Instructor Insights

Instructor Insights pages are part of the OCW Educator initiative, which seeks to enhance the value of OCW for educators.

Instructor Insights

Below, Drs. Joshua Littenberg-Tobias and José A. Ruipérez-Valiente describe various aspects of how they taught CMS.594 Education Technology Studio.

OCW: You administered a welcome survey in the course. Based on the survey results, what aspects of the course were most students interested in?

Joshua Littenberg-Tobias: People came into the class with a range of experiences and technical skills. Some students were EECS majors with strong technical skills, while others brought design skills or experience working in education. We intentionally designed the class so people with a range of backgrounds would be able to participate in the course and develop in the areas in which they were most interested. Based on the results from our welcome survey, students were most interested in learning about designing technology for education, seeing examples of how technology can be used to improve learning, and having the opportunity to quickly make things and try them out. We tried to incorporate all of these elements into our instruction.

OCW: In what ways did the welcome survey inform how you taught the course?

Joshua Littenberg-Tobias: We used the welcome survey to better understand who was participating in our course, their level of technical skill, and their interests. This helped us to form groups for the first unit that balanced different levels of experience and technical skills.

OCW: Why is CMS.594 Education Technology Studio an important course for students interested in issues of equity in education?

José A. Ruipérez-Valiente: The primary reason is that it includes a unit that focuses on Universal Design for Learning, where they will have to apply these principles to design more equitable learning experiences and educational technologies. Additionally, since we allow students to pursue their own interests, it is perfectly possible that they focus on issues of equity in education in all of their mini-projects and the final project, if this is their passion. Thus, they will be able to approach the problem from different perspectives.

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Assessment

Grade Breakdown

The students' grades were based on the following activities:

The color used on the preceding chart which represents the percentage of the total grade contributed by class participation. 20% Class participation
The color used on the preceding chart which represents the percentage of the total grade contributed by three mini-projects. 50% Three mini-projects
The color used on the preceding chart which represents the percentage of the total grade contributed by final project. 30% Final project

Rubrics

Instructors provided grading rubrics for written products and prototypes as well as for oral presentations.

Curriculum Information

Prerequisites

None

Requirements Satisfied

HASS-S

Offered

Occasionally (fall semesters)

Student Information

14 students took this course when it was taught in Spring 2019.

Breakdown by Major

The students enrolled in the course included a mix of EECS majors and others with backgrounds in design or education.

How Student Time Was Spent

During an average week, students were expected to spend 12 hours on the course, roughly divided as follows:

Class/Studio Session

3 hours per week

Met 1 time per week for 3 hours per session; 14 sessions total; mandatory attendance.

 

Out of Class

9 hours per week

Completion of readings, design journal entries, and projects.

 

Semester Breakdown

WEEK M T W Th F
1 No classes throughout MIT. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
2 No session scheduled. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
3 No classes throughout MIT. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
4 No session scheduled. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled and project due. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
5 No session scheduled. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
6 No session scheduled. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
7 No session scheduled. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled and project due. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
8 No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT.
9 No session scheduled. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
10 No session scheduled. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
11 No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. Class session scheduled and project due. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
12 No session scheduled. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
13 No session scheduled. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
14 No session scheduled. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
15 No session scheduled. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled and project due. No session scheduled. No classes throughout MIT.
16 No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT.
Displays the color and pattern used on the preceding table to indicate dates when classes are not held at MIT. No classes throughout MIT
Displays the color used on the preceding table to indicate dates when class sessions are held. Class session
Displays the color used on the preceding table to indicate dates when no class session is scheduled. No class session scheduled
Displays the symbol used on the preceding table to indicate dates when project is due. Project due