Blog:
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Course Description
Students will explore educationally significant emerging technologies and will examine aspects of change in education. Students will be provided opportunities to develop frameworks for handling technology selection and implementation, absorption of new pedagogies, sustainable change, and emerging challenges in education. Using a Gamified Learning Environment, students will select topics to investigate applications, benefits and challenges inherent in specific emerging technology and pedagogy deployment. Instructor: Avi Luxenburg
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Click on the links or images below to pages/blogs on emergent environments and technologies:
At the beginning of OLTD 509, instructor Avi Luxenburg posed a few Critical Challenge Questions to the cohort. The questions read as follows:
Below are my evidence pieces and reflections, which address the above-noted questions.
EVIDENCE & REFLECTION OF LEARNING #1
OLTD Program Learning Outcome:
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Evidence to Support Outcome:
The evidence I have chosen to demonstrate competency with respect to the above-noted learning outcome is a blog post titled Navigating The Swamp of Digital Innovations in Education. I feel the blog post outlines a comprehensive framework (The Innovation Index by Fullan and Donnelly, 2013) for assessing emerging technologies and pedagogies, and more importantly, the framework integrates and considers sustainability, which I feel is crucial when working towards true systemic change and a learning revolution. |
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Reflection to Support Evidence:
Fullan and Donnelly (2013) note that 21st century learning skills fall into three domains: “1) the cognitive domain (thinking); 2) the intrapersonal domain (personal skills of drive and responsibility); and 3) the interpersonal domain (teamwork and other relational skills)” (p.11). To evaluate and predict the transformative power of emerging digital innovations, and to improve learning outcomes in response to changes in digital technology, Fullan and Donnelly have developed a comprehensive ‘Innovation Index’. The Innovation Index is comprised of three main components broken into three subcomponents for evaluation (nine subcomponents in total). This allows for systematic and easy evaluation for almost any innovation. So how does the Innovation Index work? The three main components of the Innovation Index, pedagogy, technology, and system change, and the four subcomponents of each component, are given a rating on a four-point scale: green, amber-green, amber-red and red (Fullan & Donnelly, 2013, p. 14).
I feel the Innovation Index I’ve discussed - for Educators and 'System Changers' - is probably the most comprehensive assessment tool I have come across to date for assessing emerging technologies and/or pedagogies. The colour coding, which correlates to a four-point scale, was chosen because social science research has documented that three or five point scales tend to exhibit a tendency towards the middle of the scale. This allows technologies and pedagogies to be evaluated in a meaningful way, with a point system that enables comparison and ranking. I am beginning to consider more carefully the evaluation of emerging pedagogies and technologies, and I now feel I am better informed and less susceptible to getting caught up in the glitz and excitement of a new innovation. I understand more fully the need for sustainability of innovation, and I recognize that to achieve true disruption, the new innovation needs to be able to be embedded within the system. Through the use of this Innovation Index as a framework for assessing emerging technologies and/or pedagogies, I am able to evaluate innovations in an objective and concrete way, and I can represent my learning visibly (and graphically if I wish). Reference
Fullan, M., & Donnelly, K. (2013). Alive in the swamp: Assessing digital innovations in education. London: Nesta. Available online: http://www.nesta.org.uk/publications/alive-swamp-assessing-digital-innovations-education Retrieved from http://www.nesta.org.uk/sites/default/files/alive_in_the_swamp.pdf |
EVIDENCE & REFLECTION OF LEARNING #2
OLTD Program Learning Outcome:
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Evidence to Support Outcome:
The evidence I have chosen to demonstrate competency with respect to the above-noted learning outcome is a Piktochart Infographic that I created to summarize some of my research during the emerging technologies quests. Although my reflections may be found in the blog links and pages noted above, I felt the Piktochart was a good way to represent and encompass some of this learning in one evidence piece. |
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Reflection to Support Evidence:
The emerging technologies quests were a group of quests within the 3D GameLab setup that I could have easily pursued for months on end. The huge variety of emerging technologies, and the potential uses and views of how these technologies should or shouldn’t be integrated into learning environments, generated a great deal of lively, insightful, and thought-provoking discussion. Yet, despite my interest in many of the technologies, and given the time I had for this area, I chose to undertake quests to explore the following areas:
Through the readings, research, viewing, and hands-on exploration of the emerging technologies (and as seen on the Piktochart), I feel I have met the above-noted learning outcome, and therefore feel familiar with common terms, definitions and elements relating to emerging technologies. I have examined pedagogy and theory associated with these technologies, and I have looked at the cognitive, motivational, social, and emotional (and the intrapersonal and interpersonal) relationships encouraged or dissuaded by these technologies. Due to the range of technologies examined, it is difficult and would be inappropriate to generalize about the efficacy of these technologies, as this would depend on how implementation occurred, what supports for technical needs, software, training of staff, etc., are in place, and what the end goals are. It seems to me that from all of my readings, a case can often be made for and against emerging technologies, depending on the implementation and use. Therefore, I feel the readings on sustainable change and emerging pedagogies are perhaps more crucial to the successful implementation of emerging technologies. Personal experience with games, gamification, game-based learning, badging, and to a limited extent 3D technologies, seems to concur with the main conclusions from my research and quests on emerging technologies:
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