Dr. Jacque Ensign ??Class meetings: Monday 7:35-10:05

Office: Davis 210H???Room: BU 316

Phone: 392-6442???Fax: 392-5927

E-mail: ensign@southernct.edu (preferable way to reach me and get a response) When you e-mail me, on subject ?line put your name, EDU 560 ( ), and subject of message.?

http://www.southernct.edu/classes/edu560/ for course materials

Office Hours:(best to make appointment as sometimes I meet outside my office due to space problems)

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Critical examination of controversial issues affecting education.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Students will

Required Readings:

Rethinking Our Classrooms: Teaching for Equity and Justice, Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools, 1994.

REQUIREMENTS

Assessment will be an integral part of weekly course work. Students will be evaluated on the basis of:

1) student-led discussion of weekly reading: Each student will be responsible for leading a discussion on a weekly reading and to use technology as appropriate.

2) final white paper on the digital classroom. This will be a collaborative effort of the entire class and will be published on the web as well as submitted to a journal for publication.

Criteria for Written Assignments

To be effective, all written assignments "need to open with a clear thesis that is arguable, followed by supporting quotations or other evidence; then …an explanation how that evidence supports your thesis." (wording from Mike Shea HON 150, spring 2000 when co-taught with Jacque Ensign) Writings are to be thoughtful, well-organized, and polished mechanically.

Evaluation Criteria

Since this is a class on controversial issues and one such issue is grading, the class' first task will be to decide collaboratively on the evaluation criteria.

MODES OF INSTRUCTION

Course activities include discussion of readings, films, a field trip, and invited speakers. The course will make extensive use of technology, including white board, digital video, threaded discussion, interactive websites and CDs, adaptive technology. Course participants are expected to substantially participate in class activities.

ATTENDANCE AND SUBMISSION OF ASSIGNMENTS POLICY

Unless there are extenuating circumstances, students are expected to be at every class for the entire two and a half hours. Not being present for the entire class counts as an absence. Being late or missing more than one class may seriously affect your grade. Assignments are to be typed, single-spaced, and be turned in on the day due. Late assignments are unacceptable.

?If class is canceled for any reason, please come to the next class prepared for both that class and the canceled one.

JOURNALS AND WWW ADDRESSES RELEVANT TO THIS COURSE

A journal differs from a magazine in the way articles are reviewed, and in the level of scholarship of the articles. Journals are usually peer-reviewed, rather than using only the editor. Journal articles tend to be more research-based, more theoretically-based, and hence more difficult to read! To be considered a journal article, it must include research, a substantial bibliography, and show that it is part of a reputable publication. BE VERY CAREFUL OF WHAT YOU USE ON THE WEB! One source of on-line journal articles is EbscoHost. To reach this, use http://csulib.ctstateu.edu, then go into Databases, then into EbscoHost, then limit the search to Peer Reviewed and Full Text. (If you are doing this from off-campus, you must configure your browser to get access to this site. See site instructions.)

Education

Education and Urban Society

Educational Forum

Educational Leadership

Families in Society

Family and Community Health

Family Law Quarterly

Harvard Educational Review

Journal of Conflict Resolution

Phi Delta Kappan

Preventing School Failure

Review of Educational Research

Technology and Learning

Youth and Society

(These are not journals but can be useful in gathering background information: Teacher, Ed Week)

http://www.ed.govUS Govt. publications, click on Topics A-Z

http://www.ed.gov/pubs/Faultline/Our Nation on the Faultline: Hispanic American Education

http://www.ed.gov/pubs/YouthIndicators/excellent statistics & details

http://nces.ed.gov/NCES/ National Center for Education Statistics

http://www.ncbe.gwu.edueducating linguistically & culturally diverse students

http://www-ref.usc.edu/~cmmr/Center for Multilingual Multicultural Research

http://www.families.comactivist Family Education Network, covers today's issues

http://www.liszt.comlists on-line discussion groups & how to join

http://www.lsoft.com/lists/list_q.html also lists on-line discussion groups

http://www.capecod.net/schrockguidegreat site for connections to topics in education

http://epn.orgElectronic Policy Network

http://edweb.gsn.orgExploring Technology and School Reform

http://www.cce.org/docs.cfm The Center for Collaborative Education, NYC site for schools like Central Park East

http://www.cehn.org Children’s Environmental Health

http://www.rubrics.com Go to Rubricator, then "see it" to construct rubrics

http://ali.apple.com/ali/ Apple Learning Interchange, rich source on technology & ed

http://www.southernct.edu/departments/cat Center for Adaptive Technology with good links

for research, writing, & citation help:

http://www.libs.uga.edu/ref/resaid.html#bibaids good overall guide for Chicago, APA, etc.http://www.libs.uga.edu/ref/resaid.html

http://www.science.widener.edu/~withers/inform.htm How to Recognize an Informational Web Page

as a friend of mine, Kathleen Knight, has said, "Using the Web is often like going to the bathroom wall in a bus-station and trying to discover facts about who loves whom, who's sleeping with whom, etc. ... It's a source, but it ain't verifiable and it ain't reliable." Use the Widener site to be sure your information is more reliable than the bus station.

http://clever.net/quinion/words/citation.htm Citing Online Sources

Sept. 11 INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE

Begin threaded discussion on course evaluation criteria. We will begin this in class and you are to continue during the week so we can make final decision on evaluation by September 18. For electronic submission go to http://www.nicenet.org. Click "join a class," enter your key for the class and the screen should say EDU560. Use your full name and make up a password. Enter your e-mail so you get a copy of instructions and your password. In optional: ***enter your full name so you are credited with this assignment. Key into conferencing. Things to consider: What do you want to spend the most time doing? What will take lots of learning on your part? What will quality look like? Is there anything else besides the requirements that should factor into the final grade? Who will determine the grade?

Sept. 18: EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION

Sept. 23 or 24 (Saturday or Sunday) EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION

?Raindates: Sept. 30, Oct. 1)

Sept. 25: EDUCATION AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

Oct. 9: TEACHING AND TECHNOLOGY

http://learnweb.harvard.edu/alps/

after Oct. 9: see Nov. 6 assignment

Oct. 16: LEGAL ISSUES FOR TEACHERS

guest speaker: Clifton Graves

Oct. 23: EDUCATION AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

Oct. 30: HOMESCHOOL

films: from CBS, Channel 1, preview of online learning options for homeschoolers

Nov. 6 VIRTUAL CLASS - asynchronous

Nov. 27: "I WON’T LEARN FROM YOU"

Dec. 4 "I WON’T LEARN FROM YOU"

assignment due: Reading from Kohl, "I Won’t Learn from You", 127-153

Dec. 11: : course wrap-up