Abstract

In this paper and presentation we describe, unpack, and reflect upon the dynamic, evolving processes of collaborative, democratized educational technology design that led to the creation of an open-ended literacy development and language acquisition environment named FunWritr. When the project began, each member of our group was either in a graduate program for educational technology design or interested in matriculating into such a program. Over the course of five years we have worked together, growing as designers, developers, and researchers of educational technologies. Reflecting on our authentic, self-guided, evolving curriculum ofexperiences, we recognize processes and unpack factors that contributed to our growth and evolving philosophy of affinity-based, collaborative, sustainable, educational technology design. In describing and theorizing about our experiences and outcomes we have come to understand avenues for cultivating growth in design education that go beyond classrooms, fixed hierarchies, grades, and semester-based projects. Our interactions have led us to identify and theorize about six interrelated guiding design parameters for educational technology creation.

Keywords

design, technology, affinity-based, education, student-led

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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Aug 26th, 9:00 AM

Designing FunWritr: unpacking an affinity-based, professionalizing, graduate-level educational technology design experience

In this paper and presentation we describe, unpack, and reflect upon the dynamic, evolving processes of collaborative, democratized educational technology design that led to the creation of an open-ended literacy development and language acquisition environment named FunWritr. When the project began, each member of our group was either in a graduate program for educational technology design or interested in matriculating into such a program. Over the course of five years we have worked together, growing as designers, developers, and researchers of educational technologies. Reflecting on our authentic, self-guided, evolving curriculum ofexperiences, we recognize processes and unpack factors that contributed to our growth and evolving philosophy of affinity-based, collaborative, sustainable, educational technology design. In describing and theorizing about our experiences and outcomes we have come to understand avenues for cultivating growth in design education that go beyond classrooms, fixed hierarchies, grades, and semester-based projects. Our interactions have led us to identify and theorize about six interrelated guiding design parameters for educational technology creation.

 

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