Nathan Miller

FRIT 7430: Instructional Design

Stage 3, Understanding by Design

Fall 2010
 Title of Unit Effective Use of Grade Level Adult Learners
Technology in
Schools

Standard:

ISTE NETS standard TF-VII

Procedures, Policies, Planning, and Budgeting for Technology

Environments
Educational technology facilitators promote the development and
implementation of technology infrastructure, procedures, policies, plans,
and budgets for PK-12 schools. Educational technology facilitators:

A. Use the school technology facilities and resources to implement

classroom instruction. Candidates:

1. Use plans to configure software/computer/technology systems and

related peripherals in laboratory, classroom cluster, and other appropriate
instructional arrangements.
2. Use local mass storage devices and media to store and retrieve
information and resources.
3. Discuss issues related to selecting, installing, and maintaining wide area
networks (WAN) for school districts.
4. Model integration of software used in classroom and administrative
settings including productivity tools, information
access/telecommunications tools, multimedia/hypermedia tools, school
management tools, evaluation/portfolio tools, and computer-based
instruction.
5. Utilize methods of installation, maintenance, inventory, and
management of software libraries.
6. Use and apply strategies for troubleshooting and maintaining various
hardware/software configurations found in school settings.
7. Use network software packages to operate a computer network system.
8. Work with technology support personnel to maximize the use of
technology resources by administrators, teachers, and students to improve
student learning.

C. Participate in professional development opportunities related to the

management of
school facilities, technology resources, and purchases. Candidates:
 1. Support technology professional development at the building/school
level utilizing adult learning theory.

Understandings:

Explanation:
Effective implementation of smartboards and schoolpads will aid teachers in
delivering engaging and effective learning material.
Interpretation:
Use of computer imaging software is an effective way to decrease workload
and quickly deploy software to multiple desktop computers.
Application:
Network software, such as Novell ZenWorks, can be used to deliver needed
software directly to user desktops, via the school data network.
Perspective:
The effectiveness of the technology staff in delivering support to teachers
directly impacts the teachers’ ability to deliver the necessary content to the
students.
Empathy:
Each school has individual characteristics and needs that must be taken into
consideration when addressing and prioritizing technology issues, i.e. the
urgency of having Accelerated
Reader functioning properly at an elementary school versus having a
computer lab working properly at a high school.
Self-Knowledge:
Each member of the technology team has different strengths and
weaknesses, and they must rely on and help one another with the wide array
of technology issues within the school system.

Related Misconceptions:
Every school is an autonomous and individual entity that does not affect the
other schools in the district.
Teachers should learn to fix some of their own technology issues because
technology staff doesn’t have time to deal with them.
The role of the technology staff does not affect student learning or student
performance in the school system as a whole.

Essential Questions:
Overarching Questions: Topical Questions:

What is the role of technology support staff in What software tools are used on a regular
schools? basis?

What are the biggest technology concerns of What are the most urgent technology-related
the staff? needs of "customers" or staff members?

Why is it important for technology staff to seek What skills would make technology support
ways to boost efficiency? staff more effective and efficient?

How is the technology staff perceived by

fellow staff members?

Stage 3: Plan Learning Experiences

Week 1

1. The instructor will ask the students the question “I just accidentally
erased my jump drive! What can I do to get my data back, and why did
this happen to me?” The instructor will then go around the room asking
the students how they would respond if that happened to them. H
2. Show a short PowerPoint presentation covering the essential questions
and ave students write a response to each question. Students will not
turn these in, but will keep their answers to see how their answers may
differ after the completion of the lesson. W
3. Students will watch a video produced by the instructor entitled “A Day
in the Life of “The Computer Guy””. This video will show the students
the myriad of problems and activities the must be performed by
technology staff on a daily basis and why those tasks are so important.
W
4. After watching the video, students will write a short paragraph detailing
how the technology staff and the efficiency with which they perform
their job affect the quality of instruction in classrooms. W
(Perspective)
5. As a Pre-Test to determine the technical level at which to enter the
class, students will be given a choice of two different activities. The
first activity will involve reading a scenario covering a series of basic
problems and tasks that a technology specialist faces on a daily basis
(Narrative Entry Point). They will then complete a test consisting of
multiple choice and short answer questions to determine their level of
expertise. The second activity will involve students actually going into
a lab where several computers are set up that have minor problems
either with the hardware, software, both, or a peripheral product
(Experiential Entry Point). Those students will document what they
 think the problem is and how they believe it should be fixed. T
6. Students will now be introduced to the many different software
packages involved in maintaining a school network and keeping it
running at an optimal state with the least amount of hands on work.
The depth of this information will be determined by the student’s
results on the Pre-Test activities. The packages will include FOG, a
piece of software that is used to copy the hard disk of one computer
and transfer it onto another in order to cut the time required to set up a
computer from scratch down to just a few minutes. They will also learn
how to use Novell ConsoleOne and Novell Zenworks to control network
users, software packages (Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, any
network hosted software, etc…), and network printer management. E
7. After this introduction, students will begin to use these concepts in a
lab setting. Students will be in a computer lab in which all of the
computers have blank hard drives. Each student will use a Windows
operating system disk (either Windows XP Professional or Windows 7
Professional) provided by the instructor to install an operating system
onto one computer. The students must install the proper hardware
drivers, productivity software, and antivirus software. Once the
computer is “ready to go” and has been checked by the instructor, the
students will upload an image of the hard drive to the FOG server.
Upon completion of the upload, the students will then deploy that
image to a second computer that has a blank hard drive. Once the
instructor has verified that the second computer is finished and working
properly, the student will be done with this activity. E
8. The instructor will lead a round table type discussion where the
students will discuss how they believe they will be able to use the skills
that they gained in the activity and how the process could be improved
to become more efficient. Each student must provide an example of
how they plan to use this technology when they get back to their
respective school and one way they feel that the process of imaging
computers can be streamlined to be more efficient, i.e. preloading
essential software before creating the image as opposed to adding it
later on a piecemeal basis. R, E-2 (Interpretation)

Week 2

1. The students will begin week 2 with an exercise in application

management. Students will each be given a computer to work on that
has administrative privileges on the network. The students will have to
use the Novell ConsoleOne administration tool to create an Internet
Explorer shortcut to a website of their choice, to change the user
policies to allow users to open Microsoft Office documents from a
network drive without creating a warning message, and to create a
package to silently install Symantec Endpoint Protection onto another
 computer. The instructor will demonstrate how to perform the basic
actions associated with these tasks, but the students must search the
web for more specific directions needed to complete the task. The
instructor will observe the students and intervene as needed. E
(Application)
2. Students will also need to be familiar with the roles of the actual end
user applications. The students will divide themselves into groups
based on the school in which they work. Each group will list software
applications that are used at their school and order them from most
critical to least critical. Students should include reasons to justify their
decisions. Once the lists are made, each group will share their list with
the class so the students can compare and contrast the different types
of software used by the staff at each school. R (Empathy)
3. Students will perform an activity to help them familiarize themselves
with a wide range of software configuration and troubleshooting steps
regarding common issues with software. Students will each be
assigned a computer and will have to properly install and configure
Microsoft Office, install the software for and configure the computer to
work with an InterWrite Schoolpad, a Promethean smart board, and a
Smart Technologies smart board. Once the student has completed this
task, the instructor will demonstrate how these technologies can be
used in a classroom. The students will follow along on their own
computer and/or peripherals in order to gain an understanding of how
this technology can be effectively integrated into instruction. E
4. The students will then develop their own strategy for integrating the
software package of their choice into classroom instruction and share
their strategy with the rest of the class. R, E-2 (Explanation)

Week 3
 1. Now that students know the ins-and-outs of the basic day-to-day
activities of a technology specialist, the instructor will moderate a class
discussion where the following question is posed to the students, “As
technology staff, how can we do our job better, and how can we remain
in tune with the needs of the staff of our schools?” Students must
participate meaningfully in the discussion and provide insightful
answers regarding their specific school and the school’s needs. R, E-2
2. As a final product of this lesson, the students will have to individually
complete an “obstacle course” set up in the lab by the instructor. The
instructor will bring the students into the lab one at a time and let them
work through the course. The course will consist of basic
troubleshooting of hardware and software problems, creating and
modifying an application using Novell ConsoleOne, creating an image of
a computer hard drive and deploying that image to a second computer,
and installation, configuration, and troubleshooting an InterWrite
Schoolpad connected to one of the computers. The student must
successfully complete this course consulting only their notes from the
class and the resources that they can find on the web. E
3. Upon completion of this assignment, students will write a short
reflection comparing their level of technical expertise before the unit
versus after having completed the unit. They will also include what
they feel are their specific strengths and weaknesses and how those
compare to the strengths and weaknesses of the other students.
Finally each student will discuss how they can use their own strengths,
along with the strengths of their fellow students, to develop a more
knowledgeable and efficient staff. All of the students will then share
their reflection with the class in order to get feedback from everyone on
how to more effectively serve the schools. R, E-2, T (Self-
Knowledge)

Notes to the Instructor

The point where I felt my project was weakest was differentiation. However
with the hands-on nature of this type of work, it is almost impossible to
provide students with anything other than an experiential learning
environment.

Stage 3 Scoring Rubric

(0 Points) (3 Points) (5 Points) Your

Scor
e
1 Does not clearly Codes some learning Clearly codes each
. communicate activities with activity with WHERETO
WHERETO for WHERETO
learning activities Includes a pretest to check
for prerequisite skills and
Fails to provide a knowledge.
pretest for learners.

2 Alignment is not There is evidence of Alignment is clearly

. demonstrated alignment between demonstrated between
between some of the instructional strategies,
instructional instructional standards, and
strategies, strategies, standards, understandings of the
standards, and and understandings unit.
understandings of of the unit.
the unit.
Matches all essential
questions,
understandings, skills,
and knowledge with a
corresponding
instructional strategy.

3 Instruction has one Utilizes Gardner’s Utilizes Gardner’s

. global starting point strategy to provide strategy to provide
for all learners. different “Entry different “Entry Points” to
Points.” meet the needs of all
No evidence of an types of intelligences.
attempt at Evidence of an
differentiation attempt at Clear plan for
differentiation exists differentiation

4 Fails to provide Provides Provides numerous

. opportunities for opportunities for opportunities for students
students to RETHINK students to RETHINK to RETHINK big ideas,
ideas, REFLECT, and big ideas, REFLECT REFLECT on progress,
to REVISE work. on progress, and and to REVISE work.
REVISE their work.