Joyce Morris & Sandra Lathem, Instructors,

Jing Qi, Graduate Assistant: 426A Waterman Building

Classes meet in the Waterman PC lab, 113Q
Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:00 - 3:15 PM

CLASS SITE

CLASS WEB PAGES

Date Topic Description
8/31 Introductions

In our first class you will be introduced to course objectives, technology standards, your syllabus, assignments, computer hardware, software and network use. If you do not have an E-mail account,we will help you get one. We'd like you to take a quick online survey called Getting to Know You and will share results with you.

We also plan to have you take an online self-assessment of your technology literacy and familiarize you with the technology skills new teachers are expected to master. You will first need to register for the survey at http://tools.metiri.com.

The NETS Project (NETS-T) and Performance profiles- You can download your own copy.

9/2 File Management In this lesson you will learn to use your lab computer and our university network. You will learn to logon, locate applications, create folders, subfolders and files, use system preferences, print, and access the university network. You will learn how to take each others' picture using a digital camera and save it to your zoo account. UVM Software is available in Mac and PC formats for all students, and you can download this software to your own computers. Make sure you download a (File Transfer Program) FTP, Norton's Virus Protector, and any other programs you think you will find useful.
9/7 How can Technology Accelerate Learning?*

Do you think technology can help students learn? What Kind of a Learner are You?   Take a learning Styles Survey to see what kind of a learner you are. We will then compile the class results to see the over-all composition of the class.

Introduction to Teachers' Workplace: OverView. Learn how to sign on, navigate the site, upload files to a collection, create a new folder, access your reading assignment on Visual Learning for class discussion.

9/9 Using Teachers' Workplace*
  • How to work in groups to respond to readings
  • Naming files
  • How to use the drop box for assignments
  • How to share folders and documents
  • Time to make folders for Portfolio Artifacts and upload resources
  • See Lesson 4 Student Instructions
9/14

Using Microsoft Word Tools

Although many of you have used  Microsoft Word, today we will review basic skills and touch on some new ones. After an overview of the menu, you will learn how to use  drawing tools and text fields, columns, spellchecker, grammarchecker,  adding clip art and inserting digital graphics. Use of markup features will be used to provide feedback to others. Saving in different formats will also be explained.
9/16 Creating an Autobiograhical Newspaper.*
Today you will use the skills you learned using Word, and a few more today, to create an Autobiographical Newspaper. This is one way to assess what you learned and demonstrates a way you can use this in a classroom with your students. It also helps us know more about you as an individual and since you will be sharing these with other students in this class, you will all know more about each other. See Assignment on Assignment Page. Models will be introduced to help you provide feedback to students in your online peer group. You will also learn how to use a rubric to help you understand the expectation of the assignment and guide you in your feedback.
9/21 Providing Feedback for improved assignments.* In this class you will learn how to use a rubric to help you provide constructive feedback to members in your group via your Peer feedback groups on TWP (Teachers' Workplace). To practice inter-rater reliability, we will practice in groups to offer feedback and grade Example One and Example Two
9/23 Resurfacing the web? <>Although most of you are familiar with using the web, in today's class we will learn how to use it with your students. We will spend some time learning how to copy bookmarks from one computer to another, evaluating sites, and exploring the best ways to find reliable information on the world wide web.  All search engines are not the same and some strategies will help you locate the information you are looking for in less time. See  Search for some differences betwen search engines and we will then take a Scavenger hunt together. Do NOT START AHEAD of the SIGNAL. <>

Next lets look at  Five Criteria for Evaluating WebPages. Also useful are some helpful hints put together by a class of students at George Mason University.

Which of the following websites do you think are reliable sites? What is your evidence?
  1. http://www.theonion.com
  2. http://www.crime-research.org/news/2003/09/Mess0203.html
  3. http://www.umbachconsulting.com/miscellany/velcro.html
  4. http://www.whitehouse.org
  5. http://www.whitehouse.gov
  6. http://www.whitehouse.net
  7. http://www.genochoice.com
  8. http://bonsaikitten.chaos.org
  9. http://www.improb.com/airchives/classical/cat/cat.html
  10. http://www.texasonline.net/langley/columns/drink.htm
Use the form Site reliability to respond to whether you believe these are reliable sites for educational research.
9/28 The Best Resources on the Net

The web has some wonderful resources and ways to engage students' interests. Today we will go on an Internet: Webquest, Information and help in creating one can be found at T-Spider.
and visit some telecommunciation projects

Also visit TERC's test bed of telecommunication projects, particularly in Math and Science. to involve your students in real research that dissolves the previous impenetratable classroom walls.
Explore resources on Marco Polo , a juried collection for educators from the finest academic organizations. Search or browse their site and most of this information is not subject to copyright laws as long as you are using them in your classroom as a teaching resource. .
Online Museums.  can transport your students anywhere at anytime and many let them interact with displays. See how a Harrison High School in Gulfport Mississipi is using technology to enhance the learning of their students in all disciplines.
Also check out my picks for some of the best educational websites.We will also discuss ethical behavior and copyright issues and what you may copy and use in a classroom with your students and what you may not. Everyone will share their favorite site and explain why it was their choice.

9/30 Electronic Portfolios What constitutes a portfolio? Looking at some online Portfolios.  What will our sites contain? Storyboarding site. You might want to also read  Create Your Own Electronic Portfolio
10/5 Designing Web Pages How HTML enables us to publish on the WWW. Designing Web Pages: Elements of good design. Form and function for visual literacy. Website Management and Using Netscape Composer. 
10/7 Using Netscape Composer (Mozilla) Changing backgrounds, colors, adding pictures and links.  Review Ethical uses of web resources.  Web Resources.
10/12 Publishing on the Net Working with tables and adding scanned pictures to enhance our sites.     Using Tables for Design
10/14 Peer Feedback about our Portfolios Adding other pages, Work from other courses, problem solving mistakes, and adding reflections to each entry. Add artifacts to TWP. Ask for peer feedback to help you write your reflections (reflection rubric).
10/19 Uploading to the Web Practice in using FTP to move documents to your public_html server site, as well as just dropping in your zoo folder if you are on campus. Work on revising webpages, and adding new pages to your site..
10/21 Refining websites Creating weblink to site in TWP to "discuss" with class for final feedback.
10/26 Spreadsheets for classroom and professional use. Click on your Spreadsheet and Graphs link in the left column to see your assignment or go to the assignment link.
Using Excel to maintain a gradebook and budget.
Check out the links below to see lots of applications for using Excel in K-12 classrooms.
10/28
Conduct your Research
Conduct a simple research project and set up a speedsheet. Graph your results using the most appropriate graphing tool. See Rubric for specific critera and models for examples.
11/2 Graphing Research Results Sharing and discussing results of your results and adding this to your eportfolio.
11/4 Identifying the Best Web Resources Today you will add a page to their portfolio that includes the name with the link embedded and a 3-4 annotation of the 10 best websites to use in class with your students.
Resources for School Science Teachers
11/9 Publishing Resources to your portfolio Practice in adding an additional resource to your portfolio and TWP artifact collection. Look at at least three other students' pages and try a few of their links. Give them some feedback about their page.
11/11 Using Multimedia in your teaching Look at the Vertmont FrameWork of Standards and Learning Opportunities.   Examine the standards in your discipline. Select a topic that you would be teaching to a secondary education student and develop a video project to help them learn the concept you are trying to teach.
Below are examples of some videos produced by middle and secondary education students and other resources that may be useful to you.
  •  Grass Born to Be Stepped On: Women’s Rights in China  For the statewide History Day competition, eighth graders from Mansfield, Connecticut researched the historical impact of rights and responsibilities, and then created powerful documentaries that combine drama with relevant photos, interviews, music, and narration.
  • MathThemeatics: See how Guillivers Travels has been adapted to figure out ratios and proportions.
  • Becta (British Educational Communications and Technology Agency)
  • See how you can use a still camera in imovie to create an interesting imovieslide show. Our Math Trail
  • American Stories:  Students from Bismarck, North Dakota, overcame the challenge of making personal and meaningful connections with historical events. They conducted interviews with war veterans in their own community, and then transformed their stories into powerful documentaries.
  • Modeling Quadradic data: Students sketch graphs, list x-intercepts, and then convert functions written in the general quadratic form to an equivalent factored form by utilizing graphing technology.
  • Aquaculture Production in the Classroom: Using previously covered material about the basics of aquaculture, students will gain an understanding and appreciation for the water conditions necessary to successfully raise aquatic plants and animals.
  • City of Manson Students create a CD of their home town using technology tools.
  • QX3 Computer Microscope Biology Project Students will work in groups to design and present a PowerPoint presentation that reflects research on the topic they select, utilizes the technological aspects of the computer microscope, and explores new areas of biology in which they are interested
Planning for the digital movie. Also look at Videoography for Educators. for some useful tips on how to make a professional looking movie.
11/16 Learning to use Digital Video Today we meet in 113T in your groups. Each group will work on 1-2 computers where you will learn how to use iMovie to edit a digital video.
11/18 Filming your movie Today we meet in 113T where your group will be given a video camera and instruction on how to use it. You will film your   "teaching video" and download it to your computer where you can edit it. If you have not finished editing it SAVE THE PROJECT to a LaCie drive. Jing and I will each have one.  It is likely that you will have to work on the editing before the next class. The TFT lab in Waterman 541 has many Macs to work with. Come to our office in 426A waterman to get the LaCie drive to retrieve your PROJECT.  When you are finished editing you will SHARE your movie and want to save it for the web. You will then be able to send your quicktime movie file to your public_html folder and in class you will learn how to insert them into a web page.
11/23 Editing your movie Students will complete the editing of their teaching movie and FTP it to their public_html site and their TWP site, Inserting a video into a webpage.
11/30 PowerPoint for Teaching Review of Basic PowerPoint 2003  features and some advanced features to make interesting presentations. Other useful PowerPoint resources include: PowerPoint2002 directions,
Getting started with PowerPoint 2003   Using PowerPoint in the Classroom     Dr. Alice Christie's Using PowerPoint in the classroom.
 12/2 PowerPoint for Learning Continuing work on PowerPoint. Saving Powerpoint on the web and include your reflection. Last Day to work on Projects in Class. Password Protecting Your Site
12/7 Presentations Students will present an overview of their portfolios to their classmates (2 minutes each) and take a course assessment and evaluation.

 


 

 
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