Table 1
Breakdown of Participants by Iteration
# of participants
Semester
Baseline
161
W2010-F2011
Iteration 1
44
Fall 2012
Iteration 2
22
Winter 2013
Iteration 3
20
Fall 2013
Students were placed into different sections of the course based on their major field of study. These fields of study included physical and biological science, social science, physical education, family and consumer education, and language arts. This way, each student shared with peers their ideas for using technologies specifically for the context of their field of study.
A faculty member trained in educational technology along with his mentored graduate students taught the course. The faculty member taught two sections each semester resulting in the majority of students being taught by him. With input from the faculty member, the graduate students were given some autonomy to design and teach their section. Graduate students typically taught for two semesters only, rotating in new graduate students every semester.
Baseline Course Description
Participants in the traditional face-to-face course were required to attend one hour each week. In order to complete their projects, they were expected to devote an additional two hours or more per week to their coursework. The course was divided into multiple units, one for each project or technological concept. Each unit typically consisted of an introductory class period with demonstration of the technology and discussion. Subsequent class sessions would be in a required lab setting where students could work on their projects and the class would have additional demonstrations in a workshop style. Some of the smaller units or units not specifically tied to learning a technology were only one week long, omitting the lab.
For example, the first unit was to learn an Internet communications technology. The first week of this unit was devoted to a teacher-led demonstration of a website-creation program followed by discussion on where and how it could be used in the classroom.