The goals and the guiding questions for the course were:

1. To broaden our notion of learning, literacy and knowledge by understanding that schools (and culture in general) are in fact sites for negotiation and struggle between competing conceptions of knowledge and cultural value. As educators, we must expand our curriculum to include a broadened notion of literacy (e.g. online and offline reading and literacy experiences) that incorporates multiple genres, multiple perspectives, and the use of media and communication technologies which prepare all learners for literacy tasks of the 21st century.

Questions: What does learning look like in the 21st century? What does literacy look like in the 21st century? What is knowledge in the 21st century? (Or what does it mean to “know” something in our mediated culture?) How might these questions (and potential answers) support or challenge school­ based learning?

2. To design, implement, and reflect on technology within educational settings in order to create better teaching and learning environments. As educators, we must evaluate, select, and use educational technologies to create better teaching and learning environments for all learners.

Questions: What are key characteristics of new media environments (e.g. social network sites, blogs, and wikis)? How might these characteristics inform pedagogical and curricular choices? How can educators maintain focus on one’s learning objectives while integrating technology? How can educators support students’ access to and evaluation of media and digital resources?

3. To dispel the notion that technology implementation is an individual endeavor and replace this with a community-­based philosophy regarding one’s participation in a media landscape.

Questions: What are participatory cultures? What is connected learning? How might participatory cultures and connected learning inform school-­based notions of learning? How might educators, specifically teachers, promote collective change? How might professional development opportunities in schools be changed and/or transformed to promote a community­-based approach?

The assignments I choose to share from this course are: