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SEED projects 2019 – A new Canvas for teaching and learning

Digital communication ethics in Arts

Dr Ethan PlautDr Ethan Plaut

Previously, neither the new Communication major nor Computer Science offered a course focused on ethics. Considering global concerns about the social impacts of new technologies, this is urgently needed, and the SEED grant made it possible to develop our new curriculum to reflect the unique concerns and cultural perspectives of Aotearoa New Zealand. Indigenous perspectives on technology were centered in this course, which brought students from Arts, Science, and other faculties together for an excellent interdisciplinary learning experience. In particular, the SEED grant enabled a collaboration with Te Mana Raraunga (the Maori Data Sovereignty Network) to develop teaching materials including instructional videos as well as an assignment paired with a lecture on the topic of government census and other forms of data collection.

The course also engaged directly with Canvas and other forms of education technologies, both grounding intellectual work in specific tools which are familiar to the students and providing some productive feedback on the ongoing process of developing new learning analytics policies at the University.