EDDL 5101: Educational Technology for Learning (Fall 2021 Webster)

The campuses of Thompson Rivers University are located on the traditional and unceded territory of the Secwepemc Nation within Secwepemcul’ecw. As we share knowledge, teaching, learning, and research within this university, we recognize that this territory has always been a place of teaching, learning, and research.

We respectfully acknowledge the Secwepemc—the peoples who have lived here for thousands of years, and who today are a Nation of 17 Bands.

We acknowledge Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc.

We acknowledge T’exelcemc and Xat’súll.

We acknowledge the many Indigenous peoples from across this land. (Knowledge Makers, n.d.)

Introduction

Welcome to EDDL 5101: Educational Technology for Learning.

EDDL 5101 emphasizes the critical evaluation and pedagogical design aspects of integrating technology in instruction. This course takes a hands-on approach to identifying and evaluating appropriate technologies and resources to support teaching and learning in any education context. The course emphasizes planning and developing instruction that integrates technology.

The goal of Educational Technology for Learning is to provide the starting ground for your personal development with educational technology.

This Course Guide contains important information about the course structure, learning materials, and expectations for completing the course requirements. It also provides information about how and when to contact your Open Learning Faculty Member, an expert in the course content, who will guide you through the course. Take some time to read the Course Guide to familiarize yourself with what you need to do to successfully complete your course.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your Open Learning Faculty Member. We hope you enjoy the course.

Course Description

This online, applied course is designed to provide educators with knowledge, skills and experience in implementing educational technology into a pedagogically sound learning environment. Education Technology for Learning is intended to be a general launching point for your own exploration and learning about information technology (IT). EDDL 5101 emphasizes the critical evaluation and pedagogical design aspects of integrating technology in instruction.

This course takes a hands-on approach to identifying and evaluating appropriate technologies and resources to support teaching and learning in any education context. The course emphasizes planning and developing instruction that integrates technology. Because the world of technology is complex, and especially so in education, it is challenging to design a course of study that is right for all students. You, and every other student, bring with you a unique set of experiences and interests that enhance your learning and determine your individual learning needs. The goal of Educational Technology for Learning is to provide the starting ground for your personal development with educational technology.

Prerequisites

Bachelor’s degree and/or special permission from the School of Education.

Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to:

• Evaluate current models, modes, and theories of education delivery that integrate digital technologies
• Examine Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles and methods and strategies as they apply to online teaching and learning
• Employ digital technologies to share documents, resources and experiences with other students and educators
• Apply ethical and legal issues related to the use of technology in education with students and colleagues.
• Design evidence- based instructional activities that integrate technology.
• Critically employ digital technologies to create resources that facilitate and support instructional activities from a variety of worldviews

Course Materials

This section describes the course materials that you will need for EDDL 5101: Educational Technology for Learning .

Required Textbooks

All required resources are available free of charge online.

Required Hardware, Software, Computer Skills, and Other Resources

Technical Basics lists the hardware, software, and computer skills requirements for your course.

The other resource that you need for this course is the following:

Course Topics

EDDL 5101: Educational Technology for Learning  includes the following units:

Learning Activities

In this course, you will study independently and in groups with other learners. Your Open Learning Faculty Member will support your learning throughout the course. Working through course activities and readings will help you to meet the learning outcomes and successfully complete your assessments.

Assessments

To successfully complete this course, you must achieve a passing grade of 70% (B-) or higher in the course overall.

NOTE TO STUDENTS:
Beginning this Online Teaching & Learning program in Winter 2012, a student who receives a B- (70–74) or lower in two or more courses will be required to withdraw regardless of their grade point average, unless the program coordinator recommends otherwise.

The following table shows how your final grade will be determined for this course.

Assignments

Non-completion of an assignment will result in a mark of zero for that assignment.

Assignment 1

This assignment encompasses our interactions with each other, and the larger global audience of our colleagues who are interested in the use of educational technology.

Assignment 2

For this assignment, you will identify the instructional problem that you hope to solve by finding and integrating an appropriate technology tool.

Assignment 3

For this assignment, you will identify a technology appropriate for solving the instructional problem you explained in Assignment 2.

Assignment 4

Once you have identified an instructional problem that you want to overcome, potential educational technology tools that you can use, and key adoption and integration issues, you are ready to start planning your instructional activity for this assignment.

Final Project

For this assignment, you will create a web-based instructional activity based on the technology integration activity design plan that you developed in Assignment 4.

Grading Scale

The official grading scale for all Open Learning courses is the TRU Academic/Career/Developmental Programs scale as noted in TRU’s Grading Systems and Procedures.

Academic Integrity

Appropriate academic conduct requires that you complete your assignments independently, honestly, and without misrepresentation or plagiarism. Typically, plagiarism occurs in three forms: when a writer uses someone’s exact words or ideas as if they were her/his own, paraphrases someone’s ideas without acknowledgement or identifying the source, or simply does not include the
proper citations.

Be sure to cite all sources of direct quotations and borrowed ideas. If you do not, you could fail your assignments and, potentially, the course.

Each assignment is viewed individually for academic integrity. Please be aware, should you choose to submit multiple assignments at the same time and if an academic integrity violation is discovered in more than one of those assignments, that each assignment submission will be viewed as a separate offence and sanctions will be applied accordingly.

It is your responsibility to ensure that you are fully familiar with the “Forms of Academic Dishonesty” section of the TRU

Student Academic Integrity Policy. TRU Library also provides the valuable Plagiarism: What It Is and How to Avoid It resource.

Be sure to cite the sources you use in assessments and discussions. Check with your Open Learning Faculty Member to see which style to use. TRU Library’s Citation Style Guides is an excellent resource for writing academic citations.

Suggested Schedule

Everyone in your cohort group will be working through the course material using the same timeline. To pace your study and keep on track, proceed through the material step-by-step and week-by-week.

You are required to complete this course material in 13 weeks. Thus, to help you complete and submit your activities and assignments on time, you can print the following suggested timetable and use it for reference. In an online course, it is extremely important to stay current with the class discussions and your suggested timetable.

Help Available

The following sections describe the support that is available to you throughout this course.

Open Learning Faculty Member

Your Open Learning Faculty Member will guide your learning in this course, mark and comment on your assignments, and provide you with whatever assistance you need with your coursework. You are encouraged to contact your Open Learning Faculty Member early and often; for example, when:

TRU Library

TRU Library provides you with access to online, print, and audiovisual resources to complete your assignments successfully and for further reading on any topic discussed in this course.

The Distance, Regional, and Open Learning (DROL) services include the direct delivery of library materials at no cost to you and one-on-one research assistance.

Use the Discover search box to search for the library’s resources. You will be prompted to log-in using your TRU network account. You may need to change the default password to your network account before you will be able to access the library’s resources. See Student Network Account for information.

You can request assistance by email or phone 250-852-6402 (Kamloops, BC) or 1-800-663-1699 (toll-free in Canada).

Writing Centre

The Writing Centre can help you with feedback on your writing. You can request help with any stage of the writing process, including: understanding assignment requirements; tips on brainstorming and idea generation; feedback on organization, sentence structure, grammar, and punctuation; resources for academic citations and avoiding plagiarism; and strategies for effective revision. You may ask for help with a specific writing problem or for general feedback. Open Learning students can get support online or in person on TRU’s Kamloops campus.

Technical Support

If you have problems using the tools or features of the course website, check the Technical Basics web page to see if you are using the correct hardware and software required for your course.

If you still experience problems, go to the IT Service Desk .

For help, email the IT Service Desk or call 1-888-852-8533 (toll-free in Canada), 250-852-6800 (Kamloops, BC), and 1-250-852-6800 (International).

Curriculum Development Team

Curriculum Developer

Rob Power

Rob Power is an instructional development consultant with the British Columbia Institute of Technology. He also teaches graduate-level educational technology courses in distributed learning contexts for Athabasca University, Cape Breton University, Mount Royal University, the University of Manitoba, and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. During his professional career, Rob has taught information and communications technology at the K–12 and post-secondary levels, and has worked as an instructional developer in the higher and continuing education sectors. Since 2013, Rob has taken a leading role with the International Association for Mobile Learning (IAmLearn), and has served as the chair of the 12th World Conference on Mobile and Contextual Learning (mLearn 2013). Rob was elected president of the executive committee of IAmLearn at mLearn 2017 in Larnaca, Cyprus.

Curriculum Consultant

Keith Webster

Keith has been an educator for several decades, including many years as a staff instructor in the Canadian Forces and a stint as a high school teacher. Keith became an instructional designer at the University of Victoria in 2004, moving to Royal Roads University in 2015 where he is currently the Associate Director for Learning Technologies. Keith has taught educational technology in the Faculty of Education at the University of Victoria and instructional design in the School of Education and Technology at Royal Roads. Keith has taught in the Graduate Certificate in Online Teaching and Learning program at Thompson Rivers University since its inception in 2009. Keith is a facilitator for the Instructional Skills workshop at Royal Roads University and is the chair of British Columbia’s educational technology community of practice—the Educational Technology Users Group.

Keith lives in Victoria with his wife and two teenage children. When he isn’t wrestling with educational challenges, he enjoys outdoor and wilderness activities in a variety of seasons.

Copyright & Credits

Copyright © 2019, 2014 (Revised), 2010 Thompson Rivers University. All rights reserved.

The content of this course material is the property of Thompson Rivers University (TRU) and is protected by copyright law worldwide. This material may be used by students enrolled at TRU for personal study purposes only. No part of this work may be forwarded or reproduced in any form by any means without permission in writing from the Intellectual Property Office, Thompson Rivers University, copyright@tru.ca.

TRU seeks to ensure that any course content that is owned by others has been appropriately cleared for use in this course. Anyone wishing to make additional use of such third party material must obtain clearance from the copyright holder.

Course Development Team 2019

Curriculum Developer:
Robert Power, EdD

Curriculum Consultant:
Keith Webster, MA

Instructional Designer:
Stephen Doubt, MEd

Editor:
Cory Stumpf, BJ

Associate Dean, Education and Social Work:
Jane Hewes, PhD

Program Coordinator, Adult Basic Education:
Michael Looney, MSc

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