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**Collaborative Constructivist Activity**
//**Note:** Please refer to the **Rubrics** tab to view the points breakdown for this assignment.// In this module, you will participate in a brief collaborative constructivist activity with your learning community, utilizing Google Docs and a collaborative chat application such as Yahoo or Skype, or by setting up a free conference chat room with the whiteboard application Elluminate. Please refer to the **Tech Resources** section under Course Home for options on how you can collaborate for this assignment.

Please refer to the **Collaborative Constructivist Rubric** in the **Rubrics** section under Course Home for more detail on this assignment. This rubric will be used by your Instructor to assess your work on this project.

**Part 1: Analyze a Constructivist Theorist**
//**Note:** 18 points are possible; separately, an additional 8 points will be assigned for your participation as an individual in the class Discussion.// With your **learning community**, select and analyze one constructivist learning theorist to determine how his or her principles apply to educational technology based on the five "definitive questions" you have used as a framework for this course.

When your learning community decides which theorist you want to evaluate, post his or her name in the **Class Café**. If another learning community has selected the same theorist, you must choose a different one so that several are represented in the Discussion. Selection of the constructivist learning theorists is on a first-come, first-served basis.

You may select any constructivist theorist who is relevant to educational technology. By becoming an expert on one constructivist theorist, you will begin to understand in-depth the basic principles of constructivism so that you can apply them to the second part of your activity for this module.

You will answer the five "definitive questions" about your theorist as a group utilizing your selected method of collaboration and will complete the “Table of Definitive Questions About the Ideas of Your Constructivist Learning Theorist.”

Table of Definitive Questions About the Ideas of Your Constructivist Learning Theorist

Once your group has completed the table together, one member of your learning community will post your table to the Module 3 Discussion area so other members of the class can review it. Please label the file with the name of the constructivist theorist your group has analyzed.

Your group should post its analysis in table form, labeled with the constructivist theorist’s name, to the **Module 3 Discussion area** by **11:59 p.m. MT on Day 7 (Sunday)** of **Week 5**.

**Part 2: Solve a Workplace Problem Using Technology**
//**Note:** 30 points are possible for this portion of the assignment//

With your **learning community**, define a problem in the workplace that could be improved through the use of technology. You will use the Horizon Report to help you identify a technology that might improve or solve this problem. Your group will design a strategy to resolve the problem using the emerging technology you select. Your analyses of constructivist theorists will help you in this task.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Each year, the Horizon Report features a list of emerging technologies the consortium believes will be adopted and meet critical mass in the next 1–5 years. To locate the most current Horizon Report, conduct an Internet search using the keywords “Horizon Report” plus the current year (e.g., “Horizon Report” + 2010). This should take you to the home page of the Horizon Report for the current year. Here you will find links for "Key Trends," "Critical Challenges," and descriptions of emerging technologies that are expected to be adopted in 1 year or less, in 2–3 years, and in 4–5 years.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Explore the links on the home page for the Horizon Report to find the most current topics and questions that the scholarly community is discussing and to gain significant insight into the use of technology in the workplace. You may discover that many of the technologies being discussed relate to collaboration and social networking.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Next, your learning community will define a problem in the workplace that could be improved through the use of technology. To help you with this task, you might want to discuss some of the following questions in a chat room or via a Skype session:

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 * <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">How might you use technology to improve critical-thinking and problem-solving skills in the workplace?
 * <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">How can technology help learners/workers improve their performance?
 * <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">How might technology improve the work environment by increasing the motivation and interests of learners?
 * <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">How might technology be used to interact globally with learners in other time zones?
 * <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">How might technology be used to facilitate the integration of learners with diverse needs in the learning or work environment?

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Once your learning community decides on a problem that a technological innovation could improve, access the latest version of the Horizon Report and find the list of technologies that the consortium believes will achieve critical mass in the next 1–5 years. Your group must select one of these innovations as a possible solution to the problem you identified. You will discuss how that technology could facilitate collaboration and reduce the problem.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Then, your group will devise a plan to introduce that technology through a constructivist activity in your workplace. Include links to the Horizon Report you accessed and to three to five websites where your technology is demonstrated and discussed.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Each student should submit the group’s table and collaborative report in the**Dropbox** by **11:59 p.m. MT on Day 7 (Sunday)** of **Week 6**. Please include the names of all of your learning community members on the report.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Save the assignment as "TechnologyReport+last name+your first initial". For example, Sally Ride’s assignment filename would be "TechnologyReportRideS". Click on the**Dropbox** tab, choose **Module 3: Technology Report**, and then add your assignment as an attachment.