Agenda: Class 1

ET 690 Educational Technology Seminar

"All students have probably heard the classic adolescent opinion of what schools are for: 'Schools teach kids that it ain't no fun to learn things that ain't worth learnning.' As educators you will hear this opinion uttered countless times with countless variations. You will even hear it on occasion from frustrated teachers. Beneath this rebellious opinion lies perhaps the most serious educational question of all. What are schools for?" --Jeffrey Smolla

• Schedule Change Discussion
  • We will not have class on March 5 (Loyola's Spring Break, but not yours).
  • It is likely that April 2 and April 16 will be reserved for debate group meetings. If that happens, we will not meet here but you will meet in groups at some times during those 2-3 weeks.
  • Because there is no class on April 9 (Loyola closed and Spring Break for many of you) and that could be reserved for debate group preparation (meeting in groups), we can count that as a class and have the final class/debates on April 16. Alternatively, we can not count that as a class and have the debates on April 23.
• Introduction
  • Who Am I? Dr. David Marcovitz
  • Who Are You? Student Survey
  • Syllabus (see handout)
  • Assignments (see handouts)
  • Class Participation
  • Food
• The Purpose of School
  • Talk of the Nation Discussion Between Howard Gardner and E.D. Hirsch
  • Discussion: What is the Purpose of School
• Sign Up for Leading Discussions
  • Discussion leadership exempts you from one paper (see details at the Assignments handout).
  • Send me email (marco@loyola.edu) by Monday, January 19 with your choices for discussion leadership.
  • Be specific about what you would like to lead, and let me know alternatives.
  • For example, you might say "I would like to lead the second discussion of Oppenheimer, but I would be willing to lead any of the Oppenheimer discussions."
  • If you would like to lead a discussion with a partner, BOTH people must send me an email by the deadline with the same set of chapters and the names of both partners. Note that partnerships are not guaranteed and if need be, partners might be assigned to lead individually.
  • When partners choose to work together, both partners must be substantially involved in preparation and leadership.
  • Discussion leadership involves significant preparation and preferably creative ideas for interacting with the material.
  • I will do my best to be fair if multiple people choose the same chapter (this will not be first-come first-served; everyone who responds by the deadline will be treated equally).
  • I will announce assignments of discussion leaders next class.
  • Note: All discussion leadership slots will be filled. If no one signs up for a slot, the slot will be filled by random selection of those eligible.
• Assignments
  • Read Postman, Preface and Chapters 1 - 4
  • Be sure you can get Winner, "Do Artifacts Have Politics" (due class 3)
  • Sign up to be a discussion leader via email by Monday, January 19

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

Last Updated: January 5, 2009