During the COVID-19 pandemic, schools, colleges and universities worldwide were forced to adopt emergency remote teaching. Technology played an important role in facilitating remote teaching and brought to the fore the pivotal role it can play in enabling, facilitating and enhancing students’ learning experiences. Experiences, however, varied from context to context and teachers as well as learners faced difficulties during this period. This module is designed to introduce students to the wide range of ways technology might be harnessed to engage students with and facilitate learning and equip them with the knowledge and skills required to make informed choices about what technologies to use and how in their own teaching taking into account contextual constraints, social justice and equality.
The module will consist of tutor-facilitated sessions, involving discussions, demonstrations of technologies, group work and practical tasks. Every session will have a strong pedagogical component, emphasising the practical applicability of the content discussed. Students will be expected to participate actively, sharing their everyday experience of using technology. To provide students first-hand experience in using the technologies discussed on the module, students will also be encouraged to discuss the topics related to the module through discussion boards, blogs, and/or wikis.
Occurrence | Teaching period |
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A | Semester 2 2024-25 |
To develop awareness of how technology can assist learning and teaching
To explore the relationship between technology and current ideas about learning and teaching
To practise evaluating, adapting and designing technology-enhanced teaching materials
To explore the impact of educational technology on social justice and equality
Students who complete the course successfully should be able to:
Critically evaluate technology-enhanced learning and teaching programmes
Establish appropriate methods for teaching a specific group of learners
Be aware of varying needs of different types of learner and understand how respond to these through the use of technology
Be aware of the potential impact of educational technology on social justice and equality
Engage with recent research on educational technology
Academic and graduate skills
Formulate arguments and contribute to discussion
Engage critically with published research and with practical learning problems
Take part in group work and problem-solving activities and team work
Demonstrate effective planning and time management
Word-process, use the VLE, and a range of other technologies
Indicative course content:
Educational technology and the learning sciences
An introduction to the learning sciences; key debates in the learning sciences, e.g. digital natives and the transformative impact of educational technology; an introduction to evaluation and the need for criticality
Literacies for the 21st Century
21st century skills; digital literacy; multiliteracies; information literacy
Learning theory and educational technology
Teacher knowledge for technology use; core theories of learning, i.e. behaviourist, cognitivist, constructivist, and social-cultural learning; affordances of familiar technologies
Social justice, equality and educational technology
The critical study of educational technology; digital divides; technology in low resource contexts; open educational resources
Pedagogies for online learning and teaching
E-learning, blended learning and flipped classroom; mastery learning and intelligent tutors; multimedia learning and interactive whiteboards; collaborative learning through online discussion, blog and wikis; inquiry based learning and mobile technologies; communities of practice and social media; personalised learning and learning analytics; motivation and game-based learning
Assessing with technology
Assessment theory (reliability, validity and authenticity); computer-based testing; adaptive testing, learning analytics; artificial intelligence.
Student presentations
An opportunity to explore emerging technologies and issues, e.g. embodied cognition and virtual reality.
Task | % of module mark |
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Essay/coursework | 100 |
None
Task | % of module mark |
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Essay/coursework | 100 |
Individual written feedback reports, with follow-up tutor meeting if necessary. The feedback is returned to students in line with university policy. Please check the Guide to Assessment, Standards, Marking and Feedback for more information
Apart from the bibliographies recommended for each session, you may find the following titles useful:
Davies, C., & Eynon, R. (2013). Teenagers and technology. Routledge.
Harasim, L. (2012). Learning theory and online technologies. London: Routledge.
Kalantzis, M. (2000). Multiliteracies : literacy learning and the design of social futures. London : Routledge.
Sawyer, R. K. (Ed.). (2014). The Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences. Cambridge University Press.
Selwyn, M. (2011). Education and technology: Key issues and debates. London: Continuum.
Selwyn, N. (2013). Distrusting educational technology: Critical questions for changing times. Routledge.
Selwyn, N. (2016). Is technology good for education?. John Wiley & Sons.
Thomas, M. (ed.) (2011). Deconstructing digital natives: Young people, technology and the new literacies. London: Routledge.