-- Structure --
-- General Principles --
Student Background
There will be a large range of skills and experience among the students. We should structure lessons to be accessible to the less skilled students, but still interesting and valuable for the more experienced students. We assume that virtually all the students have some familiarity with computers and basic computer usage, so this is not be a "beginners" course. Less experienced students should receive individual help from the teacher to enable them to succeed.
Student Needs
The major needs of the students are to develop skills and understanding to enable them to use computers and IT tools effectively and successfully. That includes the following areas:
Instruction
Instruction should be activity-centered. A typical lesson could start with a brief explanation or demonstration, accompanied by printed or web-based instructions, then followed by ample time for the students to perform the required task(s). Lessons should include both practical products and theoretical/vocabulary expectations, but the emphasis should be on the practical work.
Lessons should be task-oriented, not tool-oriented. Rather than learning a long list of word-processor features, that might be useful "sometime in the future", the students should be given a task to perform (e.g. produce a flyer for a concert) and learn the features connected with that task.
Some instruction should require group-work, but most work should be individual. Teachers should spend significant time giving individual help and advice to students, and relatively little time giving lectures to the entire class.
A typical topic should require 2 or 3 lessons - an explanation during the first class, then a quick review and reminder with more working time during further classes.
Curriculum Connections
It is hopefully possible for this class to support other classes. For example, if many students will be creating presentations for their 9th grade project, it might be useful to give lessons about PowerPoint to help these students. Requests from other teachers should be solicited, and the Computer Technology teachers should be encouraged to develop lessons to support these requests, if possible. Such requests need to be made far ahead of time (at least several weeks) to facilitate the development of suitable lessons. It may be sensible for Computer Technology classes to contribute to ongoing school projects, such as the yearbook, newspaper, school web-site, etc.
Assessment
Assessment should focus on the following:
This table shows suggested criteria for marks in these areas.
|
Level |
Completion of Taks(s) |
Quality of Product |
Effective Skills |
Recall and Use of |
|
7 |
Completed quickly, correctly and easily |
Innovative, creative, or highly efficient |
Uses skills beyond the standard skills |
Always recalls and uses relevant vocabulary and facts correctly |
|
6 |
Completed and submitted without delay |
Product is correct and efficient, showing thorough attention to detail |
Uses standard skills with no errors |
Usually uses relevant vocabulary and facts correctly |
|
5 |
Completed with some delay or difficulty, or with minor defects |
Product is adequate with only a few missing or incorrect details. |
Standard skills are used with few errors |
Often recalls and uses relevant vocabulary and facts correctly |
|
4 |
Mostly complete, with noticeable defects, or with moderate delay |
Largely satisfactory, with many missing or incorrect details |
Standard skills are used with some errors |
Attempts to use relevant facts and vocabulary, but makes occasional errors |
|
3 |
Only part of the task is complete, or contains numerous defects |
Not satisfactory, containing numerous or large defects |
Standard skills are used, but with many errors on routine tasks |
Often attempts to use relevant vocabulary and facts but makes frequent errors |
|
2 |
Only a small part is complete, or it took far too long |
Few parts of the product are satisfactory |
Few standard skills are used successfully |
Rarely succeeds in recalling and using relevant vocabulary and facts |
|
1 |
Nothing was completed |
None of the parts of the product are acceptable |
No evidence of successful use of standard skills |
No evidence or no attempt to recall and use relevant vocabulary and facts |
The topics for this course should support the goals associated with students needs (above). The topics should be multi-faceted rather than highly specific. Basic skills should be repeated and reinforced in various topics. Topics should be accessible to the less skilled students, but still interesting for the highly skilled students.
We must acknowledge the growing importance of the Internet and communication uses of computers, and the reduction in importance of more technical and mathematical uses and skills. We must also accept that rapid innovation in the computer industry, along with technical issues, will require frequent changes in the curriculum of this course. Teachers and students will be solicited for suggested topics. So this list of topics will always be provisional and should be viewed only as suggestions, to be altered later. The order only suggestive and likely to change.
|
Topic / Task (lessons) |
Description |
Skills and Concepts |
|
Blog (2++) |
Make a Blog (WebLog) using a free hosting service (www.blogger.com) Make a couple introductory entries in the first two lessons, then add periodically throughout the year. |
Using a web-form |
|
E-mail (2) |
Create an e-mail account at Yahoo (or some equivalent service). The Yahoo account also provides Briefcase and calendar services, and these will be used in future lessons. Send an e-mail to the teacher with an attachment (e.g. the student's schedule) |
E-mail basics, including attachments. |
|
Type Schedule (2) |
Use Word to type your schedule, using text-boxes (or tables) and decorate the schedule with colored backgrounds. E-mail the result to the teacher, as well as printing it. Make a tiny version that fits in your wallet. |
Drawing boxes in Word. |
|
Scavenger Hunt (2-3) |
Use Google to track down answers to a list of questions. Make a list of related questions, type this in Word, and format nicely using large fonts. The new questions should come from the same web-sites as the original. |
Web-searches |
|
Collage (3) |
Use Google to search for various images about a specific topic (e.g. a favorite band or a hobby). Use Paint-Shop-Pro to cut and paste these together into a collage. Print the collage using the color printer. |
Google searching |
|
Desktop Shortcuts (3) |
Make a folder containing shortcuts to your favorite applications and/or web-sites. Find and download interesting icons for the shortcuts. Use Paint to modify some of the icons (e.g. change colors, draw lines) |
Windows desktop |
|
Download and Install Software(2) |
This includes a lecture about types of software,
including a discussion of virus dangers, virus scanners, and piracy issues.
|
Software basics |
|
Moving files (3) |
Moving files from school to home and back. How to use memory-sticks, how to make folders, how to use a .zip archiver, how to use Yahoo Briefcase to move files. |
Using diskette/mem stick |
|
CAS Leaflet (3) |
Use Word to make a leaflet about yourself, describing the skills and interests you have to offer in a CAS activity, as well as a list of current and recent activities. Decorate the leaflet with some pictures and control the layout so it can be folded up like a leaflet. |
WP
layout |
|
E-greeting Card (4) |
Make an HTML based greeting card that can be posted on a web-site (e.g. your free site at Yahoo) or e-mailed to friends (e.g. a Christmas greeting). Should include decorative fonts, graphics, and possible animation (then it will need more than 4 lessons). |
HTML layout |
|
Music CD (4) |
Use a utility to change music tracks into MP3 (or other format) files. Compile a collection of 50-100 titles and burn these onto a CD. |
Music utility |
|
Slide-Show (3?) |
Use a digital camera to take pictures of home, school, Frankfurt, or some other interesting area. Use a photo-touch-up tool to crop and/or resize pictures, and use PowerPoint to make a slide show. The time frame depends on availability of cameras. This might be an extra-credit or group project. |
Digital camera |
|
Phony-Photos (3) |
Use Paint-Shop-Pro to make phony photos, by pasting phony bits into a real photo. |
Paint-shop-pro cut/paste |
|
Business Card (3) |
Make a business card for yourself (or parent). This should comply with some standard fromats, like including title, logo, contact info. Print on special paper in color. |
Word layout |
|
Math Homework (2) |
Use Word's equation editor to word-process a study sheet (notes) for your math class. This might be useful prior to final exams. |
Equation Editor |
|
Translations (2) |
Use Google to translate some text. Type some translations in Word - this must include non-standard (non-keyboard) characters. |
Typing non-standard characters. |
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Under the skills column, we should write the skills that are : (1) taught; (2) emphasized; (3) practiced. These skills should include all the concepts listed on the following page, which outlines survival habits for successfully using computers at school.
Starting
Bring a memory stick (or floppy diskette), a notebook, and a pen or pencil
Floppy Diskettes (or memory stick)
Always bring one with you to the computer lab
Saving
Save Essays as .RTF (rich text format) to avoid problems taking work home and back to school
Quitting
Printing
Safety
Viruses - install a virus
scanner at home
- free download from www.FREE-AV.com
- run a virus scan at least once a
week
- download virus signature updates once
each month