Intro to ICT

Instructor — Tammie Patten

Room 132

Course Syllabus

Course Standards

Introduction

The objective of this class is to help students achieve fluency in familiar technologies and to introduce new technologies. The skills gained in this class will support the work going on in other Hanover High classes by providing mastery of the tools necessary for research, problem solving and communication.

Because technology changes so rapidly, no one person will ever be adept at every aspect of the field. Our classroom will be one of constant discovery and collaboration. We will be learning from each other continuously, trying new things, exploring new territories. For this reason, one of the most important expectations in this class is that we treat each other and ourselves with kindness and respect. Everyone in this class should feel comfortable making mistakes and sharing successes with support from the group. Following are some general guidelines about the essential skills that students will gain from the class, grading, and class participation. I look forward to working with you all this semester.

Grading

Most assessments in this course will be in the form of projects. Each project will be based on activities outlined in the core competencies for this course and in most cases will support topics being covered in the students other courses.

There will however be occasional quizzes on vocabulary, on topics covered by visiting speakers, or on subjects such as copyright and fair use. These will be graded on a points system. Quizzes will count toward no more than 10% of the final grade.

The Final Project will take the place of a Final Exam.

Assignments are due on the date specified in the syllabus. One letter grade will be deducted for each day a project is late. However, I understand that we all have circumstances that may arise, making it difficult to meet a deadline. For this reason, you will be allowed 1 (and only one) opportunity to arrange with me in advance to turn in an assignment late. If prior arrangements are not made, the standard penalty applies.

X periods and Attendance

There will be no X periods in this class. In lieu of X periods, there will be presentations by classmates and time for working on projects. Because many of you may not have access at home to the tools we are using in class, it is important that you take full advantage of lab time to complete assignments.

Attendance expectations are outlined in the school policy in the Student Handbook, and will be strictly enforced for both absence and tardiness.

Core Competencies

Core competencies represent key activities that will be used to achieve mastery of a subject. Following is a list of competencies for Intro to ICT:

Creativity and Innovation

• 1. Students will use a variety of electronic tools such as blogs, RSS feeds, etc., to study current trends in technology.

  2. Students will test new technological applications and review them for use by the school community at large.

Communication and Collaboration

• 1. Students will collaboratively present at weekly seminars, reporting on technology topics to peers, faculty, and staff.

  2. Students will examine Web 2.0 applications, how they are being used throughout society, and how they impact their own social lives.

  3. Students will use an online educational environment such as Moodle to manage educational assignments.

Research and Information Fluency

• 1. Students will demonstrate knowledge of effective digital research strategies including the use of Boolean search techniques to limit and focus search results.

  2. Students will use relevant, scholarly research including websites such as EBSCO and other subscription based scholarly research tools.

  3. Students will create appropriate citations for online content.

Critical Thinking, Problem-Solving & Decision-Making

• 1. Students will use their understanding of common software products to choose appropriate technology tools for completing educational assignments.

  2. Students will display data in ways that effectively communicate ideas.

Digital Citizenship

• 1. Students will examine issues of digital copyright, fair use, and digital ethics.

  2. Students will demonstrate an understanding of Internet safety.

  3. Students will examine issues of Internet security and how those issues relate to society’s access and use of Internet resources.

Technology Operations and Concepts

• 1. Students demonstrate skill in using advanced operations and features in common productivity software.

  2. Students will create a simple web page.

  3. Students will use presentation software to create an educational slide show.

  4. Students will create and edit digital images, video, and sound.

  5. Students will explore basic programming concepts and use visual programming environments to create at least one project.

  6. Students will recognize simple robotics concepts.