Educational Technology I:
Productivity Tools

Course number: EDDV 186
Credits: 1 credit

Description || Texts || Requirements || Assignments || Teams

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, 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; hacking and computer theft; and the preservation and invasion of privacy in electronic documents.

Texts

Requirements

In addition to attending class, students are expected to complete weekly reading assignments in preparation for each class meeting, and, for most weeks, a computer-based laboratory activity building on the lecture. Lab activities are to be completed before the next week's class. 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 before the start of the next class.
      Procedures for turning in work:
      Work submitted on paper must have your name printed (not hand-written) on it.
      Work submitted electronically should be put on the MAC volume of the ITC file server, which you have access to in room 203-I WHL. Put your homework on this path:
      MAC Ed Tech IHomework[Your section number]
      Name the file using your last name, 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 are on reserve in the Education Resource Center on the first floor of the Willard Hall Education Building. 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 7th class meeting.
    4. Final exam.

Grading

Topics and Assignments

Choose a week.

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Class Meeting Schedule

Weeks 1 - 3: Basic Tools and Issues

1. Fundamental concepts of computing: hardware,software and data.

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

3. The MAC operating system and introduction to ClarisWorks.
Saving and retrieving files.

Weeks 4 - 6: Word Processing

4. Word Processing I.
Formatting a document: margins, tabs, fonts, headers, footers.

5. Word Processing II.
Power tools: cut, copy, paste, find, spell check, thesaurus, footnotes, columns.

6. 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 “WP3.” In other words, if your name is Stacey Higgins, your file name will be “Higgins Stacey WP3.”

Week 7

7. Mid-term Exam.

Weeks 8 - 10: Database Management Programs

8. Database management programs I.
Introduction to database management programs. Fields and records. Planning a database. Creating a database, adding records, and saving to disk.

9. Database management programs II.
Querying a database. Sorting records Designing layouts and labels..

10. Database management programs II
Introduction to relational databases and comparisons with flat file databases. Demonstration of the Northwind Trading Company Orders database (Microsoft Access). Use filters to restrict the records to view.

Weeks 11 - 12: Spreadsheets

11. Spreadsheets I.
Fundamental concepts of spreadsheets.Opening and saving a spreadsheet. Moving around a spreadsheet. Using formulas and functions for calculations. Printing.

12. Spreadsheets II.
Types of data and formatting the contents of cells. Relative and absolute copying. Inserting rows and columns.

Week 13: Putting Them All Together: Integrated Packages

13. A brief look at how state-of-the-art office suites merge the functions of word processing, spreadsheets, and databases.
Mail merge and labels.

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

Team Assignments