CECS 4100 sections .001 and .002 Spring 2001  Assignments

1. Journal Article Review
2. Software Evaluation
3. Thematic Resources
4. Lesson Plan Integration
5. MicroWorlds Project

Select an article from an educational technology journal (not older than 1998).

Read the article and write a one page review  (see example provided).
Prepare a short (5 minute) presentation using PowerPoint. Your PowerPoint presentation should include a photo of you on the introductory slide.

Turn in:
1.) A copy of the article
2.) Your word processed one page review
3.) A hand-out of your PowerPoint (be sure to save a tree and print 6 slides to a page!).

See:
List of Journals
Samples of PowerPoints from Fall 2000
Grading rubric

Using criteria discussed in class, preview at least 5 pieces of software. The lab in Matthews Hall 312 is a good resource for finding software titles. The lab is open Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm and always has a person working there whose job it is to help you.

Use the Software Evaluation Form  for at least 2 software titles. It should be apparent from your comments on the evaluation that you spent enough time trying out each software package to be very familiar with them.

Be sure to list the software type: drill and practice, tutorial, simulation, problem solving, tool or programming.

Write the names of the other 3 software titles for which you did not fill out evaluations (but reviewed).

Turn in: 1 copy of each review/evaluation (2 total reviews, one of which lists the other 3 software titles)

See:
Software Web sites

Using criteria discussed in class, choose a request from a practicing teacher to find 5 resources on the theme s/he listed. (I will provide real requests from practicing teachers.) Find at least one software resource, at least one Internet project, and at least one web site. The additional two resources may be any of those three types of resources.

Turn in: 2 sets of everything. One set will be for me to grade and the other one will go directly to the classroom teacher.
1.) A cover letter
2.) Printouts of the websites and related materials
3.) Printout(s) of a software review/purchasing information for the software package(s) you found

See:
Internet Projects
Cover letter information
Grading checklist

Part 1: Find a quality lesson plan on the Internet that is already written. Use the attached rubric to rate it for quality. Alter the lesson plan to include the integration of technology. You may include some of the Level A and B list technology integration but also be sure to include at least one from Level C.

Look at the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). Include a listing of the grade appropriate ones that are covered in this lesson plan. Include both Technology Applications (TA) TEKS as well as other areas such as Science, Mathematics, Language Arts and Social Studies.

Look at the ISTE Technology Standards for students. Include the technology standards from ISTE that are covered in this lesson plan.

Part 2: We will look at some educational web sites in class. You will need to include at least 3 web sites that are related to your topic in your integrated lesson plan.

Part 3: We will use a template to help you to make your own web page. The 3 educational web sites you locate in part 2 will be included. Make sure the web sites link to the appropriate place. You will also link your lesson plan to your web site by saving it as an html file.

Level A Tech. Integration	Level B Tech. Integration	Level C Tech. Integration
Videotaping	PowerPoint slide show with text only and a graphic from PowerPoint	PowerPoint slide show with clip art downloaded from the Web or created yourself in a graphics program
Taking digital pictures	A report in a word processor with imported digital photos	Multimedia presentation  (KidPix, HyperStudio, etc.) with digital photos
Using a word processor	Integrating word processing and a database
Using a spreadsheet	Creating a chart in a spreadsheet and importing the chart into a word processed document
Searching a database	Entering new data into a database	Designing/ creating a database
Listing useful websites; finding information on a website	Participating in an Internet scavenger hunt	Designing/ creating an Internet scavenger hunt
Saving images from the Web onto your desktop		Building a webpage with links and images

Turn in:
1.) Word processed lesson plan and web page printed out. Please make sure it is stapled.
2.) Your webpage (including all associated graphics) and lesson plan on a floppy disk. We will link them to our class page. Make sure the lesson plan is saved in html format.
**Make sure the only things on your floppy disk are the web page, associated graphics and lesson plan.**

Important naming scheme:
o Save your lesson plan as an html document. Name it with the first 8 characters of your first name (or less).  (Ex. Theresa.htm)
o Name the webpage with the first eight characters of your last name (Ex. Overall.htm)

See:
Lesson Plan Template
List of Lesson Plans On-line
Samples from Fall 2000
Grading checklist

You will design and create a MicroWorlds project on a topic of use in the K-12 classroom. Make a storyboard or design document (first!) depicting the layout of your project (Example in class).

Include the following components:

Turn in:
1.) Design document
2.) Project printed out (each page) including a cover sheet.
      On the cover sheet include your name, project title, intended audience, and a brief description of the project
      and  its use in the classroom. Staple all pages in the upper left corner.
3.) Floppy disk or ZIP 100 disk with project on it.
 

See:
MicroWorld Web sites
Sample projects from Fall 2000
Grading rubric