Learning, Design and Technology (LDT)

This course introduces fundamental concepts, frameworks and theories that inform how learning designers understand and apply critical perspectives about diversity, equity, inclusion and justice to our personal and professional spaces. This course provides opportunities for students to engage in conversations that explore how their own identities intersect with various power systems and that develop their ability to analyze and engage with critical perspectives that are relevant to their professional careers.

This course will provide students with a critical framework to assess the impact of technology on learning. Students will examine the meaning of technology, discourses that construct technology and a variety of different social issues related to the use of technologies for learning design.

This course will focus on how to organize and provide leadership in educational technology programs. It is designed to provide a foundation for understanding educational technology management, including short and long range planning, project and resource management, and evaluation.

This foundational course introduces the tools, processes and skills needed to design and development digital media for learning. The course focuses on image editing and visual design, audio and video production, and interactive multimedia learning including the development of an ePortfolio to showcase the artifacts created during this course and other LDT program courses.

This course will cultivate the ability to evaluate and create conceptual visual representations. Students will practice the necessary critical attitude, principles, tools and feedback to develop their own high-quality graphics for learning and performance. Topics also include the impact of visual literacy on the learning process related to instructional design, instructional technology and information presentation.

Examines the overarching process of instructional design as it relates to the design, development and implementation of technology-based instruction. Instructional design models will be compared and contrasted, and students will be challenged to develop their own model that is appropriate for the given workplace. Includes discussions on design methodologies, principles and instructional strategies.

This course will explore the concepts of mental models and user-centered designs; visual design including but not limited to color, consistency and iconic representation; layout, navigation and flow; affordances and constraints; principles of user interface design and universal design; cognitive load; and designing for transfer of learning. Students will practice communicating with stakeholders and target users to make iterative design changes and will apply appropriate methods and tools for usability testing, analysis and reporting.

This course will focus on instructional models, strategies and assessment of professional development activities among instructional leaders of educational settings. Professional development is the bridge between where prospective and experienced educators are now and where they will need to be in order to meet new challenges in their profession. System-wide planning including relevant content, strategies and organizational supports for educational technology will be emphasized.

This course offers a detailed study of different data visualization schema and techniques used to support instruction in a variety of areas. Students discuss best practices in the design of data visualization and use of appropriate tools including image processing and geographic information systems. This course offers a survey and analysis of the research base supporting the use of these tools in instruction.

This course explores the impact and implications of artificial intelligence (AI) in educational contexts. With a particular focus on how AI supports and disrupts learning, students will consider historical, technical and ethical perspectives in order to develop essential understandings about the role of AI in education today and in the future.

This course explores modeling and simulation and their application in designing, developing and implementing games and virtual worlds for instruction. The goal of this course is to connect the theory of cognition and user interaction and apply them to develop engaging, effective instructional experiences in simulated environments. Includes survey of appropriate formative and summative assessment schemes and discussion of socio-cultural implications of constructing or deconstructing reality in learning environments.

This upper level course will address the theories, principles, instructional strategies and software applications used to create instructionally sound eLearning programs. The course content includes instructional design methodologies appropriate to the creation of eLearning programs, as well as the selection and utilization of media elements that support and enhance the learning process. Students will develop skills in instructional analysis, instructional design, problem solving, project management, consulting and teamwork while working with a variety of software applications to build a cohesive eLearning program. This applied course will require students to develop projects individually and as part of a design team.

This advanced course will address the practice of eLearning implementation and the processes and tools used to evaluate its effectiveness.

This capstone course will facilitate a learner-led project that involves the synthesis of skills and knowledge from prior M.Ed. course work. Learners will identify an authentic learning problem, engage in a rigorous design process and develop a novel technology-based solution.