Syllabus

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 *  Table of Contents **

**Syllabus **
This site is designed to support a technology training workshop. It is a collection of teaching and learning activities and materials to enhance teacher training and support student learning using technology. It is primarily geared towards teachers in grades 2 -8.

 It is divided into five days of four hours of training. Each day is devoted to a specific technology topic to improve teaching. Each day ’ s lessons provides a brief introduction of the program and how it works. It talks about how the program can be used to create instructional materials and enhance student learning. The page provides tips, links to resources, examples and strategies to incorporate the program in the classroom. Each section also states pre-requisite knowledge teachers need to have in order to use the program effectively to create instructional materials. The pages have screen captures and graphics to explain steps.

To summarize the pages are filled with useful and practical information to incorporate technology in the classroom. At the end of each page there is a “ Test Yourself ”  section. This section provides steps teachers can follow to test what they have learned and get hands-on practice.


 * Day 1 **- is geared to learn to use Inspiration to organize a research project for grades 2-5
 * Day2 **-is geared to learn to use Kurzweil a text to speech program to enhance learning, incorporate principles of UDL (Universal Design of Learning) in the classroom and make teaching materials accessible for special needs students for grades 3-8
 * Day 3 **- is geared to learn to use Animoto to create a video for grades 7-12
 * <span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Day 4 **<span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">-is geared to learn to edit graphics using ImageBlender
 * <span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Day 5 **<span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">- is geared to using Glogster in the classroom for grades 4-8. **This is the active page of this site.**

**<span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Description **
<span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;"> This site serves as a center for teaching and learning activities. It provides an overview of strategies that teachers can use to incorporate technology in their classrooms. It improves their knowledge of certain programs that can help them improve teaching and meet the needs of all students. <span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;"> It also provides them with tools to enhance learning and equips them to become technology leaders at the school level to promote the use of relevant technology in the classrooms. <span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">The technology information presented on this site presumes teachers have basic knowledge about the programs and are not novices with using technology in the classroom. Each day ’ <span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">s page has a “ //<span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">prerequisite section // ” <span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;"> that states prerequisite knowledge teachers need to have to use the program and perform the activities listed on that page. <span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">The site is created to compliment a face to face class and provide teachers a place to go to for strategies, tips and practical suggestions for incorporating technology in the classroom. The resources provided here are designed for students of all age groups, diversities, ESOL students and students with special needs.

**<span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Goals and Objectives of the site **
<span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">The aim of the site is to:


 * 1) <span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Equip teachers to apply the principles for Universal Design of Learning (UDL) in the classroom to meet the needs of all students.
 * 2) <span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Provide teachers with tools to improve the performance of struggling students.
 * 3) <span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Build the capacity of classroom environments to incorporate technology options for all students.
 * 4) <span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Serve as a center for teaching and learning activities outfitted with tips, strategies and suggestions.

**<span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Project Descriptions **
<span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Inspiration is a visual mapping an outlining tool. It helps to organize thoughts and ideas to support writing. It is also helps to brain storm ideas, and visually structure thoughts to communicate concepts and strengthen understanding with a diagram and map view. The outline view allows students and teachers to focus on main and supporting ideas and to clarify thinking in written form. Inspiration ’ <span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">s presentation manager allows teachers and students to convert diagrams and mind maps into presentations to demonstrate understanding and knowledge. (Inspiration Software, Inc., 2012)
 * <span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">1. ** **<span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Using Inspiration to organize a research project **

**<span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">2. ** **<span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Editing Graphics: Viewing, Cropping and Resizing using ImageBlender ** <span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Teachers use graphics and photos all the time in many different programs to make their lessons multimedia enriched and to enhance students ’ <span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;"> learning options. The file size of photos and graphics used from the digital camera and websites can sometimes be very large. Learning to edit, crop and resize images is an important skill to augment learning and develop superior instructional materials.

**<span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">3. ** **<span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Using Animoto to create a video for Social Studies ** <span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Using Animoto, teachers can bring their lessons to life. This is a web based program that allows teachers to create videos and presentations with photos and music to enhance student learning. It is fast, free and easy to use. In science, teachers can use Animoto videos to explain difficult concepts or a process. In social studies Animoto can be used by students as a presentation tool and by teachers to demonstrate a variety of topics using sound and video.

<span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Kurzweil is a universally accessible web-based technology tool that makes learning easier for students with fine motor, visual motor and visual processing challenges. The text to speech technology supports students’ with reading, writing, research and test taking skills. Its integrated visual and auditory software tools enables students with learning disabilities like dyslexia and attention deficit disorder to learn and succeed from the same instructional materials as their peers.
 * <span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">4. ** **<span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Using Kurzweil to support students in Reading and Writing in grades 3-8 **

<span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Glogster is a safe online learning platform, an interactive poster that provides teachers and students creative options for presenting information, planning lessons and working collaboratively in groups. It is a fun and engaging way for students of all ages, needs and diversities to gain knowledge, express their ideas and demonstrate their creativity.
 * <span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">5. ** **<span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Using Glogster to create aGlog, an Interactive poster for Language Arts **

**<span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Site structure **
<span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">This site is a supplement to the face to face workshops and is available to teachers to access when they need the support or have questions. It is also meant to compliment and enrich their learning experience as part of the face to face training workshop. Each page of this site is designed for four hours of training and can be used anytime of the day as it will be available online as part of a wiki. Teachers will have access to it anytime in the day or night. Each page of this site includes four hours worth of material, information, strategies and tips. Each page also has a “ //<span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Test Yourself section // ” <span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;"> geared to provide hands-on learning experience to teachers attending the training to get a better grasp of the workings of the program.

<span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">The face to face classes are scheduled to be held at the “Center for Technology Innovation ” <span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;"> (CTI labs) from 9 am to 4 pm with an hour of lunch from 12-1pm. The information and the activities on this site are designed to be used to enrich the content of the workshop and provide teachers additional hands-on practice during or after the workshop. Teachers and participants attending the training workshops can work in groups to complete the “ //<span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Test Yourself sections // ” <span style="font-family: serif,serif; font-size: 10pt;"> of the site or they can work individually. The aim of the section is to provide a hands-on learning experience.

**<span style="font-family: 'Serif','serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Evaluation **
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Serif','serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Time will be provided for teachers to work on the "//Test Yourself//" section at the end of the workshop so that teachers wouldn’t have to work on it at home on their own time. However; if a teacher wants to leave the class a little early then she has the option of working on the assignment at home and submitting it within a week in electronic format. The assignment would be required but is not graded. Participants receive would receive five points for completing the assignment. Accumulated points would be maintained electronically by the training department. The purpose of the "//Test Yourself"// is to evaluate success of the workshop and the participants’ understanding of the content.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Serif','serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Participants with twenty five points receive a prize. Participants with fifty points receive a price and a piece of technology for the classroom. Teachers with one hundred points receive a certificate and their name is published on the school website. They are also considered for a technology team leader position at their school to provide school level support. The point system provides incentives for teachers to attend the classes.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Serif','serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">At the end of year there is a reception to recognize teachers who have collected one hundred points during the school year. The reception has door prizes and a guest speaker. Teachers share their success stories and anecdotes at the reception to motivate other teachers to attend the trainings. Participants also fill out an [|electronic survey] on “survey monkey” at the end of class. Feedback from the survey helps us improve the quality of the trainings.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Serif','serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">We look for what works and what doesn’t work. How smoothly the class runs, did it run on time, was there enough time to cover all the objectives for the class or was there too much time and little content to cover? Were there technical glitches? Was all the equipment working properly? Did teachers have trouble logging in and out of the computers using the temporary user name and password? Was the pace of the work shop appropriate for the technical ability of participants attending it? Were they able to follow along and practice?

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