For these two classes, you will work in teams of three people. Each team will evaluate one piece of educational technology and present their findings to the class. Teams should also turn in a short (4-6 pages) critique of the technology. You may write these papers individually or as a group, but you should clearly indicate which you choose. If you work as a group, you should also turn in an independent statement of how the assignment was divided among group members.

In both the paper and presentation, you should focus on identifying the underlying theory of learning and how well you think that the product will achieve this goal. In addition to describing your chosen technology, you should identify:

• The learning goals of your chosen technology,
• The approach to/theory of learning used,
• Positive features of the technology,
• Negative features of the technology, and
• Your assessment of the potential effectiveness of the technology.

Be sure to include references to the reading materials from class (and a bibliography).

Possible Software Projects

• AgentSheets (http://www.agentsheets.com)
• CoWeb/Swiki (http://coweb.cc.gatech.edu/csl/7)
• CSILE/Knowledge Forum (http://www.knowledgeforum.com)
• Hypergami (http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~ctg/projects/hypergami)
• Say Say Oh Playmate (http://www-personal.umich.edu/~pinkard/SSOP)
• StarLogo (http://education.mit.edu/starlogo)
• Intel Computer Clubhouse (Located about a mile from Tech)
• Jumpstart Baby (CD-Rom)
• Purple Moon software (CD-Rom)
• Schank's Firefighters (CD-Rom)
• Sesame Street (DVD-Rom)
• Any other you might want to suggest. (Must be approved)

Grading

You will be graded on these criteria:

• Insight into learning issues
• Use of readings
• Writing
• Quality of in class presentation

For each of these criteria, you will receive either a plus, check, or minus.

• Check means "good job--you have met the expectations of the assignment."
• Plus means "you impressed me."
• Minus means "you did not fully satisfy the assignment in this respect."

The suggested length is approximate. Don't worry if it ends up a bit short or long, and please don't play with formatting to try to make it look longer or shorter. Just please don't make your paper more than double the suggested length.

Late policy is noted on the syllabus.