ED 663 Instructional Software & Instruments in Education

Course Description - This course provides participants with an overview of the computer software available for use in educational practice and administration. Students will acquire skills for selecting, examining and evaluating educational software that directly supports the K-12 instructional process. The Internet will be utilized as a resource for researching, locating and downloading supplemental software. Ethics and educational policies relating to proprietary software and licensing are discussed. Assistive technology software for students with special needs or learning disabilities is introduced. Syllabus

Pre-requisites - ED 578 Introduction to Computers or ED 592 Advanced PC Applications recommended. In addition, each participant must obtain a user name and password for his/her SHU Network Account prior to participating in this course.

Technology Requirements - Participants must have access to the Internet along with administrator privileges on a personal computer (PC) where they can download and install software. Microsoft Office 2000 or higher is also required (Word, PowerPoint). Computers purchased prior to the year 2002 and/or Windows 98 are not recommended. The use of MACs are not recommended since the majority of software demos and/or trials used in this course are PC compatible and downloaded from the Internet. Dial-up Internet access is acceptable. However, users will experience longer wait times when accessing / uploading / downloading Internet materials.

Sample Assignment - This assignment evaluates each participant's ability to plan instruction / create instructional materials for teachers in a school setting. By using the course template and MS PowerPoint, an original professional development workshop is developed that demonstrates each participant's ability to provide training that would enable teachers to use a specific software program to create or do something. Each workshop must also include an integrated activity for workshop participants. The software program selected is left up to the discretion of each ED 663 course participant who would assume the role of the workshop author/presenter. However, workshops demonstrating how to use MS Office programs such as Excel, PowerPoint, etc. are not acceptable. Sample Professional Development Workshop
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The educational outcomes of this course are aligned with the following standards -

International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE)
     NETS-T  - I.a., I.b., II. a.-e., IV.b., V.a.-d., VI.a., VI.c., VI.d. 

Connecticut Common Core of Teaching (CCCT)
     I.4.b., I.4.c., I.4.d., II.1.b., II.2.b., II.4.a., II.4.b., II.4.d., III.4.b.

Connecticut Teacher Technology Competencies - All

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