EDEC 262 Media, Technology, and Education
Online Unit Plan (30%)
Due: April 8, 2011 @ 12PM (noon)
OVERVIEW (Note that minor changes have been made from the original description
in the syllabus. Please follow the guidelines below)
You will create a website of unit plan for an elementary or secondary classroom,
depending on what division you will be teaching. If you are not an education student,
you may chose to focus on a more general theme relating to critical media
awareness. You can choose the demographic that your unit plan will be designed for.
The theme should focus on issues related to diversity, multiculturalism and power
relations involving media and social justice. Use Weebly (www.weebly.com) to create
and host your website. You are at liberty to use a different platform to host your unit
plan but please make sure to consult with your lab instructor for approval. Due to
time constraints, only the use of Weebly will be covered in your labs.
The plan will consist of the following sections:
 Rationale (why you chose your topic and its relevance to your work)
 Topic (explanation of the subject matter you will be covering)
 Materials (resources needed to implement the lesson plan – includes digital
media, such as computers and cameras, and analog, like papers and pens)
 10 detailed day plans (breakdown of the individual lessons)
 Assessment (ways in which you will evaluate your students’ work)
 Reflection
More specifically your assignment should meet the criteria below:
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10 lessons, each lesson should be approximately 50 mins.
Use media at least 6 times (3 to teach, 3 production)
Activities of lesson must match duration of lesson
Make sure you have working embedded links (live links)
Do not show movies for the entirety of the class, use clips
Do not assume prior knowledge, explain all technical terms and concepts you
introduce and teach requisite media production skills (ie the skills your
students need to complete their course assignments)
 Organization is individual and up to your discretion.
SUBMISSION
Log on to your McGill Web CT account. Under “Discussions” (in your left hand
column) you will find a folder named Online Unit Plan website link (Weebly).
Click “Create Message”, paste your website link and post your reply.
Links are due on April 8, 2011 by 12 PM (noon). All late submissions will be
penalized 1 mark per 24 hours.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION AND GRADE BREAKDOWN (30 marks)
1) Topic (2 marks):
 Create a fictional classroom (The school, the students, the resources,
the economic status, etc. of the school is fictional. Do not use specific
names or addresses.)
 Have a title for the unit plan
 Explain what your unit plan is about
 Name who the lesson plan has been designed for (your target
population)
2) Rationale (4 marks):
 Explain why you chose your topic
 Explain how it is relevant to your students’ lived realities and how it
ties into broader social issues
 Your unit can operate under an be an umbrella topic where the unit is
a general topic and the lessons expand on specific and related aspects
of that topic
3) Materials (2 marks):
 List the resources and materials needed to implement your individual
lessons
 State when and how they will be used
 More specific materials can be listed in each individual lesson plan
4) Lesson plans (15 marks, 1.5 for each plan):
 Must have at least 3 (three) lessons with media as a teaching tool
and at least 3 (three) touching on the production aspect of media
education
 Explain how you plan to teach the media skills required to complete
course assignments. Do not assume that your students have prior
knowledge on how to use or analyze the forms of media you introduce
 Embed all of your media links – these can consist of pictures, videos,
music, etc… Ensure that your links all work. Dead (non-working links)
will not be considered for review
 List specific materials needed (digital/analog, hardware/software)
 Must be thorough enough in the description that a substitute could fill
in without much trouble
 Indicate length of activities
 If using worksheets or questions they are to be self-made, not taken
from internet. Games can be linked to ones found online.
 Overall organization up to your discretion
5) Assessment (3 marks):
 Can be a one-time affair assessing the entire unit, can be done each
lesson or every few, etc.
 Have a detailed explanation on how you are going to assess the
students and why you chose your methods of assessment
 Include any essay questions, quizzes, worksheets, etc. that are going
to be used to assess the students
 Include a rubric if you so desire (this is encouraged, as students will
likely ask for one)
6) Reflections (4 marks):
 Reflect on your finished unit plan or on individual lessons.
 Use the following threads to guide your reflections (you do not have to
touch on all of them):
o How satisfied are you with the final product?
o What do you believe are the strengths and weaknesses of your
plan?
o What were the main challenges faced in developing the unit
plans (both technically and conceptually)?
o Reflect on your use of materials and access to resources.
o How did classroom conditions and overall school environment
affect the way in which you planned your lessons?
o What are your thoughts on the overall process of producing an
online unit plan?
o What are the benefits and drawbacks of developing online unit
plans as opposed to paper-based ones?
UNIT PLAN PROPOSAL (Due March 18, 2011)
 Email your course professor a 50-100 word abstract (summary) of your
selected topic for the unit plan at habib.siam@mail.mcgill.ca. The short word
limit is designed to have you focus your ideas and express them concisely.
 Your abstracts must be submitted by March 18, 2011 (time of day is not so
relevant). They will not be graded but serve as a way to ensure that your
topic is appropriate and to help avoid misunderstandings down the road.
 Please use the following as your subject line: EDEC 262 proposal, Fri AM (for
the 11.30 am section) or PM (for the 1.05 pm section)
 Non-education students have the option to write an academic paper
instead of designing a unit plan. Aside from asking that it be mediarelated and between 3500 and 4000 words, I am keeping the
parameters flexible. You might choose to look at social and cultural
issues in the media or representations of schools and/or teachers for
examples. You could potentially analyze a song, a movie, print
media… Be creative. Reference your sources.
 If you have any alternative suggestions for a final assignment, please
use to the proposal to suggest them.
SAMPLE UNIT PLAN LINKS
Below are links to unit plans that were awarded full marks last year:
http://amelielemieux.wordpress.com/
http://lizyzimmerman.wordpress.com/
http://gohtbyeolkim.wordpress.com/
http://debrajohns.wordpress.com/
http://melissaraymondsblog.wordpress.com/
http://anneconstancemarie.wordpress.com/
http://tara318.wordpress.com/
http://amelielemieux.wordpress.com/
The following are links to assignments that were at the lower end of the grade spectrum:
http://dijanaetienne.wordpress.com/
http://sforest27.wordpress.com/
http://jschaye.wordpress.com/