Teaching Impacts of Technology: Fundamentals

Go to Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/teach-impacts-technology-fundamentals

Introduction

**Course Review and Recommendation: Teaching Impacts of Technology: Fundamentals on Coursera** In our ever-evolving digital landscape, understanding the nuances of technology's impact on our lives and educating others about it has never been more crucial. "Teaching Impacts of Technology: Fundamentals" on Coursera provides a solid foundation for educators who are eager to explore and teach the implications of technology in an engaging, K-12 appropriate format. ### Course Overview This comprehensive course takes a problem-based approach to learning, guiding participants through an exploration of technology's everyday impacts—starting from the moment you wake up to how you engage with food delivery apps and streaming services. It’s designed for educators who want to better understand technology's role in society and the fundamental computing concepts that underlie these technologies, making it a valuable resource for anyone involved in K-12 education. ### Detailed Course Breakdown 1. **Course Orientation:** The introductory module sets the tone for the course by posing important questions. It encourages educators to think critically about the technology they engage with daily and how to introduce these concepts to students effectively. With a focus on problem-solving, participants will be steered to incorporate practical, relatable examples into their teaching. 2. **Technologies: Bring Me Some Food!** In this interactive section, participants are encouraged to track their technology usage. Through reflection on tools like DoorDash, Yelp, and Lyft, learners gain insights into the conveniences and drawbacks of modern technology, emphasizing its real-world applications. This not only serves as a great icebreaker but also helps educators connect with their students through familiar experiences. 3. **I Want My Entertainment... NOW!** The impact of streaming media is another critical area explored in this course. Participants will investigate how it reshapes consumer choices and empowers creators, thereby transforming educational tools and access. This module is particularly relevant given the growth of digital content consumption among students today. 4. **Impacts of Computing and Pedagogy:** This portion dives deeper into the potential future impacts of computing, building on the past and enhancing understanding through the CSTA K-12 standards. Here, educators reflect on constructivist learning theories, tailoring them toward technology subjects, which is essential for those looking to invigorate their teaching methodologies. 5. **Lesson Plans:** The course culminates in practical application by allowing educators to evaluate and enhance “CS Unplugged” lesson plans which focus on using graph representations to teach real-world applications. Participants not only build on existing resources but can contribute to a collaborative pool of insights and lesson ideas, fostering a community of shared learning. ### Recommendations Teaching Impacts of Technology: Fundamentals is more than just an introductory course; it is an essential tool for educators looking to inspire critical thinking and curiosity about technology among their students. - **Target Audience:** This course is ideal for K-12 educators who wish to incorporate technology concepts into their teachings in meaningful ways. Whether you are a novice looking to understand the basics or a seasoned teacher seeking fresh ideas, you will find value in the content. - **Interactive Learning:** The course’s emphasis on interaction, reflection, and community collaboration promotes a deeper understanding that is often lacking in traditional educational settings. - **Flexibility:** The course scale—from grades 4 through 12—ensures that educators can adapt the material for their specific classroom needs. - **Practical Focus:** The real-world applications of technology at each stage encourage educators to draw connections between abstract concepts and students' daily lives, making learning relatable and impactful. In conclusion, I highly recommend "Teaching Impacts of Technology: Fundamentals" for educators looking to enrich their curriculum with technology insights. This course not only provides theoretical knowledge but also empowers teachers to engage students in meaningful discussions about the technology that shapes their world. Whether you teach computer science or any other subject, this course offers valuable perspectives that will benefit your students and enrich your pedagogy. Sign up today, and take the first step towards enhancing your technological teaching toolkit!

Syllabus

Course Orientation

Welcome! Are you interested in teaching about the impacts of the technology you use everyday? To learn more about the computation and computing concepts that underlie those technologies? We'll be using a problem-based approach to explore interesting ways to teach concepts of networks and the internet, data and analysis, and even algorithms and data representation. Finally, we'll evaluate, critique and improve/personalize an "unplugged activity" where students learn how to create the minimal network needed to provide connectivity amongst a set of houses. This activity can be scaled for use in grade levels from 4th grade to 12th grade.

How do you interact with and benefit from technology in a 24 hour period? We'll ask you to track your technology use and reflect on its costs and benefits to you. We'll also start by looking at a problem many people might have in a given 24 hour period -- being hungry and wanting someone to bring them some food! We'll explore several smartphone apps related to this including doordash, yelp, and lyft.

Streaming media has had huge impacts not only on consumer choice, but on who is enabled to produce digital media -- be it entertainment or education. Then we'll look at some of the limitations and possible new advances in this area.

This week our work falls into 2 categories. The impacts computing has had on our lives so far may not be the entire story. The CSTA K-12 standards focus a lot on having students not only look at the past, but consider impacts of future advances. Second, we reflect on core constructivist learning theory -- but with a specific focus on teaching computing concepts.

We'll evaluate a "CS Unplugged" lesson plan that supports students in learning how to represent real world map/travel representations in a graph. This lesson plan extends upon the "Paving a Muddy City" online simulator you used earlier in the course. We'll walk through a revised lesson plan and ask you to help improve it by added vocabulary and assessment items. You'll be able to contribute to and access a crowdsources set of resources created by other learners in this class!