Educational Technology I:
Productivity Tools

Summer Semester, 1998
 
Description || Texts || Requirements || Assignments || Teams || Addresses || Survey 

Description

Intended for students in the freshman or sophomore year of the Elementary Teacher Education program, this course provides a grounding in basic computing concepts and the personal productivity tools generally available to users of personal computers with a connection to the outside world. Students will learn to use electronic mail, word processing, draw and paint programs, databases, and spreadsheets. Readings, discussions, and a written assignment will cover some of the social and ethical issues raised by computing and computer-mediated communication: equitable access to resources; intellectual property and copyright; cracking and computer theft; and the preservation and invasion of privacy in electronic documents.

Text

Requirements

In addition to attending class, students are expected to complete weekly reading assignments in preparation for each class meeting, and, for most sessions, a computer-based laboratory activity building on the lecture. Lab activities are to be completed one week  following the day of assignment. The course grade will be based on the following:
    1. Graded laboratory activities. Throughout the semester there will be regularly assigned, graded computer-based lab activities related to class lectures and laboratory experiences. Each activity is due at the class meeting a week from the assignment date.
        2. Work for these assignments is to be done on a individual basis, not in groups or in collaboration with another person. Sharing work on the lab assignments is a form of academic dishonesty.


        Procedures for turning in work:

        To Submit work on paper: 
        Have your name computer-printed (not hand-written) in the upper left-hand corner. This should be followed by your section number and the assignment identifier.    Multiple pages should be stapled together.

        To submit work electronically (when required):
        Find the MAC volume of the ITC file server, to which you have access in the computer classrooms in WHL 203-I and WHL 309.
        Put your homework on this path:

        MAC: Ed Tech I: Homework: [Your section number]
         
        Name the file using your last name, a comma, then your first name, then the assignment identifier. All this will be demonstrated in class.
    2. Report. You and one or two team members will be assigned a reading about the ethical and societal issues posed by information technology. These readings will be available from your instructor. Some readings are on-line and will be accessed via the World Wide Web. Your team will write a 500-word summary of the article, e-mail it to the instructor and your classmates, and lead a short (5- to 10-minute) class discussion about the issue(s) addressed. Each team will be assigned a class meeting during which it will present its report. The appendix to this syllabus explains the details of how this process is to work. Click Here for Teams.
    3. Mid-Term Exam. A short exam will be administered during the 6th class meeting.  (vocabulary list)
    4. Final exam.  (supplementary vocabulary list)

Click Here for Grading Formula

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Topics and Assignments

 
Choose a session.
Week 1
Monday
Wednesday
Week 2
Monday
Wednesday
Week 3
Monday
Wednesday
Week 4
Monday
Wednesday
Week 5
Monday
Wednesday

Sessions 1 - 3: Basic Tools and Issues

1. (June. 8) Fundamental concepts of computing: hardware, software, and data.

2. (June. 10) E-mail and the World Wide Web.
Introduction to Claris works. Saving and retrieving documents.

3. (June. 15) The MAC operating system and introduction to ClarisWorks.
Saving and retrieving files.

Sessions 4 - 5: Word Processing

4. (June. 17) Word Processing I & II.
Formatting a document: margins, tabs, fonts, headers, footers.
Power tools: cut, copy, paste, find, spell check, thesaurus, footnotes, columns.

5. (June. 22) Word processing III.
Importing graphics. Importing unformatted text. Hidden characters. Finding and replacing hidden characters.

To “hand in” your homework electronically, follow the instructions on page two of this syllabus. Use the assignment identifier “WP4.” In other words, if your name is Stacey Higgins, your file name will be “Higgins Stacey WP4.”

Session 6: Graphics Programs and Mid-term

6. (June. 24) Graphics programs I & II.
                        Mid-term Exam.
Using the ClarisWorks drawing program. The basic drawing tools. Selecting, copying and pasting. Grouping objects.
Using the ClarisWorks paint programs. The differences between drawing and painting.

Sessions 7 - 8: Spreadsheets

7. (June. 29) Spreadsheets I.
Fundamental concepts of spreadsheets.  Opening and saving a spreadsheet. Moving around a spreadsheet. Using formulas and functions for calculations. Printing.

8. (July. 1) Spreadsheets II.
Types of data and formatting the contents of cells. Relative and absolute copying. Inserting rows and columns.


Session 9: Database Management Programs

9. (July. 6) Database management programs 
Introduction to database management programs. Fields and records. Planning a database. Creating a database, adding records, and saving to disk.  Querying a database. Sorting records.  Designing layouts.

Session 10: Database Management Programs

10. (July. 8) Final Exam

Appendix: Topics for Student Reports

Students will work in teams of two or three. Each team is responsible for reading one from a list of articles to be distributed at the first class meeting and reporting on it to the class. Each team will prepare a 500 word summary of the article or chapter read and send it to all members of the class and the instructor by E-mail at least two days before the class meeting on which your team will present. You should also prepare a printed, word-processed version of your summary that is handed in to your instructor. All team members are expected to attend and to have something to say if called upon. All class members are expected to have read the report of the week before coming to class and should be prepared to participate in the class discussion.

Reading List

Signup for Report

Team Assignments

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