it not become only a "plan" - it must be executed during the course of the semester, so that you have time to evalute it as well.

You will turn in a draft "idea" for your project early in the semester. We will work with you in making it a manageable and meaningful (in the spirit of the class!) project and give you a bit more time to finalize your project plans (see schedule below). The rubric for the project can be accessed by clicking here.

Activities :: Activities will emphasize the principles discussed in class, mainly, knowing your students. You will investigate concepts like religion and race by discussing, observing, and investigating inside and outside of school. These activities will be simple, but are intended to go beyond the readings and to expand the limits we impose on our day-to-day interactions.

Evaluation :: Here is the evaluation scheme for this course

Assignment Points
Cultural Pie
5
Activity 1 Project Idea
5
PhotoStory You
5
Activity 2
5
Activity 3
5
PhotoStory About Other
5
Activity 4
5
Activity 5
5
Project Final Report
35
Project Pecha Kucha and Final Reflection
15
Participation
10
Total
100

Schedule

Tentative weekly summary
Class day (we meet online)
Topic

Questions

 Readings & Activities
Week 1 -- Live Class
June 10
Introduction to the course		   Introduction to the course
Introduction to online tools: BabelWithMe, WebCT, HorizonWimba
Week 2
June 13
Multicultural education

Broad overview: What is multicultural education? What are its most important concepts?

Articles to read for today:
- Sleeter, C. E. & Grant, C. A. (1994). Making choices for multicultural education: Five approaches to race, class, and gender. New York: Mcmillan.

Activities
Review previous semester projects online and Photostory about yourself and your culture.
Week 3
June 14
Culture

What is culture? How does culture play a role in schooling and education?

Articles to read for today:
- Noel (2000). Developing multicultural educators. New York: Allyn & Bacon

Activities 1 draft due today - Draft of semester-long project

Week 4
June 15
The technological process

 Technology as more than a tool or device. The digital divide as context for discussion.

Articles to read for today:
- Warschauer, M. (2001). Reconceptualizing the digital divide. First Monday, 7(7). Retrieved August 1, 2005, from http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue7_7/warschauer/
- Amiel, T. (in press). Mistaking computers for technology: Technology literacy and the digital divide. AACE Journal.

Activity 2 due today - Digital divide
Week 5 -- Live Class
June 17
Project discussion		 Class discussion (draft) on school project ideas. Sample projects from last semester discussed. Class pace and topics re-organized with student feedback.
Activities 1 due today - Turn in your final project idea
Week 6
June 20
Technology, Education, and Culture		 The social implications of technology - a more complex view than technology as simply a "device". How do culture, education, and technology come together?

Articles to read for today (a bit more than usual, the order is a suggestion):
- Winner, L. (1986). The whale and the reactor: A search for limits in an age of high technology. University of Chicago Press: Chicago.
- Winner (1993) Social constructivism: Upon opening the black box and finding it empty.
- Hlynka, D. (2003). The cultural discourses of technology: A Canadian perspective. Educational Technology, July-August, 41-45.
Week 7
June 21
Education/Schooling

What is the difference between education and schooling?

 

- Gatto, J .T. (2003). Against school. Harper's Magazine, September, 33-38.
- Delpit, L.D., L. (1988). The silenced dialogue: Power and pedagogy in educating other people's children. Harvard Review.
- Start Activity 3 (see link below)
Week 8
June 22
Critical perspectives

What are the purposes of schooling? What is the critical perspective on education?

Articles to read for today:
- Shor, I. (1993). Education is politics: Paulo Freire's critical pedagogy. In P. McLaren and P. Leonard (Eds.), Paulo Freire: a critical encounter. London: Routledge.
- Rochester, J. M. (2003). Critical demagogues: What happens when teaching and ideology mix. Education Next, Fall, 77-82.

Activity 3 due today - Interview a teacher

Week 9
June 23
Socio-economic status (SES)
 What is SES? How does it affect and relate to schooling? What is its relationship to educational technologies?

No readings this week.

PhotoStory about the culture of one of your group mates.
Weekly Live Class Meeting
June 24
Open Q&A 		   
Week 10
June 27
Nationality		 What is the meaning of nationality in a increasingly transnational world? How does this affect the job of a teacher in school?

Articles to read for today:
- Banks, J. A. (2002). Teaching Strategies for Ethnic Studies. (Hispanic Chapters)
- Prior to class, watch these videos on China and Turkey
Week 11
June 28
Ethnicity, Race		 What is ethnicity and race? How have these factors historically influenced the the process of schooling? How can educational technologies help us transform these concepts?

Articles to read for today:
- Delpit, L. (1988). The silenced dialogue: Power and pedagogy in educating other people's children.
- Banks, J. A. (2002). Teaching Strategies for Ethnic Studies. (African American Chapter)
- Fryer, R. G. (2006). Acting white

Activity 4 due today - Describe SES/Nationality/Ethnicity and Race issues related to your learning materials in the discussion board after a discussion of SES/Nationality/Ethnicity and Race issues in your group.

Week 12
June 29
Gender

 What is gender? How is it related to similar concepts? How have educational technologies helped us revisit assumptions about gender?

Articles to read for today:
- Bauer, K. S. (2000). Gender equity in schools.
- Reinen & Plomp (1997). Information technology and gender equality.
- Weinen & Cain (1999). Technology - the New Gender Gap.

Week 13
June 30
Disability/Excepcionalidade		 What is disability? How have educational technologies influenced our understanding of those learning disabled and their learning process? Universal design.


Weekly Live Class Meeting
July 1
Open Q&A 		   
Week 14
July 5
Religião/Religion		 How have educational technologies influenced the learning and understanding of religion? How have they interacted with the concept of multicultural education? Readings TBA.
Activity 5 due - Describe Gender/Disability/Religous issues related to your learning materials in the discussion board after a discussion of Gender/Disability/Religous issues in your group.
Week 15
July 6
Review of concepts		 Indepent work on projects.

No Readings.
Week 16 -- Live Class
July 8		 Discussing your projects, evaluation of the program
Last day of class, wrap up		 Class evaluation.
July 22 All course material needs to be complete by this date at 5pm EST

Final Project Write Up and Final Pecha Kucha Due.

Final Pecha Kucha with Course Reflections in PhotoStory (20 images and 20 seconds of audio per photo) of your final project due in the discussion board.

For more information about Pecha Kuchas click here. Your Pecha Kucha should correspond to your final report. Try to use images that will help convey the final results of your project. Try not to use text of any kind. You can do your Pecha Kucha in PhotoStory, you are required to not exceed 20 seconds on any single photo. The result is that no single Pecha Kucha should be longer than 6 minutes and 40 seconds, but for our purposes, it can be shorter.