Students

EDST8650 – Design of Technology-Enhanced Learning

2025 – Session 2, Online-scheduled-weekday

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Convenor, Lecturer, Tutor
Matt Bower
matt.bower@mq.edu.au
Tuesday 2-3pm online by appointment
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Admission to MEd or GradCertEdS or MEdLead or MHEd or GradCertHEd or MEChild or GradCertEChild or MTeach(0-5) or GradCertClinEdSim or MIndigenousEd or GradDipIndigenousEd or GradDipChildLit or MChildLit or MTeach(Prim) or MTeach(Sec)
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This unit explores design, implementation and evaluation issues relating to the use of technology in education. It investigates how current and emerging technologies may be used to develop learners' capabilities such as critical thinking, creative thinking, problem solving, and collaborative skills. It provides opportunities to consider theory in relation to practice and encourages experimentation as well as reflection upon pedagogical approaches.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Integrate contemporary technologies effectively into professional teaching practices.
  • ULO2: Analyse a range of contemporary technologies and critically evaluate their potentials for application to specific and complex educational contexts.
  • ULO3: Develop technology-enhanced learning designs based on appropriate theoretical frameworks and analysis of contemporary technology capabilities.
  • ULO4: Critically evaluate and justify technology selection and design decisions for complex contexts with reference to current scholarly commentary, research and theory relating to educational technology usage.
  • ULO5: Critically examine how digital technologies impact on our social, cultural, professional and educational lives based on appropriate sources of contemporary evidence.
  • ULO6: Model positive attitudes and social behaviours relating to the integration of technology within teaching and learning, including effective participation in discursive processes.

General Assessment Information

Detailed information About Assessment Tasks 

More detailed information about assessment tasks can be provided on your iLearn site including the rubric/marking scheme, detailed instructions, etc.

 

General Submission Information

Please format assessments using 12-point font and 1.5 spacing. All assessments must be submitted electronically. Turnitin plagiarism detection software is used to check all written assessments. It is the responsibility of all students to ensure that their submitted work is in a format compatible with Turnitin software for plagiarism checking. Submissions must meet the required file type and formatting specifications outlined in the assessment guidelines. Failure to submit work in an acceptable format may result in delays in processing your submission and potential penalties for non-compliance with assessment requirements. If you are unsure about the file format or have technical difficulties, it is your responsibility to seek assistance before the submission deadline. Students should be careful to check that they submit the correct file for an assessment as no re-submissions will be accepted after the due date and time, including instances where students upload an incorrect file. It is not the responsibility of unit staff to contact students who have failed to submit assessments. If you have any missing items of assessment, it is your responsibility to contact the unit convenor.

Students can use Turnitin’s Originality Report as a learning tool to improve their academic writing if this option is made available in the unit.

Word limits are strictly applied. Work above the word limit will not be marked.

 

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Students should be aware of and apply the University policy on academic integrity (see: https://policies.mq.edu.au/document/view.php?id=3). Any student suspected of using unauthorised AI in an assignment will be referred to the Faculty of Arts Discipline Committee. Penalties can include reduced marks for an assessment, being awarded '0' for a task, failing an entire unit, being excluded from a course of study. Please see each assessment task description/rubric for expectations about AI.

 

Special Consideration / Late Penalties

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark) will be applied each day an assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends) (see: https://students.mq.edu.au/study/assessment-exams/special-consideration). Applications for extensions must be made via Service Connect. After the 7th day, a mark of 0 (zero) will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11:55pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical issue. This late penalty will apply to non-timed sensitive assessments (incl. essays, reports, posters, portfolios, journals, recordings etc).

Late submission of time sensitive tasks (such as tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, scheduled practical assessments/labs etc) will only be addressed by the unit convenor in a Special Consideration application. A Special Consideration outcome may result in a new question or topic. Students should not request an informal arrangement from their tutor, lecturer or Unit Convenor (or equivalent). Where an application for Special Consideration is approved and the outcome is an extension to the due date of a task, submissions that are received after the new due date will be subject to late penalties that are calculated from the new due date. This only applies where the outcome is an extension to the due date – see the Special Consideration Policy for a schedule of all possible outcomes.

 

Marking

All assessments are marked using a rubric.

Marking of all assessments is moderated by the Unit Convenor.

 

University Policy on Grading

Assignments will be awarded grades ranging from HD to F according to guidelines set out in the University's Grading System and University Assessment Policy.

To attain a pass or higher grade in Professional Experience a student must obtain a satisfactory in both the Professional Experience component and a pass or higher grade in the academic component. For Professional Experience units the Professional Experience Evaluation Report is marked as Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory. The Macquarie Teaching Performance Assessment (MQTPA - in final WIL/PEx units) is marked as Not met, Met or Exceeds.

 

Results

Results shown in iLearn, or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed because they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit Service Connect.

 

Withdrawing from this unit

If you are considering withdrawing from this unit, please seek academic advice via Service Connect before doing so as this unit may be a co-requisite or prerequisite for units in the following sessions and may impact your course progression.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Forum Discussion 50% No 14/09/2025
ePortfolio 50% No 19/10/2025

Forum Discussion

Assessment Type 1: Reflective Writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 50 hours
Due: 14/09/2025
Weighting: 50%

 

Students will critically engage in discussion topics relevant to the unit, making a 400 word post each fortnight across ten weeks. See the unit website for further details including the assessment rubric.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Integrate contemporary technologies effectively into professional teaching practices.
  • Analyse a range of contemporary technologies and critically evaluate their potentials for application to specific and complex educational contexts.
  • Critically examine how digital technologies impact on our social, cultural, professional and educational lives based on appropriate sources of contemporary evidence.
  • Model positive attitudes and social behaviours relating to the integration of technology within teaching and learning, including effective participation in discursive processes.

ePortfolio

Assessment Type 1: Portfolio
Indicative Time on Task 2: 50 hours
Due: 19/10/2025
Weighting: 50%

 

You will keep an e-portfolio of your learning in the form of posts in a blog to apply and reflect on the technologies and pedagogies discussed in the unit. The fortnightly posts should each be approximately 400 words (five in total). See the unit website for further details including the assessment rubric.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Integrate contemporary technologies effectively into professional teaching practices.
  • Analyse a range of contemporary technologies and critically evaluate their potentials for application to specific and complex educational contexts.
  • Develop technology-enhanced learning designs based on appropriate theoretical frameworks and analysis of contemporary technology capabilities.
  • Critically evaluate and justify technology selection and design decisions for complex contexts with reference to current scholarly commentary, research and theory relating to educational technology usage.
  • Critically examine how digital technologies impact on our social, cultural, professional and educational lives based on appropriate sources of contemporary evidence.
  • Model positive attitudes and social behaviours relating to the integration of technology within teaching and learning, including effective participation in discursive processes.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Unit Organisation

This is a ten credit point unit run over a standard session. See the Unit Schedule below for all teaching weeks. 

Weekly class (hybrid) - Tuesday 5pm - 6pm (see iLearn for Zoom link). The classes are designed to be interactive as well as informative, and to assist you to perform well in your assessment tasks. If you are unable to attend a lecture then the ECHO360 recording will be made available.

Required Reading

The required text for this unit is:

Bower, M. (2017). Design of technology-enhanced learning: Integrating research and practice. Emerald Publishing.

e-Book version

A digital copy of the book should be available from http://ebooks.com for around $AU 50, which is about a 65% discount. Simply go to https://www.ebooks.com/95840983/design-of-technology-enhanced-learning/bower-matt/  and use the discount code provided at the top section of the iLearn unit website on checkout to receive the discount. This offer has been setup especially for EDUC2610 this session so please don't pass it onto anyone because the number of people who can use this discount is capped. The digital version of the book has several advantages including being searchable, colour images, and live hyperlinks to web references.

Hardcopy/paperback version

A paperback version of the book can also be purchased online at https://www.booktopia.com.au/design-of-technology-enhanced-learning-matt-bower/book/9781838679200.html . A hardcopy version is also available through Booktopia, for those who prefer. Paperback and hardcopy versions are available from other vendors, so it can be worthwhile to shop around online.

Library version

The text is available for periodical borrowing from the Library. The number of digital and hardcopy versions available may be capped, the library versions cannot be annotated, and there is a limit on the duration for which you borrow the digital and hardcopy versions from the library. In previous sessions students have been caught without access during peak periods such as exam times, so we recommend that you purchase either an e-Book or hardcopy version.

Information about the unit iLearn site 

This unit has a full web presence through iLearn. Information for students about access to the online component of this unit is available at https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/login/index.php. You will need to enter your student username and password.

Please do NOT contact the Unit Convenor regarding iLearn technical help. Assistance is available from IT Helpdesk: via email onehelp@mq.edu.au or Ph: 9850 4357 or 1800 67 4357. On Campus: Ground floor at 18 Wally’s Walk.

The iLearn website will contain links to all resources that you need to complete this unit.

Unit Schedule

Week Commencing

Topics

Week 1

(28/07/25)

Introduction to Technology in Secondary Education

Technology as an educational imperative

The Technology Pedagogy and Content Model and its implications

Week 2

(04/08/25)

Pedagogies of Technology-Enhanced Learning

Week 3

(11/08/25)

Technology Affordances and Multimedia Learning Effects

Week 4

(18/08/25)

Representing and Sharing Content Using Technology

Week 5

(25/08/25)

Design Thinking and Learning Design

Week 6

(01/09/25)

Designing for Learning Using Web-based Technologies

Week 7

(08/09/25)

Designing for Learning using Multimedia

Week 8

(15/09/25)

 Designing for Learning Using Generative Artificial Intelligence

 Mid Session Break Week 1

(22/09/25)

No class

 Mid Session Break Week 2

(29/09/25)

No class

Week 9

(06/10/25)

Designing for Learning using Augmented and Virtual Reality

Week 10

(13/10/25)

Abstracting Technology-Enhanced Learning Design Principles

Conclusions and Future Directions for Educational Technology

Unit summary and debriefing

Week 11

(20/10/25)

No class 

Week 12

(27/10/25)

No class

Week 13

(03/11/25)

No class

 

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit connect.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

School of Education Procedures

In addition, the following policies and procedures for the Macquarie School of Education apply to this unit.

Academic Progression Policy

This unit is a part of a professional course listed on Schedules 2 and 3 of the Academic Progression Policy. This course has additional requirements that are applicable for the full duration of the course, including course-specific Inherent Requirements, Fitness to Practice requirements and other compulsory course requirements. It also has rigorous academic progression standards. Inability to meet these requirements may result in a withdrawal of offer of admission and/or permanent exclusion from the course in accordance with the General Coursework Rules.

Communication

It is the student’s responsibility to check all electronic communication on a weekly basis.  Communication may occur via:

  • Official MQ Student Email Address
  • The Dialogue function on iLearn
  • Other iLearn communication functions

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Academic Success

Academic Success provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via the Service Connect Portal, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Changes from Previous Offering

The topic content has been updated to reflect changes in the educational technology field.

Unit information based on version 2025.02 of the Handbook