Learning Technologies
4-H Informal Education to Increase STEM Knowledge and Career Development in Underrepresented Youth: Hands-on STEM Programming for Minority Youth and Youth with Disabilities
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Noelle Guay
Palm Beach County 4-H Youth Development Program, in partnership with the University of Florida and Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners, supports research, education/teaching, and extension projects that increase participation of underrepresented minorities from rural areas and youth with disabilities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). These youth have been engaged through Palm Beach County 4-H after school clubs and have been partnered with caring, adult mentors including 4-H leaders as well as community partners, such as the Belle Glade Youth Empowerment Center, Florida Atlantic University’s Center for Autism and related Disabilities, and two rural public schools. These clubs focus on hands-on STEM programming and projects in the areas of robotics, engineering, food science and agricultural science. Having the opportunity to participate in hands-on, educational STEM activities year-round led by 4-H staff and University of Florida faculty enable these youth the unique opportunity to explore career opportunities, lead community service activities, interact with youth and adults outside of their neighborhoods, and have fun while developing critical life skills that will help them become productive and engaged citizens in their communities, their country, and their world. The goal is to empower, prepare, and encourage youth to pursue education and careers in STEM to meet future challenges across the world and increase technological advancement in all science arenas.
Reinventing Schools: Confronting Our Troubled Times
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Andrew Gitlin
The US has again the highest wealth inequality in its history. This foundational trouble and the related troubles in the decline of democracies and the health of the environment suggest that doing nothing will likely result in rising violence, authoritarian leaders, and environmental events that could threaten the well being of humans, especially the poor. Given the dire consequences of these troubles something must be done. Schools, as currently constructed, are unlikely to make much of a difference and therefore they need to be reinvented to act on and confront societal troubles. A first step in reinventing schools is to fundamentally shift from a functionalist relation with society where schools only look to satisfy the status quo to a reconstructivist view that focuses on schools role in contributing to the production of a better society. Spaces of difference are one possibility to facilitate this restructuring. Spaces of difference, for example, can facilitate this restructuring because they provide a connection between school space and outside space such as communities such that a third space is formed that embraces differences (e.g., wealth inequality). Furthermore, spaces of difference are affordable because technology can easily “build” such online spaces without the unrealistic cost of brick and mortar. These technological spaces bring together schools and society and thereby reflect a wide array of interests that can challenge the status quo and confront the troubles of wealth, democracy and the environment. A final step is to transform these spaces from passive to activist orientations.
The Challenge of Integrating Technology into the Curriculum of Developing Countries: Relevance and Cultural Sensitivity
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Paula Mac Kinnon, Gregory MacKinnon, Heather Hemming
The potential for technology to empower education in public schools is undeniable yet the choice of appropriate technologies remains a challenge considering the digital divide that exists within developing countries. Using the Caribbean context as a backdrop, this paper will resist a "technoromantic" approach to leveraging new tools and instead examine the practical challenges associated with implementing relevant, culturally sensitive curriculum. This paper will address several curriculum projects that been undertaken in the Caribbean region. In particular, the inherent action research (mixed methods) has allowed us to glean unique insight into the perspectives and definitions that regional leaders hold for technology integration. As a result, we recommend a strategy for assisting them move forward in developing curriculum that models international best practice.
Using Educational Technology to Promote Peace, Social Justice, and Sustainable Living: Lessons Learned from Teaching the World's Largest Course
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Scott Plous
Action teaching is an instructional practice that contributes to peace, social justice, and sustainable living at the same time that it educates students. In this presentation, I describe several action teaching assignments that I gave to students in a Social Psychology MOOC (massive open online course), including a "Day of Compassion" assignment in which thousands of students around the world spent 24 hours living as compassionately as possible, submitted an essay analyzing the experience, and provided each other with peer feedback. Preliminary results suggest that MOOCs offer a cost-effective way to deliver high-impact learning opportunities on a large scale, and that online instructional technologies can deliver these opportunities to people who may otherwise have limited access to higher education.
