Weller spent a lot of time writing about “things” like blogs, videos, textbooks, and “ideas” like constructivism, personal networks, and so on. In this assignment, I would like us to approach the field, its history, and its development from a different angle. I want to introduce you to individuals who made significant contributions to the field other than Weller.
For Assignment 1, your task is to research an individual’s work and contributions, and in 250-300 words describe the following:
1. Who they are;
2. Explain why you selected them;
3. Identify what aspect of their work is important to the field. There are two things to include specifically: (1) how their work is impacting something happening in the field right now, and (2) what view of learning their work assumes or advances.
Within your description, include at least 2 links relevant to this individual. For example, if this person is an active blogger, it would be helpful to include a link to their blog (which, then the rest of us can use to add to our RSS reader). It might also be helpful to link to specific work they did (e.g., a software they developed, a paper they wrote) or interviews with them (such as for example this interview with Mark Brown from Dublin City University or this interview with Prof. Laura Czerniewicz). You do not need to limit yourselves to researchers and professors or people who are living, but please select individuals whose work lies at the intersections of learning and technology.
Where to begin:
To complete this assignment, you will need to do some background reading on people in the field. Some ways to begin might be to skim the references in Weller’s book. Or, if you’ve been listening to the audio version of the book, you might explore the work of some of the colleagues who read the book.
However, bear in mind that as in many other fields of study, the contributions of women, indigenous people, people of colour, and people from marginalized communities often remains invisible. While doing background work on this assignment keep this in mind. This situation impacts all of us because any work that helps us improve the ways we teach, learn, and develop education is important work. There are ‘hidden’ histories in educational technology that are not part of the dominant narrative, and thereby people who remain invisible even though they do significant and valuable work. To get a sense of this issue for our field, prior to beginning your research take a few minutes to read Un-fathomable: The Hidden History of Ed-Tech by Audrey Watters . In this assignment, therefore, I’d like you to think deeply about your choice. Who will you choose to shine a light on? I look forward to reading your posts!
Generative AI:
Your links must be actually about the individual and their work so do check them. Currently, generative AI invents scholars, institutional affiliations, and citations with considerable confidence. Remember, “the appearance of confidence is not proof of accuracy” (Dingle, 2026). If you use an AI when working on this assignment, you are bound by the RRU guidelines on AI use which are built from the assumption that students will behave ethically and comply with the University Policy on Academic Integrity and Misconduct.
In addition, you will need to include a paragraph (separate from the assignment word count) that outlines how you plan to use AI in this assignment. The plan should include details of how you might use AI tools in your research and should include details regarding how you will review and critically examine the information you generate with AI including where your guardrails are and how you can authenticate your work. It will include a transparency statement that also acknowledges what you did with the response that AI provided back. As AI does tend to hallucinate and make things up (like articles that do not exist 😉 it is important to ensure that you have done a critical assessment of what comes back from your AI queries and that you outline that in your transparency statement. You will also need to include a short reflection after following your plan on your experience of using AI in this assignment as stated in your plan. Some reflection prompts may include: What did it afford? What did it limit? How did it impact your thinking and why? What concerns did it raise and what did you do about them?
Formatting Requirements:
A gentle reminder, as with all LRNT courses, you are expected to incorporate APA standards for citations, formatting, and references and to back up your writing with evidence and appropriate academic literature as necessary.
Don’t forget all that you have read to date in the program that you may be able to draw upon to support your position. You are required to pay attention to grammar and clarity and to avoid colloquialisms.
References are not included in the assignment word count. Also, don’t forget the numerous resources available to you as you build your competence and fluency with APA formatting and writing style. In particular, check out the RRU APA 7 formatting checklists as well as RRU WriteAnswers where you can ask your APA questions.
Value: 15%
Due Date
See the Schedule for due dates.
Submission
Your submission requires two steps:
- Post your assignment as a blog post so that others can also be introduced to more people in the field. Be sure to turn on the “allow comments” feature on your blog site.
- Once you post it, submit the URL for your post to the Assignment 1 dropbox in Moodle.
Rubric
| Criteria | Levels of Attainment | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Individual identified | Learner identifies a relevant individual and provides 2-3 working, on-topic links relating to the individual | 20 |
| Description | Learner provides a clear, succinct, and relevant description of the individual, and articulates a defensible connection between the individual, their contribution(s) to the field, and a contemporary development in the field that this individual or their work has impacted. | 80 |