The course syllabus is under development. It will be finalized by late April 2024.
Course Dates: May 28 – August 4, 2024
Course Overview: In Dystopian Visions, Artificial Intelligence, and Education, we’ll consider the thematic elements of dystopian works and their relationship to AI within the context of education. You’ll be asked to draw insights from dystopian fiction to inform your work, as well as peer-reviewed literature or verified, vetted sources of information and opinion. We’ll use selected pieces of dystopian fiction (which includes short stories, poetry, novels, movies, music, and streaming series) to develop a series of reflections, creative works, and an academic treatment about A.I. and its impact on teaching and learning.
Course Mode: 100% asynchronous; delivered via Canvas (Boise State University). There will be occasional *optional* synchronous meetings, held during a weekday evening, via Zoom.
Weekly Topics
Week 1: May 28 – June 1
A Walling In and a Walling Out: Setting the Boundaries of our Exploration
Week 2: June 2 – 8
Yesterday’s Tomorrows: Understanding a Historical Perspective on Dystopias and A.I.*
Week 3: June 9 – 15
Dark Horizons: Creating a Framework to Understand Dystopian Visions **
Week 4: June 16 – 22
Distrusting Educational Technology: Examining a Necessary Critical Perspective ***
Week 5: June 23 – 29
“We Will Not Bow to Our Sponsors:” Thinking about Big Tech in A.I. and Education
Week 6: June 30 – July 6
The Ministry of Truth Tells No Lies: Contemplating the Impact on Governance
Week 7: July 7 – 13
At Least it’s a Dry Heat: Considering the Impact of A.I. on the Environment
Week 8: July 14 – 20
Androids and Electric Sheep: Dreaming of Societal (In)Equalities
Week 9: July 21 – 27
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern at Schrodinger’s Cafe: Absurd Artificial (Un)Certainties
Week 10: July 28 – August 4
A Reckoning: Coming to Terms with the future of A.I. in Education
COURSE MATERIALS
In addition to the “class novel” and “class movies” (and streaming episodes), students in the course will choose a second dystopian novel to read, as well as choose a different movie (or streaming series) to watch. The “student choice” readings and media will be used to help the student complete various course assignments.
Required Textbook(s): no course text is required; we’ll read chapters from various books, which will be provided for you by the instructor.
Novel: Klara and the Sun (2021) by Kazuo Ishiguro
Short Stories: (various selections)
Movies: Blade Runner (1982) & The Minority Report (2002)
Poems: (various selections)
Streaming Series: selected Black Mirror episodes (2020)
Podcast: selected episodes from various pods (found in modules)
Other: Selected news articles, journal articles, and book chapters (found in modules; provided by instructor)
PLANNED ACTIVITIES
WEEKLY JOURNAL ENTRIES: By the end of the module (A “module” in this course is one week in length) you will compose a 250-400 word entry on a course “Reflections Board” (it’s really a Canvas Discussion Board, but we won’t be discussing journal entries). Other students in the course will be able to see your weekly entries after they’ve posted their own. Each journal entry will have some common components, but there may also be a prompt I provide, such as a specific question that I’d like you to answer.
CLASS DISCUSSIONS: Each week, we’ll have a class discussion that you’ll participate in. Your posts will be due by mid-week, and the follow-up posts (responses) to your peers will be due by the end of the module. The discussions will be based on something we’ve read – an article or book chapter or something else I’ve assigned (like a movie).
PORTFOLIO COMPONENTS: Approximately every other week, you will submit a “close to done” version of some piece of work that is a representation of your learning. The pieces are based on something you’ve picked from the “Choice Board.” All components that you submit during the class (there will be four) will appear in the final project (aka, “portfolio”), but you’ll have other work there as well. The Choice Board offers you over 100 different choices to represent your learning!! Some pieces are only worth 25 points, whereas others are worth 100 points; you’ll need to choose components (artifacts) that total 500 points for your portfolio.
PORTFOLIO (FINAL PROJECT): During this course, you’ll be building a portfolio of work that you do over the next several weeks. Your portfolio gets submitted as your final project. Your portfolio will be comprised of a number of pieces of work that you choose based on how you want to represent your learning combined with how things are communicated. Four of those pieces will be submitted as you go along (“portfolio components”). All of the choices you have are found on the “Choice Board.” You have to have work that totals to at least 500 points. The final project is 50% of the final course grade.
OTHER WORK: You may be asked to submit some ideas or updates or plans to a “Bulletin Board” (it’s really a Canvas Discussion Board, but any discussion of the entries is optional). These will be required, and you’ll get credit for completion, but the points will not be counted toward the final grade for the course.
* Inspired by Gallardo, P. & Russell, E. (2014). Yesterday’s tomorrows: On utopia and dystopia. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
** Inspired by Baccolini, R. & Moylan, T. (Eds.) (2003). Dark horizons: Science fiction and the dystopian imagination. Routledge.
*** Inspired by Selwyn, N. (2013). Distrusting educational technology: Critical questions for changing times. Routledge.
Other module titles are inspired by various films, books, and plays.