T561: Transforming Education Through Emerging Technologies

T561 explores how emerging digital tools and media can aid with crucial problems facing our global civilization. The world presents a new landscape deeply shaped by advanced technologies – communications, biotechnology, and computing – that place demands on schooling to prepare today’s students with knowledge and skills not necessary for prior generations. Every nation is now part of a worldwide knowledge-based, innovation-centered economy; our children are entering a future of multiple careers, not just jobs. Due to advances in artificial intelligence, educators today are faced with the challenge of preparing people of all ages for unceasing reinvention to take on many roles in the workplace and for careers that do not yet exist. It’s essential that education also champion social justice, offering marginalized populations full opportunities for upward economic mobility while preserving the richness of diverse cultural heritages. In this course, students will interact with emerging technologies through hands-on sessions and complete assignments to think critically about their uses. Additionally, we will be joined by world experts in Artificial Intelligence, Virtual / Augmented Reality, Makerspaces, Game-based learning, Constructionist Technologies, Robotics in education, (Multimodal) Learning Analytics, who will share their perspective and engage in rich discussions with students. Given the current context of education practice and policy, we will also discuss ways to overcome barriers in using learning technologies—including AI, or immersive media like virtual reality and mixed reality—to transform learning, teaching, and schooling. T561 is suitable for students in any academic program who wish to develop greater knowledge about the ways emerging technologies can both empower learning in and out of classrooms and transform educational organizations. The course presumes only a basic familiarity with digital tools and media; support is provided for learning specific applications used in class.