Word Flyer - PowerPoint Quiz - Excel Grading Chart

WORD FLYER
POWERPOINT QUIZ
EXCEL GRADING CHART

This is right up my alley! I love Excel, PowerPoint, and Word. I think this is the fun stuff and therefore, easy for me to complete. These are pretty easy to pick up and it doesn’t take long for students to take off on their own and figure how things work.

The only part I struggle with is the creativity part - I'm not Martha Stewart!
The PowerPoint quiz was similar to having to create my portfolio in my undergraduate classes and was pretty easy. You just have to make sure all your links work. This can be tricky and requires you to check and re-check all your links. I find it easiest to stop once I find a mistake, correct it, then start from the beginning again and click all over again until I get all the way through.

These are all assignments that can easily be integrated into any classroom and make learning fun for students. Kids love to play on the computer, so having them create flyers, presentations, and spreadsheets can give them skills they almost have to have throughout their school days and work while they are learning various concepts. I like the idea of incorporating helping others in lessons, so I think a good project would be for students to find a need (or the teacher could contact local businesses, shelters, animal shelters, food banks, etc) and then produce a document, chart, PowerPoint for them. For example, maybe the local animal shelter is in need of some items and they are holding a drive. The students could be broken into groups of three to plan and develop some flyers. They could then create several different versions and present them to the animal shelter for placement. Another example is at the beginning of the school year, the teacher could have students create a PowerPoint presentation about themselves. This helps introduce themselves to the class, works on presentation skills, and helps develop relationships among peers. The spreadsheet lesson could be a grading chart for each individual student completed as the semester or year goes along. The student could complete the initial setup and add their own grades as they go along. Toward the end of the year or semester, the teacher could show them how to complete a chart. This in itself could be a graded activity and something they could take home to their parents to show their progress.

Week Five Reflection Question

What are authoring systems?

Authoring systems is academic software teachers can use to create their own presentations and lesson plans. Students can also use this software. This uses a hypermedia format, which means, it uses links within the presentation to take the user to various cards, slides, or pages. This software utilizes graphics, video, audio, and text. The hypermedia aspect allows the teacher to create a presentation that allows the user to move through the information at their own pace and need and go back and view over and over again. The most popular Windows authoring system is HyperStudio. Apple had Hypercard, and the most popular software used without anyone realizing they are making it an authoring system is PowerPoint. PowerPoint is more user-friendly than HyperStudio and the format is more what the user is accustomed to seeing. HyperStudio also has a major issue to me in that you have to plan REALLY well in order to use it effectively – while PowerPoint can be easily changed and manipulated. These can be viewed on the offline and online since these programs can translate the language into HTML.

What is the difference between drill-and-practice software and tutorial software?

Drill-and-practice software does not present new material – it is practicing material that has already been presented. This method should provide instant feedback to the user.
Tutorial software presents new material and can be in a particular order for users to follow or allow users to click and jump. This can also provide instant feedback to the user, but does not have to.

When is it appropriate to use each in teaching and learning?

Tutorial software may be appropriate in letting students learn a particular function of a software program. For example, if you were teaching your students how to change the formatting of text students could use a tutorial. The tutorial should include evaluation, so a quiz along the way asking them questions to make sure they understand would be needed. It could be a quiz that forces the student to re-visit a particular area of the tutorial if they miss so many questions.

Drill-and-practice software may be appropriate if you are teaching your students multiplication tables. After teaching one set, the teacher could direct the students to the drill-and-practice software (this is where it would be beneficial to cross over to a more gaming-type software). Students could then answer the questions, get instant feedback, and be more engaged in the learning process.

Week Four Reflection Question

Why is it advantageous for educators to share resources and programs on a network?

Networks provide a platform for less work, less storage issues, and centralized tech-support. In a network multiple users can share hardware, software, email, and data files. The network saves a lot of time for the tech department in not having to download multiple programs on each workstation. This also saves the school department a significant amount of money to be able to just obtain a site license instead of purchasing individual licenses. A lot of time is also saved when there are issues with a program since the problem is in one place and not on multiple workstations. Schools have networks sometimes called an intranet. An intranet is collection of private computer networks within an organization. This allows for students’ work to be stored and easily retrieved on secure networks. Many school districts allow the students’ work and photographs to be shown on the intranet since it does not violate publicizing a student’s photo and does not require parental permission. This also allows the teacher to easily access school information in planning testing, activities, field trips, etc using the intranet. The teacher can then plan around school activities, testing, etc.

Sharing resources using a network saves the school district money and time. There is no reason to re-invent the wheel – if a teacher finds great helpful information - why not share it. Then you can in turn use what other teachers share. It is a win-win situation. The school district does not have to make copies for everyone – things change way too much for the schools to keep up. Sharing resources and being on a network allows teachers to stay on top of the new stuff coming out. This allows them to research new methods of teaching their subject and even allows them to check what others are doing in their area and around their school.

What concerns are associated with program sharing?

The issues with program sharing are security and when the server goes down – then everyone is having problems. Hackers can sometimes break through the security on a network and wreak havoc. Firewalls are like roadblocks to help keep them at bay. Antivirus software and spy sweepers generally actively search for viruses and Trojans to keep data safe. It can be disastrous if the Tech Department is not diligent about backing up information on the server. When there are issues serious enough data can be lost – and if not backed up often – that could mean a whole lot of heartache for teachers and students alike!

Week Three Reflection Question

How can an Instructional design model help you develop your instructional plan?

Having your instructional design model already established can help you develop your instructional plan by providing a base. All the parts of the base help you prepare to write your lesson plans. (Know the learner) You can make sure your students are prepared to learn the lesson by pre-testing/evaluating students – getting a feel for their current skill level and stage of development.
(State your objective) You have to make sure your lesson plan measures performance outcomes and targets the specific objective(s) you are teaching.
(Establish the learning environment) You can make sure the classroom is set up appropriately for the lesson. You may need to decide how to group students.
(Identify teaching and learning strategies) You have to decide to do to make sure they connect it to prior learning and what you can do to make sure the information is reinforced. What can you do to make sure they use their new knowledge practically?
(Identify and select technologies) You have to choose the technology that can capture the attention without overtaking the attention of the students. You have to think about what is available and what will work in the environment you have and with the students you have and their learning styles and multiple intelligences.
(Perform a summative evaluation) Evaluations along the way or one at the end – which will it be? You have to determine what will best evaluate your students performance and show you whether your lesson plans were effective or not and whether you should move on or not.

Identify the steps of the Dynamic Instructional Design (DID) model and briefly explain each.
Step 1: Know the learners – Skill level, learning style, stage of development

Step 2: State your objectives – Objectives are measurable, hit all levels of DOK

Step 3: Establish the learning environment – Class management, physical space, security,
Interaction, attitude

Step 4: Identify teaching and learning strategies – Varied, diversified instruction and methods

Step 5: Identify and select technologies – Tools to enhance teaching and learning strategies

Step 6: Perform a summative evaluation – Plan to evaluate effectiveness