EDU 577 - Educational Computing - Theory and Practice Syllabus, Ed. Dept., ECSU

Education Department, School of Education and Professional Studies

EDU 577 - Educational Computing - Theory and Practice (3 credits)

[also found on the World Wide Web as http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/577syl.html]

Instructor: Dr. David L. Stoloff ................Class Location: Webb Hall 307
Office: WH 129 Hours: online at stoloffd@easternct.edu
Phone: (860) 465-5501

If there is any student in this class who has any disabilities, additional accommodation needs, or any suggestions that would lead to enhancing this course's learning experiences, please talk with me before or after class, or during my office hours.

Catalog Description: . An examination of the research on computer use in education as it relates to current and future uses of computers in schools. Development of an in-depth project related to software evaluation, curriculum development, the teaching of programming, or another relevant topic. (3 credits).

Course Goals/Objectives

Recommended Texts and Materials:
1) An email account. 2) Mehlinger, H.D. & Powers, S.M. Technology & teacher education: A guide for educators and policymakers. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002.

Topics for the units

Unit 1 Current Uses of Computers in Education

Unit 2 Technology Integration into the Curriculum

Unit 3 Assistive Technology, Preparation of Tech Specialists

Unit 4 Applications of programming in educational settings

Unit 5 Projecting future uses of Educational Technology

Course Activities

July 1 -3 Unit 1: Current Uses of Computers in Education - Threaded Discussion
Please describe your learning and teaching settings - your theory and practice, so that we might get to know each other. Discuss your educational background, your current academic interests, and your current teaching settings. How have you used educational technology in these settings? Please let's also explore connections that we might have by responding to each other.
Please complete your introduction by July 3. You will earn 5 points for participation in the discussion - introducing yourself and commenting on the introduction of at least two other participants.
5 points

Welcome to EDU 577 - Educational Computing - Theory and Practice.
This is a 6 week experience during the Summer of 2002 - an exploration in the uses of computers in education, with a discussion of the theory and practice in current classrooms and their implications on learning and teaching in the future.
I have requested that we use as a reference for our discussions - Mehlinger, H.D. & Powers, S.M. Technology & teacher education: A guide for educators and policymakers. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002. This text has accompanying online resources at http://college.hmco.com/education/mehlinger/tech_and_teach_ed/1e/instructors/chapters/index.html
that includes information on advanced practices in using technology in education and expectations for teachers.
I predict that in this seminar there will be participants with differing skills and experiences in the use of educational technology. The next assignments will provide some information on the general performance levels of participants.
Following your introductions, I will try to accommodate your goals for this course. I encourage you to suggest alternative learning assignments and goals for yourself. Any changes in this course syllabus will be designed to enhance the learning experience.
The gradebook for this course is in the document sharing folder.

July 1 -3 How well-prepared do you believe you are in the applications of educational technology for learning and technology?
Please download the EXCEL spreadsheet at http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/577/standards.xls
and complete the survey by indicating your preparedness to fulfill the ISTE National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS•T), described at http://cnets.iste.org/teachstandintro.html .
Use this key -
KEY: Not prepared = 1, Somewhat prepared = 2, Prepared = 3, Well prepared = 4
and fill in the spreadsheet at the lines across from the standards.
Please complete this assignment by July 3 so that I might develop, if necessary alternative assignments to better accommodate the skills levels in this seminar. You will receive 5 points for completing this survey.
5 points

Unit 1: Current Uses of Computers in Education - Reading
Please read chapters 1 and 2 in Technology and Teacher Education. The first chapter deals with the state of preservice and inservice teacher education and notes that Schools, Colleges, Departments of Education (SCDEs) should rise to the challenge of "the need for teachers who can employ technology successfully in the their classrooms."
The second chapter deals with some of the benchmarks developed for teachers using technology. It features a discussion of the CEO Forum on Education and Technology's STaR Chart - http://www.ceoforum.org/.
Please also take a look at the ISTE standards at
http://www.iste.org/standards/ncate/index.html
and
http://cnets.iste.org/ncate/index.html .

July 4 - 7 Unit 1: Current Uses of Computers in Education - Standards
The preceding readings discuss the technology standards for teachers developed by several organizations. What level would you like to achieve? What resources would enable you to achieve these goals? Please refer to the reading and associated websites.
Five points for your comments and reactions to others on this topic. Let's discuss this topic from July 4 - 7.

5 points

July 15 Unit 1: Current Uses of Computers in Education - Seminar readings      Help
An long-term assignment would be to do some reading in an area of your interest and in educational technology. You may chose another text or visit the
http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/textbooks/onlinelibrary.html
for some online textbooks of interest or some online journals.
By July 15, please send me via email, to stoloffd@easternct.edu a "long-ish" essay, 500 words, on the influence of the textbook or 4 articles on your thinking about Educational Technology. This assignment will earn you 20 points.

20 points

July 15 Unit 2: Technology Integration into the Curriculum - Individualizing Instruction
From the self-assessment, several of the participants noted that they would like more preparation in using ACCESS and web-publishing.   (If you feel that you are confident in these areas, then you may do other assignments instead. The goal is to earn 180 points in the course.)
Here are two assignments which when completed should give a greater sense of preparation. Please complete these assignments by July 15.
1) ACCESS - database - and merging into a WORD document
For this project, please email me as attachment an Microsoft Word Document with at least five fields from a Microsoft Access database merged into it. Please include the database as an attachment.
Please take a look at Creating a Database and Merging the Information into a Form Letter at http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/553/creatingdatabases.html for details on this process.
This assignment is worth 10 points.
10 points

July 15 Web publishing
Homepages
As a further way to introduce yourself to our seminar and to the world, please consider developing a
homepage. A homepage is a website which is an individual's or small group's identification. It would be
useful for one to have a homepage to demonstrate skills in using the web and to describe one's interests.
Examples of homepages which have been developed by course participants at Eastern CT State
University may be found from the index at
http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/homepages.html.
You should post your homepage on the World Wide Web - practicing the process of uploading files
which will be useful when we work on our ThinkQuest project.
Your homepage should include links to supportive web resources. Please send us the WWW address of
your homepage by posting it as a thread in our introductory discussion. This project will add 20 points
to your score.
Notes on how to develop websites may be found at
http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/textbooks/creatingtextbooks.html
An electronic textbook is a "homepage" on a specific topic. A homepage focuses more an individual's interests or place in the world.
After creating your homepage, you should upload it to a server. You should try to find a server that will allow you to post websites for a year or two or longer. Some universities offer this service - i.e.
ECSU; unfortunately, student accounts don't remain long-term on the server.
Geocities http://geocities.yahoo.com/home/
offers free web server space - there is a cost in that an ad floats over the page when opened - but a
cost that may be acceptable for free space. You will need to register for a yahoo account - also free -
and become familiar with uploading files using a file manager.
You are encouraged to make use of the webpage development tutorial or the wizard within Geocities to
help you with this project, and to contact either me or your classmates for consultation.
Please feel free to discuss any questions you might have on the process of webpage development and dissemination with me individually at stoloffd@easternct.edu . Please send me your website address which I will post in the third section in this unit. This project is worth 20 points.
20 points

July 7- 9 Unit 2: Technology Integration into the Curriculum - Threaded Discussion
Please describe your most used software program. How would you use it in educational computing? Please do a web search and cite what others have commented about the software.
[For July 7- 9. 5 points for your contributions - your response and at least two comments to others.]

5 points

by July 29 Unit 2: Technology Integration into the Curriculum - Theory
Particularly for those who are confident about the use of ACCESS for creating mail-merged letters and/or web page publishing. please consider more study into the theory of educational technology.
http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/textbooks/onlinelibrary.html
has several online resources for study in Ed Tech theory. Please review 4 articles or a text with at least 4 chapters and send me by July 29 a longish essay, about 500 words, on how the theory discussed in these readings have influenced your ideas on Educational Technology. This project is worth 20 points

20 points

Unit 2: Technology Integration into the Curriculum - Reading
The textbook - Technology and Teacher Education - has resources available online starting from
http://college.hmco.com/education/mehlinger/tech_and_teach_ed/1e/instructors/index.html
Please review the resources for chapters 2 and 3 and participate in the next threaded discussion.

July 9-11 Chapters 3 & 4 in Technology and Teacher Education discusses ways of integrating technology instruction into preservice education programs.
How is educational technology taught in your educational setting now? How should technology be integrated? Which of the models in the text are transferable to your setting?
Please respond to these questions and then comment on the responses of at least two others between July 9-11. 5 points for your full participation.
5 points

by July 15 Unit 2: Technology Integration into the Curriculum - Curriculum plan
After reviewing chapters 3 & 4 in the textbook and responding to our discussion above, please develop a curriculum plan for your educational setting which would enhance technology applications.
Please include learner objectives for at least 3 months of instruction related to these applications.
Please also cite at least 3 sources, illustrated on the web, of similar programs in similar educational settings and compare and contrast your ideas with the ideas presented on their websites.
Please do take a look at what others might have done on the topics of your interest. You would find some curriculum units developed by students at ECSU at http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/units.html
or you might also visit webquest http://webquest.sdsu.edu/webquest.html or
ThinkQuest - http://www.thinkquest.org/ .
Please cite at least 3 projects you found interesting as you plan.
Please send these technology integrated curriculum plans to stoloffd@easternct.edu as a WORD attachment by July 15. This assignment will earn 20 points.
Examples of completed projects:
Best State WebQuest http://www.jamie.hendricks.net/lab/states/

20 points

Unit 3: Assistive Technology, Preparation of Tech Specialists - Reading
Please read Chapters 5 & 6 in the Technology and Teacher Education, dealing with assistive technology and the preparation of technology specialists. Make use of the resources available through http://college.hmco.com/education/mehlinger/tech_and_teach_ed/1e/instructors/chapters/index.html.

July 11 - 15 Unit 3: Assistive Technology, Preparation of Tech Specialists - Assistive Technology
What have been your experiences with the use of Assistive Technology in your educational setting? What technology would you like to explore in the short-run? Long-run? (for more information about assistive technology, see chapter 5.)
Please participate in this discussion from July 11 - 15. (5 points for full participation)
5 points

July 15 Unit 3: Assistive Technology, Preparation of Tech Specialists - Bobby
Have you ever used Bobby to assess a website? Bobby may be found at http://bobby.cast.org/html/en/about.jsp . Submit your website/homepage or another website to Bobby and characterize how the page should be modified to allow for greater accessibilty.
Please send your essay to stoloffd@easternct.edu by July 15. This assignment would be worth 10 points.
If you modify your page and describe the changes in Bobby's reactions, you will earn an additional 10 points.

10 points for review
10 points for changes

July 22 Unit 3: Assistive Technology, Preparation of Tech Specialists - Assignment
Please develop a proposal for your principal, school administration, and/or school board for needed assistive technology in your educational setting. Explain the need, the expected outcomes of the use of the technology, and the costs - including links to websites describing the technology and its costs.
Do a web search for potential funding resources to supplement the school budget for these technology components.
Please prepare your proposal and send it to stoloffd@easternct.edu as a WORD document by July 22. This assignment will earn 20 points.

20 points

by July 23 Unit 3: Assistive Technology, Preparation of Tech Specialists - Threaded Discussion
Should there be technology specialists in your educational setting? If so, what should be their academic and experiential backgrounds? Should the State Dept. of Education issue certification for technology coordinators or offer a computer literacy endorsement?
5 points for your full participation in this discussion by July 23.

5 points

by July 24 Unit 3: Assistive Technology, Preparation of Tech Specialists - Tech spec curriculum
Help me argue for a computer literacy endorsement and technology coordinator endorsement. What coursework should an individual complete to obtain these endorsement? What experiences should be documented? What forms of assessment might be required?
By July 24, please email stoloffd@easternct.edu a WORD document that might be used to argue for assessment before assignment of teachers to technology positions in schools.   Your essay will earn 10 points.

10 points

by July 21 Unit 4: Applications of programming in educational settings - Threaded Discussion
What have been your experiences with programming? Have you ever experienced PowerPoint, HyperCard, HyperStudio, Netscape Composer, MS FrontPage, or other authoring tools? How about programming languages?
What might be the role of programming/authoring tools in Education?
Five points for your active participation in this discussion by July 21.

5 points

Unit 4: Applications of programming in educational settings - Reading
Have you ever developed an online curricular unit? Please take a look at the curricular units developed in past seminars during the last few years. Our index is posted at http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/units.html.
Please begin to think of a topic that you might use in an educational setting. This assignment would be an extension of the plan you developed in Unit 2.
Please do take a look at what others might have done on the topics of your interest. You would find some curriculum units developed by students at ECSU at http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/units.html
or you might also visit webquest http://webquest.sdsu.edu/webquest.html or
ThinkQuest - http://www.thinkquest.org/ . Your assignment will be to develop, program, a curricular unit for a week's worth of instruction (say 10 hours on in-class effort by your students and 20 hours of supplementary activities outside of class) using resources similar to the electronic textbooks already posted on the web.
Please study the instructions on programming electronic textbooks posted at http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/creatingtextbooks.html. It would be a similar process to developing a curricular unit.

by July 31 Assignment - Creating Online Curricular Units (30 points)
Your assignment is to develop a curricular unit that will include annotated listings of at least 30 web resources embedded within a unit of study for your students on a topic that would be useful for learning and teaching.
If you have already created an online curricular unit, please either update it or create another one on a different topic. Remember that 180 points is an A in this seminar - you may skip this assignment if it would not pose a challenge to you and chose another projects or discuss alternative projects with me.
You will receive 30 points for this project, 10 points for the links to WWW resources and 20 points for how you plan for in-class individual and group activities, assignments, and assessments.
Please follow a unit plan structure that includes unit objectives, activities for monitoring individual and group practice, and assignments to enable retention and transfer of learning.
When you are completed with your curricular unit, please save it on a server which you have ready access to - i.e. geocities. Please note that the use of graphics requires prior approval if you save a graphic from someone else's webpage.
Please let me know if you have any questions on this project. Please complete your unit and send me its online address by July 31. This project is worth 30 points.

30 points

Unit 4: Applications of programming in educational settings - Reading
Please read chapter 7 in Technology and Teacher Education and Make use of the resources available through
http://college.hmco.com/education/mehlinger/tech_and_teach_ed/1e/instructors/chapters/index.html.

by July 24 Unit 4: Applications of programming in educational settings - Threaded Discussion
Let's discuss how technology might change the delivery and administration of instruction. What have you witnessed in your learning settings to suggest that technology might change much of the way schools operate? What do school personnel need to prepare for these changes?
Please contribute to this discussion by July 24 - your comment and comments to two other respondents - for 5 points.

5 points

by July 27 Unit 5: Projecting future uses of Educational Technology - Threaded Discussion
Please discuss how you plan to be using educational technology in your learning and teaching next year, in five years, and project to 25 years from now. Science fiction and imagination are welcome here.
Five points for your contribution and responses to others by July 27.
5 points

by July 29 Unit 5: Projecting future uses of Educational Technology - Threaded Discussion
Please read chapters 8 & 9 in Technology and Teacher Education and visit the accompanying websites.
Following your reading on the seven lessons from research on change and the discussion on distance learning, what cautions would you suggest for the future of educational technology in learning and teaching?
Please comment and respond to two others by July 29 - for five points.

5 points

by July 29 Unit 5: Projecting future uses of Educational Technology - Threaded Discussion
Following your reading on the seven lessons from research on change and the discussion on distance learning, what cautions would you suggest for the future of educational technology in learning and teaching?
Please comment and respond to two others by July 29 - for five points.

5 points

by August 9 Unit 5: Projecting future uses of Educational Technology - Threaded Discussion
We are nearing the end of this online experience. I would be interested in your comments on this course.
Did you find the online system to be effective at delivering the information?
What are your impressions of the textbook? Should I use it again for this course?
Were the assignments meaningful?
Would you enroll in another online course? What are the benefits and disadvantages of online learning?
You will receive 5 points for your comments and two interactions with other respondents by August 9.
5 points

July 1 -3	Unit 1: Current Uses of Computers in Education - Threaded Discussion Please describe your learning and teaching settings - your theory and practice, so that we might get to know each other. Discuss your educational background, your current academic interests, and your current teaching settings. How have you used educational technology in these settings? Please let's also explore connections that we might have by responding to each other. Please complete your introduction by July 3. You will earn 5 points for participation in the discussion - introducing yourself and commenting on the introduction of at least two other participants.	5 points
	Welcome to EDU 577 - Educational Computing - Theory and Practice. This is a 6 week experience during the Summer of 2002 - an exploration in the uses of computers in education, with a discussion of the theory and practice in current classrooms and their implications on learning and teaching in the future. I have requested that we use as a reference for our discussions - Mehlinger, H.D. & Powers, S.M. Technology & teacher education: A guide for educators and policymakers. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002. This text has accompanying online resources at http://college.hmco.com/education/mehlinger/tech_and_teach_ed/1e/instructors/chapters/index.html that includes information on advanced practices in using technology in education and expectations for teachers. I predict that in this seminar there will be participants with differing skills and experiences in the use of educational technology. The next assignments will provide some information on the general performance levels of participants. Following your introductions, I will try to accommodate your goals for this course. I encourage you to suggest alternative learning assignments and goals for yourself. Any changes in this course syllabus will be designed to enhance the learning experience. The gradebook for this course is in the document sharing folder.
July 1 -3	How well-prepared do you believe you are in the applications of educational technology for learning and technology? Please download the EXCEL spreadsheet at http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/577/standards.xls and complete the survey by indicating your preparedness to fulfill the ISTE National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS•T), described at http://cnets.iste.org/teachstandintro.html . Use this key - KEY: Not prepared = 1, Somewhat prepared = 2, Prepared = 3, Well prepared = 4 and fill in the spreadsheet at the lines across from the standards. Please complete this assignment by July 3 so that I might develop, if necessary alternative assignments to better accommodate the skills levels in this seminar. You will receive 5 points for completing this survey.	5 points
	Unit 1: Current Uses of Computers in Education - Reading Please read chapters 1 and 2 in Technology and Teacher Education. The first chapter deals with the state of preservice and inservice teacher education and notes that Schools, Colleges, Departments of Education (SCDEs) should rise to the challenge of "the need for teachers who can employ technology successfully in the their classrooms." The second chapter deals with some of the benchmarks developed for teachers using technology. It features a discussion of the CEO Forum on Education and Technology's STaR Chart - http://www.ceoforum.org/. Please also take a look at the ISTE standards at http://www.iste.org/standards/ncate/index.html and http://cnets.iste.org/ncate/index.html .
July 4 - 7	Unit 1: Current Uses of Computers in Education - Standards The preceding readings discuss the technology standards for teachers developed by several organizations. What level would you like to achieve? What resources would enable you to achieve these goals? Please refer to the reading and associated websites. Five points for your comments and reactions to others on this topic. Let's discuss this topic from July 4 - 7.	5 points
July 15	Unit 1: Current Uses of Computers in Education - Seminar readings Help An long-term assignment would be to do some reading in an area of your interest and in educational technology. You may chose another text or visit the http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/textbooks/onlinelibrary.html for some online textbooks of interest or some online journals. By July 15, please send me via email, to stoloffd@easternct.edu a "long-ish" essay, 500 words, on the influence of the textbook or 4 articles on your thinking about Educational Technology. This assignment will earn you 20 points.	20 points
July 15	Unit 2: Technology Integration into the Curriculum - Individualizing Instruction From the self-assessment, several of the participants noted that they would like more preparation in using ACCESS and web-publishing. (If you feel that you are confident in these areas, then you may do other assignments instead. The goal is to earn 180 points in the course.) Here are two assignments which when completed should give a greater sense of preparation. Please complete these assignments by July 15. 1) ACCESS - database - and merging into a WORD document For this project, please email me as attachment an Microsoft Word Document with at least five fields from a Microsoft Access database merged into it. Please include the database as an attachment. Please take a look at Creating a Database and Merging the Information into a Form Letter at http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/553/creatingdatabases.html for details on this process. This assignment is worth 10 points.	10 points
July 15	Web publishing Homepages As a further way to introduce yourself to our seminar and to the world, please consider developing a homepage. A homepage is a website which is an individual's or small group's identification. It would be useful for one to have a homepage to demonstrate skills in using the web and to describe one's interests. Examples of homepages which have been developed by course participants at Eastern CT State University may be found from the index at http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/homepages.html. You should post your homepage on the World Wide Web - practicing the process of uploading files which will be useful when we work on our ThinkQuest project. Your homepage should include links to supportive web resources. Please send us the WWW address of your homepage by posting it as a thread in our introductory discussion. This project will add 20 points to your score. Notes on how to develop websites may be found at http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/textbooks/creatingtextbooks.html An electronic textbook is a "homepage" on a specific topic. A homepage focuses more an individual's interests or place in the world. After creating your homepage, you should upload it to a server. You should try to find a server that will allow you to post websites for a year or two or longer. Some universities offer this service - i.e. ECSU; unfortunately, student accounts don't remain long-term on the server. Geocities http://geocities.yahoo.com/home/ offers free web server space - there is a cost in that an ad floats over the page when opened - but a cost that may be acceptable for free space. You will need to register for a yahoo account - also free - and become familiar with uploading files using a file manager. You are encouraged to make use of the webpage development tutorial or the wizard within Geocities to help you with this project, and to contact either me or your classmates for consultation. Please feel free to discuss any questions you might have on the process of webpage development and dissemination with me individually at stoloffd@easternct.edu . Please send me your website address which I will post in the third section in this unit. This project is worth 20 points.	20 points
July 7- 9	Unit 2: Technology Integration into the Curriculum - Threaded Discussion Please describe your most used software program. How would you use it in educational computing? Please do a web search and cite what others have commented about the software. [For July 7- 9. 5 points for your contributions - your response and at least two comments to others.]	5 points
by July 29	Unit 2: Technology Integration into the Curriculum - Theory Particularly for those who are confident about the use of ACCESS for creating mail-merged letters and/or web page publishing. please consider more study into the theory of educational technology. http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/textbooks/onlinelibrary.html has several online resources for study in Ed Tech theory. Please review 4 articles or a text with at least 4 chapters and send me by July 29 a longish essay, about 500 words, on how the theory discussed in these readings have influenced your ideas on Educational Technology. This project is worth 20 points	20 points
	Unit 2: Technology Integration into the Curriculum - Reading The textbook - Technology and Teacher Education - has resources available online starting from http://college.hmco.com/education/mehlinger/tech_and_teach_ed/1e/instructors/index.html Please review the resources for chapters 2 and 3 and participate in the next threaded discussion.
July 9-11	Chapters 3 & 4 in Technology and Teacher Education discusses ways of integrating technology instruction into preservice education programs. How is educational technology taught in your educational setting now? How should technology be integrated? Which of the models in the text are transferable to your setting? Please respond to these questions and then comment on the responses of at least two others between July 9-11. 5 points for your full participation.	5 points
by July 15	Unit 2: Technology Integration into the Curriculum - Curriculum plan After reviewing chapters 3 & 4 in the textbook and responding to our discussion above, please develop a curriculum plan for your educational setting which would enhance technology applications. Please include learner objectives for at least 3 months of instruction related to these applications. Please also cite at least 3 sources, illustrated on the web, of similar programs in similar educational settings and compare and contrast your ideas with the ideas presented on their websites. Please do take a look at what others might have done on the topics of your interest. You would find some curriculum units developed by students at ECSU at http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/units.html or you might also visit webquest http://webquest.sdsu.edu/webquest.html or ThinkQuest - http://www.thinkquest.org/ . Please cite at least 3 projects you found interesting as you plan. Please send these technology integrated curriculum plans to stoloffd@easternct.edu as a WORD attachment by July 15. This assignment will earn 20 points. Examples of completed projects: Best State WebQuest http://www.jamie.hendricks.net/lab/states/	20 points
	Unit 3: Assistive Technology, Preparation of Tech Specialists - Reading Please read Chapters 5 & 6 in the Technology and Teacher Education, dealing with assistive technology and the preparation of technology specialists. Make use of the resources available through http://college.hmco.com/education/mehlinger/tech_and_teach_ed/1e/instructors/chapters/index.html.
July 11 - 15	Unit 3: Assistive Technology, Preparation of Tech Specialists - Assistive Technology What have been your experiences with the use of Assistive Technology in your educational setting? What technology would you like to explore in the short-run? Long-run? (for more information about assistive technology, see chapter 5.) Please participate in this discussion from July 11 - 15. (5 points for full participation)	5 points
July 15	Unit 3: Assistive Technology, Preparation of Tech Specialists - Bobby Have you ever used Bobby to assess a website? Bobby may be found at http://bobby.cast.org/html/en/about.jsp . Submit your website/homepage or another website to Bobby and characterize how the page should be modified to allow for greater accessibilty. Please send your essay to stoloffd@easternct.edu by July 15. This assignment would be worth 10 points. If you modify your page and describe the changes in Bobby's reactions, you will earn an additional 10 points.	10 points for review 10 points for changes
July 22	Unit 3: Assistive Technology, Preparation of Tech Specialists - Assignment Please develop a proposal for your principal, school administration, and/or school board for needed assistive technology in your educational setting. Explain the need, the expected outcomes of the use of the technology, and the costs - including links to websites describing the technology and its costs. Do a web search for potential funding resources to supplement the school budget for these technology components. Please prepare your proposal and send it to stoloffd@easternct.edu as a WORD document by July 22. This assignment will earn 20 points.	20 points
by July 23	Unit 3: Assistive Technology, Preparation of Tech Specialists - Threaded Discussion Should there be technology specialists in your educational setting? If so, what should be their academic and experiential backgrounds? Should the State Dept. of Education issue certification for technology coordinators or offer a computer literacy endorsement? 5 points for your full participation in this discussion by July 23.	5 points
by July 24	Unit 3: Assistive Technology, Preparation of Tech Specialists - Tech spec curriculum Help me argue for a computer literacy endorsement and technology coordinator endorsement. What coursework should an individual complete to obtain these endorsement? What experiences should be documented? What forms of assessment might be required? By July 24, please email stoloffd@easternct.edu a WORD document that might be used to argue for assessment before assignment of teachers to technology positions in schools. Your essay will earn 10 points.	10 points
by July 21	Unit 4: Applications of programming in educational settings - Threaded Discussion What have been your experiences with programming? Have you ever experienced PowerPoint, HyperCard, HyperStudio, Netscape Composer, MS FrontPage, or other authoring tools? How about programming languages? What might be the role of programming/authoring tools in Education? Five points for your active participation in this discussion by July 21.	5 points
	Unit 4: Applications of programming in educational settings - Reading Have you ever developed an online curricular unit? Please take a look at the curricular units developed in past seminars during the last few years. Our index is posted at http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/units.html. Please begin to think of a topic that you might use in an educational setting. This assignment would be an extension of the plan you developed in Unit 2. Please do take a look at what others might have done on the topics of your interest. You would find some curriculum units developed by students at ECSU at http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/units.html or you might also visit webquest http://webquest.sdsu.edu/webquest.html or ThinkQuest - http://www.thinkquest.org/ . Your assignment will be to develop, program, a curricular unit for a week's worth of instruction (say 10 hours on in-class effort by your students and 20 hours of supplementary activities outside of class) using resources similar to the electronic textbooks already posted on the web. Please study the instructions on programming electronic textbooks posted at http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/creatingtextbooks.html. It would be a similar process to developing a curricular unit.
by July 31	Assignment - Creating Online Curricular Units (30 points) Your assignment is to develop a curricular unit that will include annotated listings of at least 30 web resources embedded within a unit of study for your students on a topic that would be useful for learning and teaching. If you have already created an online curricular unit, please either update it or create another one on a different topic. Remember that 180 points is an A in this seminar - you may skip this assignment if it would not pose a challenge to you and chose another projects or discuss alternative projects with me. You will receive 30 points for this project, 10 points for the links to WWW resources and 20 points for how you plan for in-class individual and group activities, assignments, and assessments. Please follow a unit plan structure that includes unit objectives, activities for monitoring individual and group practice, and assignments to enable retention and transfer of learning. When you are completed with your curricular unit, please save it on a server which you have ready access to - i.e. geocities. Please note that the use of graphics requires prior approval if you save a graphic from someone else's webpage. Please let me know if you have any questions on this project. Please complete your unit and send me its online address by July 31. This project is worth 30 points.	30 points
	Unit 4: Applications of programming in educational settings - Reading Please read chapter 7 in Technology and Teacher Education and Make use of the resources available through http://college.hmco.com/education/mehlinger/tech_and_teach_ed/1e/instructors/chapters/index.html.
by July 24	Unit 4: Applications of programming in educational settings - Threaded Discussion Let's discuss how technology might change the delivery and administration of instruction. What have you witnessed in your learning settings to suggest that technology might change much of the way schools operate? What do school personnel need to prepare for these changes? Please contribute to this discussion by July 24 - your comment and comments to two other respondents - for 5 points.	5 points
by July 27	Unit 5: Projecting future uses of Educational Technology - Threaded Discussion Please discuss how you plan to be using educational technology in your learning and teaching next year, in five years, and project to 25 years from now. Science fiction and imagination are welcome here. Five points for your contribution and responses to others by July 27.	5 points
by July 29	Unit 5: Projecting future uses of Educational Technology - Threaded Discussion Please read chapters 8 & 9 in Technology and Teacher Education and visit the accompanying websites. Following your reading on the seven lessons from research on change and the discussion on distance learning, what cautions would you suggest for the future of educational technology in learning and teaching? Please comment and respond to two others by July 29 - for five points.	5 points
by July 29	Unit 5: Projecting future uses of Educational Technology - Threaded Discussion Following your reading on the seven lessons from research on change and the discussion on distance learning, what cautions would you suggest for the future of educational technology in learning and teaching? Please comment and respond to two others by July 29 - for five points.	5 points
by August 9	Unit 5: Projecting future uses of Educational Technology - Threaded Discussion We are nearing the end of this online experience. I would be interested in your comments on this course. Did you find the online system to be effective at delivering the information? What are your impressions of the textbook? Should I use it again for this course? Were the assignments meaningful? Would you enroll in another online course? What are the benefits and disadvantages of online learning? You will receive 5 points for your comments and two interactions with other respondents by August 9.	5 points