Courses: CD 145 Technological Tools for Learning

This course explores the design and use of new technologies in the learning environment (schools, museums, after-school programs, etc.). The underlying philosophy of this course is "constructionism", which states that people learn better when engaged in making and designing their own computational meaningful projects; therefore, we will become designers of technological tools to be used in educational settings with children pre-K to high school and we will become researchers to assess the thinking and learning fostered by the different tools. We will also explore current research and debates regarding educational technologies and we will have guest speakers who are experts in the field. Through the semester we will read and discuss materials from a wide variety of sources. We will also become familiar with new technologies ranging from collaborative on-line systems to robotic construction kits, to programming environments for children. The goal of the course is to build both technical expertise as well as theoretical knowledge to be able to choose adequate technology, integrate it into the learning environment and design research studies to evaluate its success or failure. There are no pre-requisites. Permission of instructor required for undergraduates.

2012

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2010

2009 (Course Wiki)

2007

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2005

2004