Spring 2009 Syllabus and Course Guide:

ITEDU 510
Technology: Use & Assessment (Online)

Catalog Information
Contact Information
Instructor
Rationale
Objectives
Content Outline
Format

Calendar
Student Evaluation & Major Activities
Grading System
Course Evaluation
Resources
Audit Policy
Special Student Needs

Catalog Information:

ITEDU 510:
Technology: Use and Assessment

3 graduate credit hours

(none)

"Analyzes the use and assessment of technology. Topics include usability testing, user surveying, technology assessment techniques, environmental impact assessment, and forecasting."

Internet

Spring, 2009
Class begins January 12, 2009.

November 11, 2008

Contact Information:

This course makes use of Blackboard courseware.

BSU Blackboard Portal:

http://my.bsu.edu

Homework and Weekly Assignments:

Weekly lessons will be posted by 9 p.m. (EST) on Monday nights. You will find the first week's assignments at the following page, and once the course starts you will be given a link to the page where future assignments will be posted:

jcflowers1.iweb.bsu.edu/rlo/510hwsp2009.htm

Modules / Online Instruction:

The first two modules can be seen at the following location, but after the course begins, you will be provided a link to the modules site where all modules will eventually be available:

jcflowers1.iweb.bsu.edu/rlo/5102mods.htm

Acrobat Connect (Breeze) Meeting Room:

At the beginning of the semester, a link will be placed near the top of the Weekly Assignments Page to a video conferencing room to be used in our class. While optional, this two-way audio/video system can be a wonderful addition to our tools for communication. To participate, you will need a broadband connection. However, enhanced participation will be possible if you have a microphone/headset, and even more if you have a webcam.

Access:

Students should have broadband access and the current versions of Internet Explorer, Microsoft Office, Real Player, and Adobe Acrobat Reader. (Note: Microsoft Office is available at a greatly reduced rate through Ball State University.) Students should also have a webcam and a headphones with a microphone.

Student postings and other communication features of the courseware are restricted to those with access as a class student, instructor, aide, or administrator.

Class Hours:

This is an Internet course, so students access the course site and complete the requirements at hours convenient for them.

Instructor:

Jim Flowers

Professor & Director of Online Education
Department of Technology
AT 130A
Phone: (765) 285-2879
FAX (765) 285-2162
jcflowers1@bsu.edu

Office Hours (Eastern Time):

My formal office hours this semester are from 9:15 am to 12:15 pm each Thursday, however, I'm available throughout the week. But the best way to reach me is by Email. However, do not be surprised if an Email you send after business hours on Friday does not receive a reply before Monday.

Homepage:

jcflowers1.iweb.bsu.edu/flowers.htm

Rationale:

Technology assessment is an important tool for industry, agencies, consumers, and citizens to ensure that technological decisions are sound and appropriate. In this course, students assess the impacts of technology on the environment, society, and the individual.

Objectives:

2. Analyze how individuals and organizations adopt technologies.

3. Analyze product usability and perform usability research.

4. Interpret and perform a formal technology assessment or environmental impact assessment, using forecasting techniques to predict future outcomes and impacts of technological decisions.

5. (Please note: The course's fifth learning objective is to be written individually by each student and applies specifically to that student's learning needs and expectations related to the course topic. After the student and instructor  contractually agree to the fifth objective, the student will identify a project or learning activity to best meet this learning objective. This project and the method of assessment will also be subject to contractual agreement between individual students and the instructor.)
 

Content Outline:

A. Intro
B. Logging in to the course
C. Navigating Blackboard
D. Online communication.
E. Conducting research using the Web and the BSU Library
F. Getting help
G. Schedule of lessons, readings, activities, and due dates.

A. Intro
B. The scope of technology
C. Intro to the study of using technology

A. Introduction
B. Developing the objective
C. Using the digital drop box

A. Introduction
B. Product design criteria
C. User-centered design
D. Product users
E. Anthropometrics
F. Application of anthropometrics or  ergonomics
G. Universal Design

A. Introduction
B. Usability
C. Usability engineering
D. Usability tests
E. Planning usability tests
F. Conducting usability tests
G. Reporting usability test results

A. Introduction
B. Planning
C. Server space
D. Tools
E. Hyperlinks
G. Posting
H. Verifying
I. Maintenance

A. Introduction
B. Other use-related research
C. User surveys
D. Instructions for users

A. Overview of TA
B. Local & informal TA
C. TA in technology education
D. TA in technology education
E. Health technology assessment
F. Environmental impact assessment
G. Sustainability
H. TA documents
I. Critiquing technology assessments

A. Introduction
B. Logistics
C. Technology assessment techniques

1. Risk analysis 
2. Brainstorming
3. Interpretive structural modeling 
4. Trend extrapolation 
5. Opinion measurement 
6. Scenarios 
7. Checklists 
8. Relevance trees 
9. Cross-effect matrices 
10. Simulation models 
11. Sensitivity analysis 
12. Probabilistic techniques 
13. Benefit-cost analysis 
14. Export base models 
15. Decision analysis 
16. Policy capture 
17. Life cycle analysis
18. Force field analysis 

Format:

Calendar by Week:

Methods of Student Evaluation and Major Activities, Tasks:

There are four different components that add together to determine course grades. They are as follows:

1. Weekly Readings, Assignments, and Formative Quizzes (usually 5 or 10 raw points each)

2. Usability Research Activity (100 points)

3. Technology Assessment Activity (150 points)

4. Student-Identified Project (50 points)

Grading System:

Note: "No course with grades below C (2.0) may be counted in any degree program." (BSU Graduate Catalog)

Course Evaluation:

Texts and Resources:

The current APA publication manual is a program requirement in the Master of Arts Degree Programs in Technology Education and Career & Technical Education, and it is required in ITEDU 510:

American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

In addition, numerous online resources are provided. Most of these are grouped according to class topics, and these lists are available online at:

Using Technology: jcflowers1.iweb.bsu.edu/rlo/linus.htm

 

Technology Assessment:  jcflowers1.iweb.bsu.edu/rlo/linta.htm

jcflowers1.iweb.bsu.edu/rlo/useassessbib.htm

For those wishing to purchase a content-based textbook for the added benefits, even though none is required, each of the following three serve to provide helpful information related to the first half of the class, listed in the order in which they are recommended:

• Barnum, Carol. (2002). Usability testing and research. NY: Longman. (optional)
   
• Rubin, Jeffrey. (1994). Handbook of usability testing: How to plan, design, and conduct effective tests. NY: Wiley Technical Communication Library. (optional)
   
• Nielsen, Jakob. (1993). Usability engineering. San Diego, CA: Morgan Kaufman. (optional)

For the second half of the class, which concentrations on technology assessment, no optional text (still in print) is suggested.

Audit Policy:

Special Student Needs: