Final Paper

ET 690 Educational Technology Seminar

Write a paper to answer the following questions. The paper should be typed and double-spaced and conform to basic rules of APA style. Be sure that the paper is double-spaced, with 1 inch margins, in a 12 point font, and with numbered pages. Under no circumstances should the entire paper be fewer than 10 pages or greater than 15 pages (page counts do not include your title page or a page dedicated to references).

Your final paper will be based on at least two (and up to eleven) of the following articles:

Choose at least two of the above articles. Additionally, locate at least two other academic sources (generally published, peer-reviewed papers) relating to the above articles. Write a thoughtful essay relating your chosen articles to the topics we discussed in class. Your paper does not have to cover every point we made in class (this is a paper not a book), but you should find several major themes that tie the above articles to the class readings. Consider important themes including but not limited to: Postman's gods, the Faustian bargain of technology, the purpose of school and how that relates to society, the impact of society/politics on technology and technology on society, the impact of technology on children's development, alternatives to technology in schools and society, technology as a political artifact, problems with society's focus on information.

This is a fairly open-ended paper. You will be graded on how well you demonstrate an understanding of the chosen articles and how well you relate them to the class readings and discussions. Your paper should be more than just a recap of the authors' points of view. It should show a critical analysis of their points and a synthesis of their points with the class readings. Note that not all of the papers directly relate to our class discussions, but they can all be related and discussed in the context of the class.

The choice of articles should be based on the creation of a common theme or themes for your paper. The articles are grouped on some basic themes, but you may choose seemingly unrelated articles by tying them together with a common theme. You should not choose unrelated articles to fill space by bouncing from article to article. That is, ten separate one to two page papers (or for that matter, four separate two to three page papers) on each of the above articles is not appropriate. A better approach is to choose a few articles and one or more important and related themes. Relate each of your chosen articles to your theme(s).

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This page was prepared by Dr. David M. Marcovitz.

Last Updated: March 13, 2009