Overview
MDDE 630: Trends and Issues in K-12 Online and Blended Learning explores current and emerging uses of blended learning in schools. Research and practice related to educational and technological innovations in the K-12 sector are examined. In addition, students participate in collaborative, applied research activities in which they investigate a school environment and explore the capacity for thinking of education in new ways. The course is presented in three units.
Outline
Unit 1: ICTs in K-12 – Perspectives
In this unit students will survey the different uses of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in K-12 education to ensure that students formulate a common set of definitions and an awareness of the current state of the art.
Unit 2: The ICT in K-12 Education Ecosystem
Students will explore how K-12 education influences how society transfers its culture, invests in its continued survival and hopefully improvements for the future. Education is affected by the priorities of a society and how the government funds it. The perceived value for the investment in terms of economic activity, quality of life, and stability are demonstrated in the relationship between schools and funding bodies. Each generation hopes the next generation will have a higher quality of living, but many factors play on this concept and the way in which public funds are allocated.
Unit 3: ICT Intervention Planning for K-12 Environments
In Unit 3 students will be encouraged to be creative, using technology, regarding improvements in a K-12 environment. Students will be asked to practically consider what it would actually take to make a positive impact given the environment of K-12 education.
This course is not a “how-to” course in planning and preparing instructional materials for K-12. Rather the intent is to help student become more aware of global trends in technology use in K-12, and to develop two sets of skills, the case study, and the meta-analysis as tools for objectively analyzing options for implementation.
Learning outcomes
The course is designed to support the following goals:
- Identify the current uses of ICTs for Distance Learning in K-12 settings and discuss their impact on public schools and in higher education.
- Identify factors that influence decision-making about technology directions in K-12 public schools.
- Describe how meta-analysis is conducted and explain how it provides a perspective for interpreting educational research
- Develop a conceptual proposal for an ICT intervention in a local K-12 school, school board, and/or province that is accessible to you.
Evaluation
Students will be graded on the basis of four assignments and course participation.
| Activity | Weight |
| Assignment 1 - Use of Online and Blended Learning in K-12 Education | 20% |
| Assignment 2 - Case Study: Investigate a School | 25% |
| Assignment 3 - School Blended Learning Intervention Proposal | 35% |
| Assignment 4 - Peer Review Activity | 5% |
| Course participation | 15% |
| Total | 100% |
Materials
Online Study Guide and Readings.