Welcome to EDIT 5154: Theoretical Foundations of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL)! This course is divided into 10 lessons. For most lessons, you will read a chapter from the book Educational Psychology (13th edition) from Anita Woolfolk and complete assignments that relate to what you learned from the book chapters. It is therefore recommended to buy this book as soon as possible, as you will start using it in lesson 2. This first lesson serves as an introduction to the course in which you will start thinking about learning and technology. For this lesson you will need to read the article Theories of Learning and Teaching in TIP provided to gain and activate additional background knowledge about different theories that will be discussed through out the course.

Why are learning theories important for you to understand?

• Educational psychology examines obvious as well as less than obvious questions using objective methods to test ideas that contribute to learning. It is important because the research leads to theories which are used to improve educational practices.
• Teachers use theories which are driven and organized by the facts collected from research. These theories are used to design lessons, choose instructional strategies, and create effective learning environments.

Principles of Theories:

• Principle 1: Theories help to organize facts and interpret their meaning.
  • Theories shape the collection, interpretation, and meaning of facts, but they are independent (the facts and the theory).
• Principle 2: Theories represent public knowledge.
  • The knowledge is subject to public scrutiny and tested for validity. In contrast we may try to apply our own thoughts about a situation based upon our own experiences, this is private knowledge and not subject to scrutiny or research.
• Principle 3: Theories are in principle testable.
  • This provides an element of self-correction for theories not found in private knowledge.
  • No theory can be proven completely true.
  • Can approximate the truth by eliminating theoretical claims shown to be false.
• Principle 4: Theories are less complex than people.
  • A higher level of organization is needed to make sense of the information therefore theories of human nature are less complex than humans and can be known and understood.
• Principle 5: Theories are generalizable.
  • Theories explain characteristics of human nature that are common to all individuals.

You have plenty of experience when it comes to learning. You have direct learning experiences and indirect experiences. As a life long learner and committed educator, you understand the importance of designing effective lessons with the use of technology. Understanding the different theories of learning will help you to make thoughtful decision about strategies, theories, and design in order to teach specific content to your learners.. In this course you will be introduced to a wide variety of theories on learning. The main focus of this course is on educational theories of learning and how these can be applied in technology enhanced learning (TEL) environments.

Similarly, you have likely had a wide variety of experiences using technologies throughout your life. In fact, you probably hear the word technology every day. After all, you are in an Instructional Technology Master’s program! However, what does technology really mean? Is a technology always a physical product or tool we can touch and use or can it also be a more invisible process?