FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

FALL 2006

EDUC6584    

Computer As a Teacher's Aid: Curriculum and Instruction

Schedule:      Thursday 4:30 

Instructor:     Nick Miceli 

WEBRING

Meigin Gu

Frank Lentis

Chanell LaCross

Randi Mergel

Byeong Kwang Yu

Lauren Vohs

Peter Mabli

Anna Garella

Danielle Ponti

Miranda Albert

Joan Luciano

Pedro Lebre

Guluzar Polat

Course Description:

The computer is treated as a foundational tool integrated into a teacher's daily professional work and classroom activities. Topics covered include the authoring and use of standard software packages and the initiation and development of a professional electronic portfolio site for use both in current graduate studies and professional school-based activities.

ONLINE TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE RESOURCES

Convwerge

Edutopia

Electronic-School - The School Technology Authority

ESchool News

T H E   JOURNAL

Tools for Teachers

Schedule

Session        Topic                                                 

BASIS FOR GRADE

Your grade will be based upon an accumulation of points that you earn through completing the following course requirements:

1)  Assignment #1: Custom Publication using Word 10 points

2)  Assignment #2: Grade book using Excel 10 points

3)  Assignment #3:  Hyperlinked Directory 10 points

4)  Assignment #4:  Multimedia Presentation 25 points

5) Assignment #5: Review 2 scholarly articles 10 points

6) Assignment #6: Develop e-portfolio 10 points

7) Assignment #7: Write a reflection on your class activities and assignments 10 points

8) Classwork / participation 15 points

TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS: 100 POINTS

Your total number of points will be converted into the following grade:

100-95:  A                               85-83:  B

94-90:    A-                              82-80   B-

89-86:    B+                             79-75   C

STANDARDS FOR WRITTEN WORK

• PLEASE TYPE YOUR WORK.
• All work submitted should be neat and well written.  PLEASE PROOFREAD carefully; correct your errors and then proofread it again.  Any errors will be reflected in your grade.
• Each assignment must include the following information on a separate cover page:

NAME     

DATE     

COURSE NAME AND NUMBER  

TITLE OF REPORT

• All assignments must be in on time. Late submissions will be reflected in your grade.

STANDARDS FOR ALL VISUAL PROJECTS

• All work submitted will promote visual literacy. Visual elements are an integral part of the communication process and convey information while being aesthetically pleasing. Visual elements should not be decorative additions.
• Some of the criteria you should attend to in selecting visual elements are:
  • Does it have a center of interest?
  • Is the color scheme pleasing and easy to read?
  • How is the quality of the image?
  • Is the image the correct scale and proportionality in terms of the newsletter?
  • Does the element support the text and contribute to the overall message you are trying to convey?
  • Is the element well-placed within the newsletter?  Is it distracting?

ATTENDANCE POLICY

Students are required to attend all classes.  However, two absences for legitimate and approved reasons will not affect your grade.  Additional absences will result in a lowering of the grade.  If there are three (3) absences the grade will be lowered 1/2 grade. Four (4) absences and the grade will be lowered one full grade.  Extenuating circumstances such as serious illness, death in the family, and other contingencies may be excused based upon the instructor's decision.  An e-mail or phone message is required for all absence.

ASSIGNMENTS

All assignments are to be posted on your edfolio site on the date listed.  If your assignments are late your grade will be affected).  If you are having a problem posting your work e-mail the assignment to me (nmiceli@fdu.edu) as an attachment.  Absence is not an excuse for a late assignment.

ASSIGNMENT 1:  Develop a Custom Publication for Use in the Classroom (10 points)

Rubric

Using the advanced features of Microsoft Word, develop a classroom newsletter for a grade level with text, graphics, and columns which could be sent home to parents or distributed to the rest of the school.  The publication should focus on one specific content area that you would teach in the classroom (mathematics, reading, social studies, science) and contain information about the field that students and parents would find helpful.  It should be based upon current research in the field and reflect solid foundational knowledge of the content area. The publication should contain examples of how the content is applied in the classroom.  For example, if you choose the field of reading for first grade, you can focus on phonemic awareness and discuss the importance of this for beginning readers, and provide specific examples of phonemic awareness activities.  You will develop a Phonemic Awareness Newsletter for parents and the community.

You will communicate visually with the reader by the design layout and the selection and placement of elements. The design elements promote visual literacy to convey information, increase the visual knowledge of the reader, and purposefully and aesthetically engage the viewer. These graphic elements should not be decorative additions but integrated into the meaning of the text;  you should select visual content that is thought- provoking and promotes visual literacy.

 In a brief paper of approximately 2 pages, reflect upon the value of this assignment and how it will help you as a teacher. You will specify which New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standard your publication addresses.  You should also mention how this newsletter accommodates diverse learners in the classroom.  Choose one or two New Jersey Professional Standards for Teachers (no more than 2) and discuss how this assignment addresses the standard(s). (DUE SESSION 12)

ASSIGNMENT 2:  Develop a grade book and graphs students' progress. (10 points)

Rubric

Using Microsoft Excel, develop a gradebook which will enable you to maintain records for your students and comparatively graph their progress. Develop an assessment system for one subject area (i.e., Language Arts) that reflects at least 5 grades for different assignments.  Give each of these 5 grades a different weight and describe what type of assessment you are using in a separate paper. For example, one assignment might be a book talk to the class which is assessed using a rubric and is worth 25 points or 25% of the grade. Another assignment might be a writing sample which is scaled on a rubric and worth 50% of the grade. 

In a brief 1-2 page paper discuss: 1) how you can use Excel in your own classroom with students. Please give specific examples; 2)  which New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standard(s) your assignment addresses; 3) how this assignment will help you as a teacher; 4) which New Jersey Professional Standards for Teachers (no more than 2) this assignment addresses and your rationale for choosing this standard(s). (DUE SESSION 13)

ASSIGNMENT 3:  Create a directory of hyperlinked educational websites for one content area.  RUBRIC (10 points)

Using Microsoft Excel to develop a database of at least 10 recommended content area websites.  Include the site name linked to the URL, grade level(s), a short description of each site reviewed, and an evaluative summary as to how it can be used in the classroom. Categorize the sites into subject; teacher resource, parent resource or student resource; and grade level. Be certain you have working hyperlinks for each website to allow users to quickly access your reference list. Each website should be one that you could use in your own content-area curriculum. (DUE SESSION 12)

ASSIGNMENT #4:  Develop a multimedia presentation using Microsoft PowerPoint.  (25 points)

Using Microsoft PowerPoint develop a short presentation which will be presented to the class.  The presentation must include at least three of the following: photographs, clipart, maps, charts, music, video and sound. The presentation should focus on an area of research in Instructional Technology and how instructional technology is impacting the field of education or a specific content area.  The presentation should be based upon a lesson you might teach in a specific content area in the classroom to your students. You will choose a specific grade level, content area and Core Curriculum Content Standard and develop presentation which will enhance the lesson.

The visuals you use in the PowerPoint presentation should promote a deeper understanding of the concept you are developing. They should not be clipart icons added to fill space and look cute. The selection of the image must follow the rules of good design. You could arrange the elements so that they are not scattered around the page. You should develop a center of interest on each slide, or the most important element on the page. You can then visually balance the center of interest with less dramatic visual elements, usually three smaller elements, to lead the eye around subsequent slides. The viewer will then read the visual elements that are essential to the communication of the information. These visual elements should not be decorative art.  (DUE SESSION 14 OR 15)

Assignment #5: Review two scholarly articles on instructional technology and write a synthesis of these articles in a two-three page paper. (10 points)

Rubric

Resources

Campus Technology

T H E Journal

eSchool News

Technology & Learning

Choose an area that interests you such as using iPods in the classroom, how e-books are changing the way we read, video gaming in education, blogs and wikkis, or social software such as MySpace and write a brief two to three page paper using two scholarly journal articles.  Make sure that the two articles relate to the topic you choose.  The scholarly journal articles can be obtained from FDU library and should be approved by the instructor.  Articles from popular magazines or newspapers are not acceptable.  Some journals you can review are: 

•  Journal of Research on Computing in Education
• Educational  Technology
• Journal of Computers in Schools
• Journal of  Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
• Journal of Educational Computing Research
• Computers in Education Journal

RESOURCES:

For a comprehensive list of online journals that include articles about instructional technology go to: http://www.unc.edu/cit/guides/journals.html

You can also go to sites like http://readingonline.org, http://innovateonline.info, ISTE's - Learning & Leading with Technology at http://www.iste.org/LL/31/8/index.cfm, and The Educational Technology Journal at http://www.fno.org/.

You can also use ERIC - Educational Resources Information Center at: http://www.eric.ed.gov/.

Please use APA style in referencing your work.  Use http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ to help you.

Include a reflection in your paper in which you discuss how this assignment helped you as a future (or current) teacher, and what benefits you gained from it.  You will also choose one (or two) of the New Jersey Professional Standards for Teachers and given a rationale as to why this assignment addresses this standard.

As long as the articles you review are from peer-reviewed journals and report scholarly research in the field, they will be acceptable. If you have questions, please contact your instructor.  (FIRST REVIEW DUE SESSION 6) (SECOND REVIEW DUE SESSION 12)

ASSIGNMENT #6: Create an electronic portfolio using EdFolio (10 points)

Rubric

Using the template provided in class, you will create an electronic portfolio which incorporates all the features and links required for the School of Education. The electronic portfolio will be used by the student as a means to demonstrate that the student has met all 10 New Jersey Professional Standards for Teachers at the completion of the certification program.  For this class, the basic template will be set up by each student so that it can be used to collect artifacts from each class the student takes in their graduate work.  (COMPLETED BY SESSION 15)

ASSIGNMENT #7:  Write a 2-page reflection  (10 points)

Write a reflection on each activity/project as you complete it.  Write about your interpretation of the relevance and application of the activity in your classroom.  Also, since this is a professional exchange, state your feelings about the content and the appropriateness of the activities.  This information is very important for the planning of future classes.

Why is it important to integrate technology into the classroom? What benefit, if any, does technology have on student learning?   (DUE SESSION 12)

Classwork activities and Participation (15 points)

Assignments and Due Dates 

September 8                                  

Ball Animation due Session 6 classwork assignment

October 5                                   

Reports on two articles (Assignment 5) (FIRST REVIEW DUE SESSION 6)

October 19                                 

Gradebook (Assignment2) due Session 8 

October 19

Questions due Session 8 classwork assignment

October 26

Classroom Sign due Session 9 classwork assignment

November 2

Resume due Session 10 classwork assignment

November 16

Reflection (Assignment 7) due Session 12

Newsletter (Assignment 1) due Session 12

Directory of Hyperlinks (Assignment 3)     due Session 12