Course Description
This course will explore the theoretical and philosophical roots of embodied cognition and ecological psychology as they relate to instructional technology. Students will apply design principles to develop embodied learning experiences with technology and implement instructional strategies that engage the sensorimotor system in a variety of content areas.
Athena Title
Embodied Learning and IT
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in EDIT 8800
Non-Traditional Format
This course will be taught 95% or more online.
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
- Students will describe mind-body dualism and how it impacts current perspectives of learning.
- Students will explain how learning occurs from an embodied perspective of cognition and how it differs from traditional views of cognition.
- Students will identify technologies that support learning from an embodied perspective and describe how those tools could be used in various learning contexts.
- Students will apply the principles of embodied learning to create activities that use technology to foster learning in a given content area.
- Students will implement embodied learning experiences using techniques associated with responsive teaching.
Topical Outline
- Philosophical roots and their relationship with current definitions of embodied learning (e.g., Descartes’ mind-body dualism; Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception)
- Ecological psychology and technological affordances
- Grounded cognition and interactive learning technologies
- The ecological huddle and collaborative learning with technology
- Body syntonicity and computer science education
- Extended cognition and artificial intelligence (AI)
- Creating your own embodied learning designs
- Implementing embodied learning through responsive teaching
