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Critical Perspectives on Technology

This class will introduce you to a variety of classic texts on the nature of technology. Most of these texts advance a critique of technology, and if the texts' arguments are warranted, the implications for social policy (e.g. regulation of science and technology, environmental policy and sustainability) are substantial. The educational implications are also significant-if these authors are correct, it means that we will need to do much more to prepare students to develop an appropriate set of attitudes and skills vis-a4-vis technology. This course is also an investigation of how we might use video games to think critically about technology. In some cases, games may be an especially powerful tool to highlight some of the problematic aspects of contemporary technologies, or they may allow us to come to understand certain social situations or societal challenges more fully. In other cases, games may promote problematic ways of thinking about the world. The course will be divided into three sections: first, we will go through some of the most influential critiques of technology in the last two centuries; second, we will examine critiques of internet technology; and third, we will take a look at some recent analyses (critical and otherwise) of educational technology, particularly games. Although many of these authors do not address education directly (especially in the first section), we will, each week, discuss what these analyses mean for how we teach our children. The principal goal of this class is simple: to get you to think carefully and critically about technological change, and to reflect upon what these critiques might mean in terms of how we prepare future citizens. Course format This course will be offered in a mixed format-some sessions are in-person and some are online. You can access the Zoom meetings through the Moodle site dedicated to the class. The in-person sessions will not be available online. Evaluation Given how much this class will require from you in terms of reading, a significant proportion of your mark will be based on your performance in the weekly discussions and in the course blog.

ESTU 604—Critical Perspectives on Technology in Education Time: Tuesdays, 3:45-5:55 PM, Fall Semester Classroom Location: FG 5-345 and Online Instructor: David I. Waddington Office: Online via Zoom Office Hours: Tuesdays, 12-2 PM and by appointment E-mail : david.waddington@concordia.ca Course description This class will introduce you to a variety of classic texts on the nature of technology. Most of these texts advance a critique of technology, and if the texts’ arguments are warranted, the implications for social policy (e.g. regulation of science and technology, environmental policy and sustainability) are substantial. The educational implications are also significant—if these authors are correct, it means that we will need to do much more to prepare students to develop an appropriate set of attitudes and skills vis-à-vis technology. This course is also an investigation of how we might use video games to think critically about technology. In some cases, games may be an especially powerful tool to highlight some of the problematic aspects of contemporary technologies, or they may allow us to come to understand certain social situations or societal challenges more fully. In other cases, games may promote problematic ways of thinking about the world. The course will be divided into three sections: first, we will go through some of the most influential critiques of technology in the last two centuries; second, we will examine critiques of internet technology; and third, we will take a look at some recent analyses (critical and otherwise) of educational technology, particularly games. Although many of these authors do not address education directly (especially in the first section), we will, each week, discuss what these analyses mean for how we teach our children. The principal goal of this class is simple: to get you to think carefully and critically about technological change, and to reflect upon what these critiques might mean in terms of how we prepare future citizens. Course format This course will be offered in a mixed format—some sessions are in-person and some are online. You can access the Zoom meetings through the Moodle site dedicated to the class. The in-person sessions will not be available online. Evaluation Given how much this class will require from you in terms of reading, a significant proportion of your mark will be based on your performance in the weekly discussions and in the course blog. Game presentation 25% Class expert sessions (2 sessions) 25% Summary/reaction papers (2 papers, must be from different section of the course, 6 pages each) 50% Class participation and preparedness (possible grade increment bonus) *** Game Presentations As mentioned above, we will be playing and discussing video games in this class. Each class, there will be one or more games that are associated with the week’s overall theme. These games either stand in opposition to the theme or potentially illustrate it somehow. For each game, one student will be assigned as the player and presenter—they will be responsible for constructing a 5-10-minute presentation on the game. This presentation includes (a) explaining what the game is (a good idea is to share a Youtube game trailer for this purpose), (b) describing your experience in the game, and (c) offering your own commentary on the game and connecting it to the theme of the week or, if more appropriate, other course readings from previous weeks. If you are assigned a game as primary presenter, you are expected to spend significant effort learning how to play the game and experiencing the game world. You can use Powerpoint or other presentation software if you wish, but in any event, visual aids will be helpful in presenting the game to your classmates. The games vary in their difficulty—most do not require very much in the way of gaming experience, but there are some which are somewhat more difficult to learn to play. Games which may be more difficult to learn to play are marked with a (D) in the syllabus. Even in the case of these games, there is usually an abundance of Youtube tutorials and walkthroughs which will help orient you to the game. Class Expert Sessions Over the course of the semester, you will be called upon twice to be a class expert. This will not require you to present to the class, but it will require you to have an especially thorough understanding of the readings. Over the course of the class for which you are an expert, you will be asked by me to share some of your insights with the class and to reflect on questions about the reading. You will also be expected to take a leading role in any small-group discussions that we have in class. You should note that “class expert” is a relatively informal role. As class expert, I don’t expect you to be prepared to teach the class; I simply expect you to have a solid understanding of the reading and to be prepared, when asked, to answer basic questions, share some insights, and share some questions you might have. If you have understood the readings well and have made some notes about interesting points to discuss, you are well prepared to be an expert that day. Summary/Reaction Papers You will be required to write two six-page summary/reaction papers over the course of the semester. These two papers must come from different sections of the course. In the summary component of the paper (approximately 2-3 pages), you need to synopsize the author’s key arguments. In the reaction component of the paper (approximately 3-4 pages), your job is to offer a commentary on some point(s) in one of the course readings with which you agree/disagree. You should offer some arguments for why you think the author is right/wrong. You can use your own educational experiences in your reaction papers, but the paper should not be entirely composed of these. A good summary/reaction paper (a) demonstrates that the writer has a good grasp of the article’s overall argument, (b) is well written enough that I can easily understand it and (c) offers some interesting, thoughtful commentary on that article. You do not have to follow the traditional essay structure of introductions, thesis statements, and concluding sections. Summary/reaction papers can be about any of the readings. The papers must be passed in (via Moodle) on or before the day in which the reading is to be covered in class. If you perform poorly on a reaction paper (B or lower), you may write an additional paper and I will retain only the top two marks. Participation and Preparedness Bonus Students who are consistently well-prepared and who participate regularly in the seminar are eligible for a bonus of up to one grade increment (e.g. A-A; BB+) to a maximum of A. Moodle This class uses the Moodle course management system. All papers must be handed in electronically through Moodle drop boxes. Grading Philosophy The list below is meant as a guideline rather than as an exhaustive list of problematic or good traits. An A or A- level paper shows all of the following qualities: -- Contains very few grammatical or stylistic problems -- Presents ideas in an orderly sequence -- Demonstrates mastery of the text and careful consideration of the assigned or chosen question -- Contains clear, careful explanations A B+ level paper shows all of the following qualities: -- Presents ideas in a reasonably clear way -- Shows a fairly good understanding of the text -- Is quite readable B level papers contain one of the following problems, while B- papers (and below) contain more than one of these problems: -- Serious grammatical and/or stylistic problems that affect readability -- Incoherent presentation of ideas -- A significant lack of understanding of the text Attendance This class only meets twice a week, and it is primarily discussion-based. Therefore, I expect you to attend every class. University and course policies Academic integrity: Concordia’s academic code of conduct is available at the following link: http://www.concordia.ca/academics/undergraduate/calendar/current/17-10.html It explains all policies related to academic misconduct, including plagiarism, which is the most common offense under the Academic Code of Conduct. It is defined as "the presentation of the work of another person as one's own or without proper acknowledgement." This could be material copied word for word from books, journals, internet sites, professor's course notes, etc. It could be material that is paraphrased but closely resembles the original source. It could be the work of a fellow student, for example, an answer on a quiz, data for a lab report, a paper or assignment completed by another student. It might be a paper purchased through one of the many available sources. Plagiarism does not refer to words alone - it can also refer to copying images, graphs, tables, and ideas. "Presentation" is not limited to written work. It also includes oral presentations, computer assignments and artistic works. Finally, if you translate the work of another person into French or English and do not cite the source, this is also plagiarism. Guidelines and suggestions for avoiding plagiarism are available at the following website: https://www.concordia.ca/content/dam/concordia/offices/cdev/docs/writing/avoid_plagiarism.pdf Please note that any instructor who has reasonable grounds to believe that an assignment or part of an assignment does not represent the student's own work is obliged to file an Incident Report. For details please consult Concordia's Academic Code of Conduct (website above). Rights and responsibilities. There is a need to preserve an atmosphere conducive to a safe and positive learning environment. In this course, it is expected that students will maintain an environment in which the behavior of any individual is not disruptive, which includes talking over and interrupting others, distracting others (including cell phone use, computer use, texting, etc), and verbally or physically threatening others. It is also expected that students will arrive to class on time and prepared (having finished readings & assignments). You may access Concordia University’s code of rights and responsibilities, which describes the types of behavior that are considered violations of the code, at http://www.concordia.ca/students/rights.html The list below provides the name and website for student services that are available through the university. Concordia Counseling and Development https://www.concordia.ca/students/counselling.html Advocacy and Support Services https://www.concordia.ca/offices/advocacy.html Writing Centre https://www.concordia.ca/students/success/learning-support/writing-assistance.html Student Success Centre http://studentsuccess.concordia.ca/ Health Services https://www.concordia.ca/students/health.html Required Texts All required texts are available on Moodle, except Ruja Benjamin’s Race After Technology. Citation Practices In this class, it is not necessary to give full citations to the course readings in the summary/reaction papers. It is, however, important to note the page number of any direct quotes. If you choose to use secondary sources for your summary/reaction papers (not recommended), you must cite these sources formally as per the guidelines in the relevant style guide. You may use either APA or Chicago note-bibliography citation styles. See http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ for more details on APA and http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/01/ for more about Chicago note-bibliography. Class Schedule Part I: Classic Texts in the Philosophy of Technology September 7th—Introduction September 14th—Marx and Ellul Karl Marx, “Estranged Labor,” http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/labour.htm= Jacques Ellul, The Technological Society (Boston: Vintage, 1967), 79-148. All Play: Neo Cab (Steam, Switch, Apple Arcade) Play: Cart Life* Play: Night in the Woods September 21st—Borgmann Albert Borgmann, Crossing the Postmodern Divide (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992), 20-101. Play: A Short Hike* Play: Kentucky Route Zero* Play: Sayonara Wild Hearts September 28th—Foucault (REMOTE) Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish (New York: Vintage, 1995), 3-24; 170-228. Play: Prison Architect (D)* Play: Academia (D) Play: Two Point Hospital (D) October 5th—Do artifacts have politics? Langdon Winner, The Whale and the Reactor: A Search for Limits in the Age of High Technology (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986), ix-40. Carol Cohn, “Sex and Death in the Rational World of Defense Intellectuals,” in Signs 12, no. 4 (1987), 687-718. All Play: DEFCON (Mac/PC)* Play: In Other Waters (D)* October 12th—Feminist perspectives (REMOTE) Deborah G. Johnson, “Sorting Out the Question of Feminist Technology,” in Feminist Technology, ed. Linda L. Layne, Sharra L. Vostral, and Kate Boyer (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2010), 36-54. Ruth Schwarz Cowan, More Work for Mother: The Ironies of Household Technology from the Open Hearth to the Microwave (New York: Basic Books, 1983), Ch. 3, 5, & 7. Rebecca Kukla, Mass Hysteria: Medicine, Culture, and Mothers’ Bodies (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005), 145-188. All Play: Reigns: Her Majesty (iOS/Android) Play: Her Story (D)* Play: Gone Home Part II: The Internet October 19th—Ye Olde Internet Richard Barbrook and Andy Cameron, Science as Culture 6, no. 1 (1996), “The Californian Ideology,” 44-72. Howard Rheingold, “A Slice of Life in My Virtual Community.” Keith White, “The Killer App,” The Baffler, December 1994. Play: Hypnospace Outlaw (D)* Play: Broken Reality (D) October 26th—Dreyfus (REMOTE) Albert Dreyfus, On the Internet (New York: Routledge, 2009), Chs. 1-4, Conclusion. All Play: Kind Words (Steam—Mac/PC) Play: Umurangi Generation (D) November 2nd—Technology and Race Ruha Benjamin, Race After Technology (New York: Polity, 2019). All Play: Papers, Please (Mac/PC)* Play: Not Tonight* November 9th—The New Internet (REMOTE) Byung-Chul Han, In the Swarm (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2017), ix-19, 27-30, 37-43 Evgeny Morozov, The Net Delusion (New York: Public Affairs, 2011), 245-274. All Play: Orwell (Mac/PC)* Play: The Westport Independent* Part III— Educational perspectives on the Technology and Gaming November 16th—Gaming in Education: the cheerleaders James Paul Gee, What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), 1-50. Play: Portal II Play: Deus Ex Play: Death Trash November 23rd—Gaming in Education: the doubters (REMOTE) C.A. Bowers, Let Them Eat Data: How Computers Affect Education, Cultural Diversity, and the Prospects of Ecological Sustainability (Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2000), 111-176. Norm Friesen, “Beyond Freedom and Dignity: Personalized Learning Technology and the New Behaviorism.” Play: Civilization IV* Play: No Man’s Sky November 30th—Civic Gaming, Critical Gaming (REMOTE) David I. Waddington, “Dewey and Video Games: From Education through Occupations to Education through Simulations,” Educational Theory 65, no. 1 (2015): 1-20. Mary Flanagan, Critical Play (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2009), Chs. 1 & 7. Play: Democracy III* Play: Suzerain Play: American Election All Play: Hundred Days (Mac/PC)*