All Courses
-
Tech, Learning Systems
Technology is among one of the most important contemporary social features inviting the need for reflective practice. Yet, we rarely have time to reflect on the nature of our work and the impacts we have through the technology we are experiencing. This course is designed to develop “reflective practice” around technology’s impact on learning and learning organizations. We will explore how systems theory and cultural studies help us evaluate educational technologies and their impact, how systems behave to influence technological adoption, how culture and context shape technologies and learning, what the ethical considerations are, then translate these insights into design, selection, and implementation of educational innovations. In Phaedrus, Socrates debated the value of new technology, writing in the Academy with his students under a plane tree near Athens. Designed to develop reflective practitioners, this course is our virtual plane tree. We will use systems theory and cultural studies to explore how context and technology shape each other and ethical considerations for designing, selecting, and implementing educational innovations.
-
Drug Awareness
Drug Awareness nothing like your high school health class where half-truths and inaccurate information are given under the guise of prevention. This class will present unbiased facts about common drugs of abuse – how and why they are used, as well as their psychological and physical effects. Through a group project, we’ll take a look at how drug use is presented in films. You’ll leave better equipped to make informed decisions and answer the question, “what’s in that baggie?”
-
Substance Abuse
What if almost everything we think we know about drugs and addiction is wrong? Gaining a better understanding of the reciprocal relationship between society and substance use is the basis for EDHS 2240. Students will examine this bidirectional relationship through historical, cultural, political, and economic perspectives. The class will highlight current patterns of use, the status of the opioid crisis, our country’s current rise in amphetamine use, how systemic racism is related to substance use issues, and the effect our demand for “cheap highs” has on source countries. Students will consider how they have come to their own personal drug philosophy, and identify how at-risk populations are affected by substance use within our society.