ECOMP 6101: Making Change-The Game

Simulation Game: Making Change
Simulates organizational change in educational setting - training exercise not technology per se but the process of getting colleagues to do something differently. 


The simulation is based on real findings in educational research and the situation is based on real people.


You will work as a team, assuming the role of a change committee. Your objective is to do various activities to influence people who are represented on the game-board. 


The game-board represents a school district – on one axis are the names of people you want to exert influence on (the players) and across the top of the board are the phases people go thru adopting any new practice - or levels of use the players move through.

The winning team and their game-board :-)

ECOMP 6101: Book Reflection

Taking Charge of Change - Chapter 5
[Hord, S. M., Rutherford, W. L., Huling, L., & Hall, G. E. (2006). Taking charge of change. Austin: SEDL.]

The Role of Effective Change Facilitators

More PowerPoint presentations from Nick Shuman

ECOMP 6106: Curriculum Unit Website

What is the purpose for creating a teaching website?

Your website should be designed to provide you and others (i.e. parents and/or students, other teachers, administrators, and colleagues with whom you collaborate) with access to information and documents that are part of the unit you will be designing during this course. Websites provide easy access to materials, hyperlinks, online resources, and assessment documents. Your website should become a compendium of information and resources for your curriculum unit. Plan your website to make use of the power of the Internet to assist with the storage, retrieval, and communication of information and documents.

Teaching Website: Internet Safety
Table of Contents:

• Introduction
• Unit Goals
• Unit Questions
• Assessment Plan
• Unit Resources
• Instructional Procedures
• Introduction
• Cyberbullying
• Digital Footprint
• Internet Credibility
• Phishing
• Viruses
• Conclusion
• Technology Integration
• Differentiated Instruction
• Communication

ECOMP 6106: Working with Spreadsheets

Earthquake Research and Inquiry-Based Learning
You will be using the EarthBrowser software to gather and analyze data about earthquakes. Then you will create a spreadsheet and graphs from your data.

Because my students do not have access to Microsoft Excel but rather Apple’s equivalent Numbers, I thought it would be prudent to attempt the assignment using the same software students would use. I was able to reproduce almost all aspects of the Jing videos on Excel in Numbers. However, Numbers did seem to be lacking in some of its manipulation options, specifically with angling the earthquake location labels. As a result, I was pretty much locked in to a horizontal bar chart as my only option if I wanted all of the information to be displayed properly. Otherwise, I find I like the ease of Numbers and the sleekness of the finished products.

ECOMP 6106: Working with Databases

InspireData and Roller Coasters
Using the Roller Coasters database that comes with InspireData explore and become familiar with a variety of the software's features. Your job is to come up with ONE question, TWO interesting relationships, and SOME thoughts or explanations for the relationships. Create four different plots of your data and make sure your plots clearly represent your data.


Question: What is the relationship in top speed when comparing steel to wood coasters?

Interesting Relationship #1:  While the two fastest roller coasters were the only two steel-launched coasters in the database, the slowest coaster was also a steel structure (the Cobra).

Interesting Relationship #2:  Besides the slowest and the fastest coaster categories, the rest of the roller coasters surveyed fall in the middle and find themselves in three separate but consolidated groups: the first a combo of wood and steel structures, the second a grouping of four wooden coasters, and the final set an all-steel grouping.

Explanations: 

• It would seem that, when it comes to top speed, steel coasters that have the assistance of being launched are by far superior. While the database does not explain what the difference between steel and steel-launched coasters is, I would theorize that it has something to do with inertia.
• Perhaps the clustering outlined in relationship #2 has something to do with the geographical location of the coasters? Perhaps it may have something to do with where the roller coasters were built and the environmental conditions they must constantly deal with.? However, when the speed variable is compared to the location variable the resulting graph does not appear to support this hypothesis.

ECOMP 6106: Essential Conditions

Assignment #1:  Work in groups with Intel's Visual Ranking Tool to consider these essential conditions in your school districts.

 Assignment #2: After you have read the essential conditions and have used the Visual Ranking Tool, reflect on the conditions present in your own school district and/or teaching situation.

In my school district, the essential conditions have primarily focused on getting “buy-in” from everyone in order to move ahead with any technology integration plan. During my ten years in-district, too often funds were spent on a piece of technology or service because someone thought it was “cool” but would move ahead without consulting with or even talking with the personal who would do the actual implementation. Now our district is trying to correct this error using a District Tech Team that has teacher representation from each school building. In addition, each proposal now includes plans on how we will fund the technology, how will support for successful integration be provided, and how will we know when we have succeeded. This is still a new process and we are still working to get everyone on board to this different approach.

One area that we are still lacking in is Supportive External Contexts. It is only with the recent hardships with trying to maintain current funding levels, let alone funding for future growth, that has pushed the administration to seek out ways that we can build stronger support from the community. The plan is twofold: improve communication with the community while also showing them that we are doing this at a cost savings to the community. For example, we have reduced the amount of paper and ink used to print off notices in favor of an Altert-Now automatic email system, a Twitter feed that is available by both our website and by following, and just recently an Apple TV setup in the main lobby to showcase what students are doing each day within and outside of the classrooms. We have not had these systems in place long enough to assess whether these investments have paid off or not, but administrators remain hopeful (as do we in the IT department). 

ECOMP 6106: Curriculum Design

Assignment: Create A KWL Chart

Use either MS Word, Kidspiration, or Inspiration to create a KWL chart that is similar to the images posted below. Have some fun with the design of your KWL.

• In the K section (What I know) describe what you understand about Curriculum Design. 
• In the W Section (What I Want to know) describe what you hope to learn about curriculum design from this course.  Send your KWL to the course instructor. 
• We will complete the L section (What I learned)  later on in the course. 

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