My EDCUR 805 course was taught by Professor Dirk Morrison. I also took this course over the summer of 2016. This course examined the current trends and issues within curriculum research and design. Given the shortened nature of a summer course this particular course was designed to be very independent with the students researching a topic of their choosing in curriculum research and design. Dr. Morrison suggested that we pick a topic that we are passionate about and one that you would wish to investigate further. Our paper would comprise 70% of our final mark in the course. While there was no face-to-face synchronous sessions we did use the distance learning course management system (CMS) Blackboard to share our proposals ideas, discuss our review of literature and have a chance to see what other students were working on.
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EDCUR 805 - Trends and Issues in Curriculum Research and Design
The topic that I was curious about was cellphone use in schools and how to best utilize this technology. My wife and I had had many conversations about their prevalence in both K-8 schools and high schools. I had also heard many teachers talking about the proliferation of cellphones in schools and discussing the best ways to manage them. Ideas ranged for outright bans to rules and regulations within schools to mitigate inappropriate use and foster utilizing them as educational enhancement tools. I was curious to see what was currently being done in other areas and what the research said about the issue. Below is the my paper on this topic.