USU INST 4010 :: Dr. Deonne Johnson

Week 15/Dec 3 - Final Projects and Reflection Papers due

2007-09-08T08:11:00.005-06:00

Don't forget your Final Projects and Reflection Papers are due this Thursday, December 6, at 5:00 p.m. Please also submit copies of your handouts to be distributed to your peers the following week.

Finals will be held on Monday, December 10, from 1:30 p.m. to 3:20 p.m. and Thursday, December 13, from 1:30 p.m. to 3:20 p.m. You may attend whatever time fits your schedule best.

Week 14/Nov 26 - Reflection Paper

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Thanks to Kurt Johnson for this document!
Homework due Thursday, December 6, by 5:00 p.m.

Reflection Paper

Write a 2-3 page reflective analysis synthesizing what you have learned about the use of technology through your participation in this class.

Grading:
3 points / spelling and mechanics
7 points / thoughtful insights which demonstrate that you're thinking and not just writing. I am interested in a well presented analysis rather than a lot of words.
7 points / personal insight & examples that relate to the content of your thoughts.
3 points / subjective, so do your best to show me how technology and teaching will converge in your life and future classroom.

Format Requirements:
12pt font - Times or Times New Roman
Double spaced
1.00 inch margins
Place name in top left corner header (view -> header and footer)
NO cover sheet
Correct spelling and grammar (use spell check and a peer reader if necessary)

Possible points to consider in your paper:

Technology: What is it?
Technology from the perspective of a learner.

Has technology been used effectively and appropriately in the classrooms you have worked in?

How has this view changed during this class?

Describe your previous experience with technology.

What do you now have in your technology ‘tool belt’ that you didn’t in the past?

How have you changed your view of technology during this class?

What have you found useful, interesting, and/or effective?

Technology as a tool:

What is the ‘appropriate’ use of technology in a classroom?

How do you decide ‘appropriate’ and ‘effective’ use?

Has the use of technology challenged or changed how you think about learning? If so, how?

Role of technology in your profession.

Describe anticipated use of technology tools professionally.

Describe how you would like to apply these tools professionally

What outcomes you would anticipate.

As an education professional, what issues/challenges/opportunities do feel technology tools offer?

How would you propose to address these?

Can you make the leap from using a software tool (ie… iMovie) to utilizing a tool (ie…video production)?

Can you adapt to different software, still utilizing the concepts behind it’s use?

Technology and your future

What has been most effective in this course in preparing you to work in the classroom?

What additional concepts, helps, or courses would you like to see in the teacher education program to prepare you to better use technology in the classroom?

Week 13/Nov 19 - Presentations & Thanksgiving

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Homework due Tuesday, November 27, at 9:00 a.m. (M/W class) and Wednesday, November 28, at 9:00 a.m. (T/Th class):

Final Project Proposal (see handout in class). If you'd prefer to turn your proposals in before Thanksgiving, feel free. I've extended the deadline so you have the opportunity to hear all of the presentations before putting your proposal together.

In order to complete your final project, you'll need to be familiar with WebQuests and generating lesson plans (which I'm sure you know how to do, but I'm providing some resources for those that want additional resources).

WebQuests

Lesson Plans

Week 12/Nov 12 - Presentations

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Homework due Monday, November 12:

Presentations this week and next.

Week 11/Nov 5 - IA Wrap-up & YETC tour

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I found this link on UEN's website and thought it might be helpful for you as you're working on your upcoming assignments....

Multimeda Resources for Educators and Students

Homework due Monday, November 12, at 9:00 a.m.:

Post a link to your blog with the url for your Instructional Architect project. Write two paragraphs, the first to describe how you included an accountability component and the second to describe implementation strategies.

Read at least two other blog entries about this assignment and post comments to their blogs. (This means, as a courtesy to your peers, that you should post your blog entry ASAP. Please don't wait until Monday morning at 8:59 a.m.)

Week 10/Oct 29 - The Instructional Architect

2007-09-08T08:10:00.003-06:00

Homework due Monday, November 5, at 9:00 a.m.:
Four NETS for Better Searching
Post an entry to your blog after reading information on the above website and describe how you will search the Internet more efficiently in the future.

Homework due Wednesday, November 7, at 9:00 a.m.:
The Instructional Architect

Determine a state core objective you want to target (and specify this in the project overview section of your IA project).
Find and include three online resources that help your learners reach their learning objective.
Create an IA project including SPECIFIC information regarding what you want your students to do after they click on the link.
Be sure to include an accountability component. How are you going to know whether the students reached their goal? Have them fill out a worksheet? If so, provide me with a copy of the worksheet. Write an essay? Verbally report to you? Create a presentation? Poster? Etc.
Post a LINK to your Instructional Architect project in your BLOG, e.g., Ms. Lai's Egypt Project. ***NOTE*** You will have to make your project "public" in order for me and your peers to view your IA project.

Here are some IA projects that I would consider substantial enough for the class assignment:

Presentations Ideas
Your presentations are scheduled for the week of November 12 and November 19. Here are some ideas you can pick from - or if you have something you'd like to select that isn't on this list, just let me know. :) Presentation ideas are first-come, first-serve.

Presentations should last 25 minutes and should include both information on how to use the application as well as classroom implementation strategies (this can include your own implementation ideas as well as a brainstorming session with your peers).

Online Resources
Pioneer Library
Thinkfinity
Thinkquest
ALA
ReadWriteThink
Scholastic
Library of Congress

Applications installed on the Mac computers
Comic Life
Garage Band
Google Earth
Kidspiration 2
Switch Zoo

Week 9/Oct 22 - Mid-term presentation

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Monday and Tuesday you'll be working in your groups for your mid-term presentation due in class on Wednesday and Thursday. Please email me if you have any questions.

Remember, we won't have class on Monday or Tuesday of the following week (October 29/October 30). We have final project proposals coming up as well as your individual presentations. Spend some time thinking about what you'd like to do for both of these assignments and we'll discuss this week or next. :)

Week 8/Oct 15 - Internet & Mid-term prep

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Think about how you currently evaluate online resources. Then look at the suggestions from these two websites. What strategies can you add to your current evaluation techniques?

Leslie University Library - Evaluating Web Sites
UC Berkeley - Evaluating Web Pages

Homework due Monday, October 22, at 9:00 a.m.:

There are a variety of websites that target educational needs. Beware! These aren't small websites that you can breeze through in 15 minutes or less.

Your job is to spend at least 30 minutes looking at ONE of the websites above, find three great online resources of your choosing, and post a link to each resource on your blog with a description of the resource as well as how you'd use it in class.

And here's the link to the Instructional Architect website I introduced in class. (ia.usu.edu)

Week 7/Oct 8 - Show & Tell & Intro to the Internet

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This week we'll finish editing our videos and present to the class on Wednesday, October 10, or Thursday, October 11. You should all have the rubric so you are aware of the expectations. If you did not receive one, let me know ASAP.

Next week we're going to begin looking at online resources. To lay some groundwork, please complete the following assignment.

Homework due Monday, October 15, at 9:00 a.m.:

First Entry (entitled iMovie Assignment)
Post a reflection to your blog about your iMovie assignment. Do you think elementary students could create a movie? What would the instructional value be of such an assignment? Would the students spend more time learning the technology than the concept(s)? How do you find a balance between learning technology and learning concepts? Is iMovie (or another application equivalent) something you see yourself wanting to incorporate into your future classrooms? If so, how? If not, why not?

Read at least two other blog entries about this assignment and post comments to your peers' blogs. (This means, as a courtesy to your peers, that you should post your blog entry ASAP. Please don't wait until Monday morning at 8:59 a.m.)

Second Entry (entitled Intro to the Internet)
Go to the following website:
http://www.learnthenet.com/english/section/www.html and use it to answer the questions below. Your responses should be complete, but you don't need to write me an essay for each question. ;) Post your responses on your blog.

What does WWW stand for in a web address? What is the WWW?
Think about the age range of your students. How would you explain/define the Internet to them? (Write the definition you would give them, 4 – 6 sentences max., in student friendly terms.)

Would you use any graphical representations to help with your explanation? If so, what?
A demonstration? If so, what?

What does URL stand for? What is it?
What are some common error messages you can receive when using the Internet? (List at least 3 and their meanings)
What do the letters HTML stand for? Explain.
What do the letters http stand for? Explain.
What function do you see the Internet playing in your classroom? What do you see as the benefits? The drawbacks?

Week 6/Oct 1 - Editing your footage

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Use this link in USU's OCW website to see step-by-step instructions for working with iMovie.

Look at the assignment here for your deliverable specifications. We'll discuss during class this week. :)

Week 5/Sept 24 - Video cameras

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Homework due before class (Monday, October 1, or Tuesday, October 2) at 3:00 p.m.:

Upload your video footage to your Movies folder
Upload all of your still images to a new folder in iPhoto (you can upload them to your Pictures folder and then drag them to your newly created folder in iPhoto).
Upload your music to your iTunes folder
We will be editing your Movies using iMovie starting next week. To be successful, you'll need all of your files in the proper location. GOOD LUCK!

Steps in creating a video (notes from class)

Plan

Pick a topic
Write a script
Determine state core objective
Select your cast
Determine your location

Film

Remember "beginning, middle, end"
Take roughly 20 minutes of footage to end up with a 3-5 minute video
Equipment is available outside of class time. I've reserved all of the video cameras from Monday @ 2:00 p.m. through Thursday at 4:00 p.m. Equipment is available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Edit

Footage (including background sounds)
Still images (from digital cameras or Internet images)
Add music
Add title, transitions, and credits

Resources you may find helpful:

OpenCourseWare (OCW) - click on Apple iMovie 1 & 2
Tips from Apple for capturing great video
Tips from Apple - iLife How-To Guides

TeacherTube videos shared in class (these may be helpful to help inspire you and your video creation)

Week 4/Sept 17 - Online photo books

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TeacherTube: The Connected Classroom

Explore in pairs (assigned in class) one of the following websites and then give an five-minute presentation on the possible educational uses.

Next week we will be shooting our videos and working with iMovie. Spend some time thinking about how you could incorporate a camcorder and iMovie in your classroom. For ideas, look at TeacherTube. Be prepared to share your favorite video in class on Wednesday or Thursday.

Homework due Thursday, September 20, at 9:00 a.m.:

Post to your blog a reflection about doing your geometry assignment in iPhoto. Do you think third or fourth graders could do this? Would they spend more time learning the technology than the geometrical concepts? How would you balance the time spent on geometry vs. technology?

Homework due Monday, September 24, at 9:00 a.m.:

Leave a comment on at least two of your peers' blogs from the assignment due Thursday.

Post to your blog a reflection about the differences between bubbleshare, flickr, photobucket, and zoomr. Specifically I'm interested in what online photo sharing tool you would potentially use in the classroom. Describe the way you would use the website in your future classroom.

Send me an email (no attachments please) with the following information about your video project:

Who will be on your team for the video project? This can be an individual project or you may work with a partner to shoot the footage for your iMovie project. Regardless if you work alone or in pairs, everyone will be responsible for producing their own iMovie project.
Provide a project overview. Remember, your videos must be educational. You can create a video that meets a state core curriculum standard or create a video similar to one found on TeacherTube.
Write a rough outline or script for your project.

Week 3/Sept 10 - Digital Photos con't.

2007-09-04T08:52:00.001-06:00

The worksheet that describes the equipment checkout procedures for digital cameras and video is here, called Equipment-Summary.doc. (Link provided by Brett Shelton - thanks!)

The assignment you will be working on for the next few class periods is based on an project Kurt Johnson submitted to Apple.com. See the pdf here.

Homework due Monday, September 17, at 9:00 a.m.:

From the list below, choose five (5) geometry terms.

Parallel lines
Intersecting lines
Line(s) of symmetry on a polygon
Rectangle
Pentagon
Hexagon
Octagon
Square
Trapezoid
Kite
Cylinder
Rectangular prism
Right angle
Obtuse angle
Acute angle

Find and photograph at least two examples of the items you chose. I would suggest several different shots, views, and perspectives to give you more options in step 3.
For your five (5) terms, use either iPhoto or a similar program of your choosing (see links listed below) to create a geometry definitions book.

One term per page
Each geometry page must include:

A definition written by you, describing what it means. (a good definition, not a textbook)
At least two photographs showing examples of the geometry vocabulary word. You may include up to six (6) photographs for each geometry word.

Your final version of your Geometry Book should be uploaded as a pdf to your public folder on the server. Please label it Geometry Book with your initials, e.g., I would label my project "Geometry Book DJ.pdf" without the quotes.

Additional links you may find helpful for completing this assignment:

Introduction to digital cameras
iPhoto tutorial
Blurb
Picaboo
Shutterfly
Snapfish (free flipbook through September 30, 2007)
Smilebox
MyPublisher

Week 2/Sept 3 - UEN, Graphics, & Intro to Digital Photos

2007-09-03T14:14:00.000-06:00

This week we're going to discuss Intended Learning Outcomes, Standards, and Objectives which can be found on the UEN website.

For example, your iPhoto assignment focuses on geometry. See if you can find the math objectives listed below:

Grade 4, Standard 3, Objective 1 or
Grade 3, Standard 3, Objective 1.

By the end of the week, you need to feel confident in using digital cameras and moving the pictures from the digital camera to your portable storage device as well as saving them on your personal space on the server.

Homework due Monday, September 10, at 9:00 a.m.:

Upload 5 photos of your classmates to your Public folder on the server.
Instructions for accessing the server from the inst-lab.usu.edu server to a local machine with Internet access (so you can work on files on other computers, besides the ones in the lab!). The sheet is here, called lab-inst_server_remote_connection.pdf. (Link provided by Brett Shelton - thanks!)

Additional links for more detailed information on graphics

Graphic extensions

Here's a link the the video I shared with the T/Th class.

Nuuanu Elementary School goes high-tech

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Week 1/Aug 27 - Let's hit the ground running!

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Welcome to INST 4010! This class should be fun, exciting, and meaningful. As you learn about ways to integrate technology into an elementary classroom, I want you to think about this question....

"Will this help my student learn better?"

Let's look at this video together (but I'm including the link here in case you want to review it again in the future).

TeacherTube: Pay Attention

Homework due W/Th before class:

Take pre-survey located on Zoomerang (this should have been completed in class on M/T).
Read Marc Prensky's article. We will discuss this on W/Th.

Homework due Friday, August 31, at 9:00 a.m.:

Create a blogger account and write your first posting (we will do this in class on W/Th).

Email the url for your blog to me so I can include it on our class blog.
You should include your thoughts about technology in education, e.g., When is technology appropriate? When is it easier to teach the concept without using technology? Are you a digital immigrant or digital native? What category do your students fall into? This should be approximately two decent size paragraphs. Feel free to ramble. :)
Read at least two of your classmates blogs and make meaningful comments on their blogs.