Learning, Media, and Technology
Addresses new digital technologies that are transforming learning across the lifespan - from reading apps for toddlers, intelligent tutors for school children, and blended learning for college students, to MOOCs for adults and interest-based learning communities for hobbyists. Focuses on how these technologies shape people's lives and learning. Students explore how education technologies operate in complex social-technical systems, and acquire analytic tools and strategies that can be applied to other complex systems. They also refine their thinking about the opportunities, limits, and tradeoffs of educational technology. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.
Spring 2024
New digital technologies are transforming learning for all ages—reading apps for toddlers, intelligent tutors for school children, blended learning for college students, MOOCs for adults, and interest-based learning communities for hobbyists. In this course, we explore these technologies and how they shape people’s lives and learning. Coursework will help students explore learning, media, and technology through multiple lenses—history, policy, social theory, design, and evaluation. Students will refine their thinking about the opportunities, limits, and tradeoffs of educational technology. Graduate students will complete additional assignments.
Readings
- [FTD] = Reich, Justin (2020). Failure to Disrupt: Why Technology Alone Can’t Transform Education . Harvard University Press. ISBN: 9780674089044.
- [Iterate] = Reich, Justin (2020). Iterate: The Secret to Innovation in Schools. Wiley. ISBN: 9781119913528.
- John Sweller, Jeroen J. G. van Merrienboer, and Fred G. W. C. Paas (1998). “Cognitive Architecture and Instructional Design.” Educational Psychology Review 10(3): 251–296.
- John Sweller (2016). “Story of a Research Program.” In S. Tobias, J. D. Fletcher, and D. C. Berliner (series eds.), Acquired Wisdom Series. Education Review 23.
- Jeroen J. G. van Merrienboer and John Sweller (2005). “Cognitive Load Theory and Complex Learning: Recent Developments and Future Directions.” Educational Psychology Review 17(2): 147–177.
- Jean Lave (1991). “Situated Learning in Communities of Practice.” In L. B. Resnick, J. M. Levine, & S. D. Teasley (eds.), Perspectives on Socially Shared Cognition (pp. 63–82). American Psychological Association.
- Paul A. Kirschner, John Sweller, and Richard E. Clark (2006). “Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work: An Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-Based, Experiential, and Inquiry-Based Teaching.” Educational Psychologist 41(2): 75–86.
- An excellent introduction to LLMs:
- On the exhibits at the museum:
- Francesca Panetta, Pakinam Amer, and Fox Harrell (2020). “We Made a Realistic Deepfake, and Here’s Why We Are Worried.” Boston Globe, October 12, 2020.
- On teaching writing and ChatGPT:
- Cuban, Larry (1986). Teachers and Machines: The Classroom Use of Technology Since 1920 . Teachers College Press. ISBN: 9780807727928.
- Audrey Watters (2021). Teaching Machines. MIT Press.
- Familiarize yourself with:
- [Iterate] Intro through chapter 2
- [FTD] Prologue, Introduction, chapter 1
- [FTD] chapter 2
- [FTD] chapter 3
- Ivan Illich (1971). “Learning Webs.” In Deschooling Society. Harper & Row.
- Explore Connectivist sites:
- [FTD] chapter 4
- [FTD] chapter 5
- [FTD] chapter 6
- Paul Attewell (2001). “Comment: The First and Second Digital Divides.” Sociology of Education 74(3): 252–259.
- Shanna Smith-Jaggers (2014). “Democratization of Education For Whom? Online Learning and Educational Equity.” Diversity and Democracy 17(1).
- [FTD] Chapter 7
- [FTD] chapter 8
- David Cohen and Jal Mehta (2017). “Why Reform Sometimes Succeeds.” AERJ 54(4).
- Reich, Justin. (2020). Failure to Disrupt: Why Technology Alone Can’t Transform Education . Harvard University Press. ISBN: 9780674089044.
- Cuban, Larry. (1986). Teachers and Machines: The Classroom Use of Technology Since 1920 . Teachers College Press. ISBN: 9780807727928.
- Reich, Justin. (2020). Iterate: The Secret to Innovation in Schools. Wiley. ISBN: 9781119913528.
Prerequisites & course information
Subject meets with CMS.595 Prereq: None G (Fall) 3-0-9 units
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026–2027
- MIT OpenCourseWare ↗Spring 2024
- MIT OCW readings ↗
- MIT OCW syllabus ↗
- Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.