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Technology Literacy
for Teachers & Staff- This topic
Topic 1
Information Literacy
The point of this exercise is to illustrate the importance of teaching students how to use the Internet to find information. No matter what you teach, there is information on the Internet that can help your students. No one would deny that research skills are very important, but use of the Internet is rarely taught when students are conducting research. Teachers generally focus on library skills and (if they include the Internet) using a search engine. Generally speaking, there is very little time spent on how to determine the legitimacy of information found on a web page. To Illustrate this, look at the sites listed on the Internet Accuracy test below and consider what you should tell students about how to determine the credibility of information found on the web. Peruse all of the websites, then determine which ones contain accurate information and which ones do not.
Warning: The two links labeled "graphic" have content that may offend or disturb some individuals. They are there, specifically, to illustrate the ways that information can be manipulated or seem to be manipulated on the Internet. However if you are sensitive to graphic language or blood (like during surgery).When you are done with the Internet Accuracy Test, watch the video below and complete the next assignment: Teaching Internet Literacy.
Topic 2
Technology and Education the Perfect Fit
In this, the first step of the training, we will investigate the most effective use of technology in school. The old school concept of instructional technology said that technology is used in education to teach or supplement teaching through learning software. That philosophy is being replaced by one where technology is used to enable students to investigate a topic more fully and to collaborate with others as they complete projects and solve problems. This approach uses technology to provide access to more information, and students are guided through the appropriate use of technology in a classroom environment. In fact, the classroom environment is expanded by technology and its increased access to information provides opportunities for a more complete understanding of a topic that is explored. Read this blog post first, then go to the first assignment. If the link doesn't work for you, copy and paste the URL below. http://www.practicaltheory.org/serendipity/index.php?/archives/955-What-I-Want-to-Talk-About.html Keep this post in mind as you complete the assignments in this module.
The first activity asks you to investigate some common educational approaches that affect how technology can be used in your classroom. After you read a selection, you'll be asked to submit a response that tells how you feel about the teaching approach that was discussed and how you think it would work in the classroom.The second activity asks you to investigate the technology applications TEKS. After you read the TEKS you'll be asked to submit a response that tells how you believe the TEKS for technology applications can be addressed effectively across the curriculum.
It really isn't acceptable to tell what we don't have. We don't have that option. Our students need these skills, that is a generally accepted understanding. It is our job to find a way within the limited structures of funds, time, energy, and resources. I want this course to be devoted to finding a way over the barriers we have before us, not complaining about them. You may see some ideas that just don't seem to be workable. That is alright. Going to the moon wasn't do-able, the atomic bomb wasn't do-able, and powered flight wasn't do-able either. If we work together with the goal of finding a way, we just might find one. We can either stand in the shadows of the "can't do's" or we can dedicate ourselves to the business of overcoming. That is the charge of my job, your job, and this course; overcoming.
Topic 3
21st Century Skills
This sounds like a repeat of module 2, but this module begins the application stage of our training course. This assignment and the ones that follow it are focused on designing actual learning activities. One thing that I have noticed while training teachers is that technology skills are up, but integration is the same. I know that there are many reasons for this, but I have to focus on the message that we can get over the barriers that block integration of technology. Since technology proficiency is up while integration is stagnant, then the focus of training must be pointed toward application of technology skills in an educational setting. That is the goal of the rest of this course.
When we discuss 21st century skills, we are not talking about computer skills, but critical thinking skills that require the use of the computer. This is an important distinction because people tend to get distracted by the idea that students have to learn to use the computer to succeed. The fact of the matter is that most already know how to use the computer and those that don't will be able to adapt. Business leaders have been saying that they can do that. In fact, software changes enough that teaching a child software now doesn't mean they will be proficient when they graduate.
That said, the next step is to identify 21st century skills and look at how we address them. The first assignment is simply to compile a list of 21st century skills. The second assignment is to look at how others are addressing 21st century skills and use those ideas to describe a unit of study for your classroom that will prepare kids for the 21st century work environment.
Topic 4
Create an Internet Scavenger Hunt or Webquest
One of the first steps of a project is to collect information on the topic at hand. When solving a problem, students will need to research the issue to find a solution. When it is practical, and you are comfortable with it, students need to frame their own searches. Searching for information on the Internet is as important as finding information in a newspaper or library. If students do not get the opportunity to search for information on the Internet during school, they will learn on their own, but the gaps in their learning will be great and could possibly even handicap them. There is no way that we can know what technology, even the Internet, will be like when our students leave school. Even students as old as freshmen may see an Internet that is vastly different than the one we have now. the skill they need to develop is that there are many ways of looking at a problem or framing a request for information. The more ways they have experience using, the better equipped they will be to adjust to new circumstances. This may only serve to better establish my reputation as a geek, but in some of the Star Trek television series, we see a glimpse of what the Internet could become. They have a computer that has all of the information that is known to man, but often they can't solve the problem right away because they don't know how to ask the question or even what question to ask. We have to give our students experiences that require them to come up with the right questions to ask.
That being said, there are times when you will want to apply more structure to your student's research. A web quest or scavenger hunt is a great way to do this. A scavenger hunt is basically an electronic worksheet with links to pages that have the answer to a question. See the link below.
Click to view the Inventions Scavenger Hunt.
A webquest is a full project-based unit. It will have the steps for students to follow and links to data needed to complete each step of the project. See the link below. Follow the links at the bottom of the page to go to each step of the project.
Click to view the Rainforest Webquest.
I also believe very strongly, that you cannot just throw students into a complex problem solving situation when they aren't used to situations like that. A scavenger hunt or webquest is a good way to break students in to using the Internet. Conduct an Internet search and look at some other examples of Internet scavenger hunts and webquests. Bernie Dodge is considered to be the main man when it comes to webquests. If you have trouble finding information, try using his name as a search term. Another hint, begin your searches by being as specific as possible. Put a + instead of a space, between the words in your search. Other ideas for finding the information that you want can be found at searchenginewatch.com. A clickable link was provided in Step 1 of the training.
Create your scavenger hunt in a word processor like MS Word, then submit it in the forum below.Topic 5
Reporting the Findings with a Word Processor
Once the problem has been defined, the research done, and the analysis completed; the students need to report their findings. At this step, technology is a tool to put a new twist on some of the same things that we have had students do in the past. Teachers should allow students some control of their research and the projects they complete. How much control, is something that will vary depending on circumstances such as age of students, the subject area and topic, or the teacher's creativity and comfort with this type of instruction. The next few steps will have you conduct research to find examples of ways students can report their work.
In this step we will focus on word processing projects. Please complete the assignment below.Topic 6
Using Multimedia to Report on a Project
In the past PowerPoint was what we discussed when we promoted multimedia. PowerPoint is an application designed for people to create visual support for presentations. It is one of the easiest applications for students to use. Now there are a great deal of applications for creating multimedia. In fact our use of tools like PowerPoint has evolved beyond multimedia to the point where teachers are making choices to use it for word processing, like creating ABC books with young kids, and multimedia using audio, video, graphics, and text for older kids. When we discuss multimedia now, there are many ways that students can create these types of products. PowerPoint presentations with animated text, narration, music, and video is just one way.
Video editing applications are also widely available. A student or teacher can compile pictures, video, music, and narration into a video presentation. The video can be uploaded to a wide variety of video hosting sites and shared on blogs and other web pages.
Conduct research concerning how multimedia can be used in the classroom. The assignment below has links to ideas about multimedia in the classroom. You may use the links provided to gather information or search for resources on your own.
Topic 7
Using a Spreadsheet
Spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel helps when recording and manipulating numerical data like performing calculations. It is also quite useful with presenting numerical data in a graph or chart. It is important to note that spreadsheet software can be used for manipulating textual data, but a database is generally better for working with text. A spreadsheet has more functions that are geared toward working with numbers. In the assignment below, you will conduct research to find ideas, and hopefully examples for how spreadsheets can be used to manipulate numerical data in the classroom.
Please complete the assignments below. In the first assignment, conduct research to find out how others are using spreadsheets. In the second assignment, post one idea you got from your research and reply to two other ideas.
Topic 8
Internet Safety
Internet Safety is a growing concern. We addressed the reliability of information in the first module. Now, we want to discuss some key components of Internet Safety and the role that schools and teachers should play in teaching safe online behavior to our students. For sometime, we have taught our kids how to protect themselves from strangers, drugs, and other dangers. Now access to the Internet, and other interactive communication tools bring the need to address online safety. The assignments below discuss a couple of online safety issues. There are many more.Topic 9
Evaluate this Course
Post a topic to the evaluation forum to help us improve this course for the teachers next year. We consider all recommendations as we try to improve before the next group of teachers begins.