Updates & Reflections

The course development continues – sometimes a lot of progress is made in a couple of days, and sometimes it takes a bit longer for inspiration to strike. I’ve been finding a number of very interesting readings (articles, chapters, etc.) that will be fit into the course. The other thing I’ve done is settle on some objectives, and I’ve also made some decisions about the work that students will do.

Course Reading & Viewing

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)

Poem: (various selections)

Streaming Series: selected Black Mirror episodes (2020)

Podcast: selected episodes from various pods (found in modules)
Selected news articles, journal articles, and book chapters (found in modules)

Course Objectives

• Describe the evolution of dystopian literature
• Provide a brief overview of the evolution of artificial intelligence
• Describe various ways in which A.I. has been and is being used in education
• Distinguish between types of dystopian literatur e and be conversant about its dominant themes
• Discuss critical perspectives about educational technology
• Provide points of problematic intersections between A.I. and Big Tech as they relate to dystopian themes and education
• Discuss how A.I. is appearing in / influencing government policy as they relate to dystopian themes and education
• Provide talking points about the impact of A.I. on the environment as they relate to dystopian themes and education
• Discuss issues of the digital divide and social inequalities with respect to A.I. in education as they relate to dystopian themes and education
• Consider how A.I. is impacting culture in odd and unexpected ways

Course 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.” (the choice board has over 100 possible assignments from which to choose). 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.

As of February 2024, the course is still very much under construction. While I have ideas in place for the focus of each week in the 10-week course, I do not have all the activities and assignments planned quite yet. However, here are some initial ideas I have for them:

The “Dystopian Visions” course was inspired by a class I took while earning my master’s degree in instructional technology at Virginia Tech (I was an English teacher at the time). I needed to take an elective, and I preferred to do it online if possible (mind you, online courses were relatively new in the summer of 1998, so this was a bit of an experiment for me). I learned that the English department was offering an online course in Cyberpunk fiction, so I jumped at the chance. I know we read Gibson’s The Neuromancer and Stephenson’s Snow Crash, but beyond that I don’t remember much about the class except that I enjoyed the readings.

For some time now, I’ve wanted to “get back to my roots” (as an English major). This past fall (2023), knowing that our department didn’t have many electives available in Summer 2024, I began to think about what I might do that would be enjoyable for me and our students. My first idea as a course specifically about dystopian literature and educational technologies. When I pitched the idea to my department chairperson, she recommended that I try to include “artificial intelligence” more specifically in the title (as we have a new certificate in AI & education in the College of Ed.). I agreed to this idea even though I am as new to generative A.I. in its various iterations as most people are. Furthermore, I realized that “dystopian literature” was far too limiting given that some many other types of visions (film, streaming shows, etc.) exist. Thus – the genesis of “Dystopian Visions, AI, and Education.”

As I noted, I do not claim to be an expert in AI and, like anyone with an interest in it, I’m constantly learning. Additionally, despite having been an English major and teacher, I’m not an expert in dystopian fiction – either written or media – but I know that I LOVE the genre. And even though I’ve been a professional educator since 1994, an “ed tech” professional for almost 25 years, and a professor of Ed Tech since 2008, I’m not sure that I’m an expert in education either … there are so many dimensions of this field. The good news is that I believe any course is an opportunity for the instructor and the students to learn together, and I also believe it’s not the professor’s task – especially in graduate education – to be the center of knowledge. I think my main task is to provide create some interesting activities and questions, to listen to perspectives, and to offer encouragement and challenges along the way.

Finally, I have to admit to some biases. Although I’ve been in the field of ed tech for a long time, and although I understand the value of various technologies for some purposes, I am not a “flag waiver.” In fact, I find myself quite skeptical about any claims about ed tech because in very many cases, the science is poor, and the data are suspect. This is not to say that the usefulness of anything needs to come down to what empirical studies say – because in some cases the anecdotal evidence among teachers “in the trenches” is enough if they believe certain tools are “making a difference” (however they define it). I don’t believe those insights rise to the level of an organization making systems decisions for (or against) technologies, but typically that never happens … it’s rather more common to find administrators who’ve been convinced by the narrative of vendor. A great many of the promises made about any technology (such as A.I.) with respect to how it gets implemented in an educational context tend to be hyperbolic and completely ignore a long history of expensive failures, the tendency to widen the “digital divide,” a demonstrable record of dismissing the experience of teachers, no end to assumptions about learners, and so on. With respect to A.I. specifically, my bias at this time is that I see a dark future ahead – hence the reason this course is about dystopian visions and not utopian ones.