CREATING AUTHENTIC TECHNOLOGY ENVIRONMENTS FOR IMMERSIVE LEARNING

This paper argues that traditional teaching methods in computer science do little to prepare students for the demands of the IT industry, where they are required to problem solve to meet the rapid changes in technological innovation, and to work in creative and responsive teams. It describes an approach taken in a new computer science degree at The University of Queensland, which is firmly embedded in learning-centred pedagogy. The educational design of the degree emphasises active, interactive and collaborative learning on the part of students. In this degree, students work as a community of learners, interacting to solve design problems. Courses provide a team-based environment for technical development and implementation, rather than the traditional inflexible, sequential and compartmentalised IT development methods found in most computer science degrees. This paper describes uses of technology that differ from current computer science education practice. Typically, technology application is thought of in terms of resources used to deliver effective teaching. In this paper we describe a course which immerses students in the evaluation, design and construction of technological constructs to achieve certain outcomes