The course missive describes the rationale and mechanics of the Seminar, but there are several things which distinguish CS92/ED89 not only among courses at Brown but among courses offered by CS and Education departments nationally. Briefly: the course is an exercise in applying skills, technical as well as analytical, to a "problem" posed by an independent "client"; and at the same time the course is meant to be an experience of thinking deeply about education, the relationship between computers and education, and the evaluation of technology generally. So while this is a production course of sorts, "the object is to think rather than to accept certain conclusions" (the line is Bertrand Russell's).
There are several things that distinguish the approach and structure of the Educational Software Seminar. First, and probably most importantly, the Seminar begins with proposals from local teachers (K-16) for programs they want to use in their teaching. The history of classroom technology has been plagued by a kind of "top-down" implementation and enthusiasm that we therefore avoid. Second, we treat the technical questions and issues as just a subset of all the questions and issues involved in the creation of effective educational technology. As we work on the projects, therefore, we discuss and debate issues having to do with: education and the structure of educational institutions; the role of computers in school and in the world we live in now; and what we mean by and know about teaching and learning. Finally, we work in teams, because the projects and the constraints we work under (e.g. time) are such that what is required for a successful project/program is a Whole that is at least as great as the sum of the Parts.
If we compare computer science and education as disciplines, we notice a number of interesting similarities in their histories and differences in their outlooks. These comparisons and contrasts suggest some important questions: