Queens
College/CUNY
Education Unit
Fall 2013
SYLLABUS
SEYS 753-01 (20373) - Computer Applications in Science Education
Section:
Wednesday 4:35 pm to 7:05 pm
Kiely Hall, Room 220A
Week
1 FTF 8/28 |
Week
2 ONLINE 9/4 NO CLASS |
Week
3 FTF 9/11 |
Week
4 ONLINE 9/18 |
Week
5 FTF 9/25 |
Week
6 ONLINE 10/2 |
Week
7 FTF 10/9 |
Week
8 ONLINE 10/16 |
Week
9 FTF 10/23 |
Week
10 ONLINE 10/30 |
Week
11 FTF 11/6 |
Week
12 ONLINE 11/13 |
Week
13 FTF 11/20 |
Week
14 ONLINE 11/27 NO CLASS |
Week
15 FTF 12/4 |
Week
16 FTF 12/11 |
Week
17 FTF 12/18 |
INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION:
Brian Murfin,
Ph.D.,
Office: Powdermaker Hall Room 135C,
Office Hours:
Thursday 11 am to 1 pm
And by appointment
Please send me email to brian.murfin@qc.cuny.edu to arrange an online appointment using either:
- ScienceMOO, or
Phone: 631 223-8311
Email: brian.murfin@qc.cuny.edu
A. COURSE DESCRIPTIONSEYS 753. Computer Applications in Science Education. 3 hr.; 3 cr. Prereq.: Matriculation into the MS in secondary science education, an introductory course in computers, and/or permission of instructor. Science teacher candidates enrolled in this course will examine the fundamental issues, concepts, and best practices surrounding the use of multimedia computer systems in science education. They will learn how to use a multimedia computer system, courseware and Internet resources to support science instruction at the secondary level. Some of the teaching and learning activities will take place online.
Education Unit Conceptual Framework:
This course is being offered by the Secondary Education department which is part of the Education Unit at Queens College. The Education Unit seeks to promote equity, excellence, and ethics in urban education and is committed to preparing teachers and other education professionals who will:
- Build inclusive communities that nurture and challenge all learners (Equity)
Demonstrate professionalism, scholarship, efficacy, and evidence-based and reflective practice (Excellence) Diversity, democracy, and social justice (Ethics)
This course is aligned with the Education Unit’s commitment to preparing educational professionals to work in diverse urban and suburban communities. Specifically, the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that candidates will development/demonstrate at the successful completion of this course are directly linked to the Education Unit’s seven principles: 1) discipline specific competencies, 2) learning and development, 3) families and urban communities, 4) diversity, inclusion, democracy and social justice, 5) language and literacy, 6) curriculum, instruction, and assessment, and 7) technology.
B. COURSE GOALS/OBJECTIVES
- Students will acquire basic levels of technology and information literacy. Excellence
- Students will become acquainted with the history of computing, and the history of technology use in education. Excellence, Equity
- Students will have a basic understanding of how computer hardware and software work. Excellence
- Students will be able to critically review educational software and web resources. Excellence
- Students will be able to teach students important ideas related to the safe use of computers, including cyber safety and RSI. Excellence, Ethics
- Students will learn techniques to assess the credibility resources on the Internet and World Wide Web. Excellence, Ethics
- Students will be familiar with the different types of technology tools and how they can be used to enhance the teaching and learning of science. Excellence
- Students will be able to design and create a web site. Excellence, Ethics, Equity
- Students will be able to design and create a video or podcast that can be used to enhance science learning. Excellence
- Students will be able to set up and maintain a blog that will be used to enhance science teaching. Excellence
- Students will be able to locate and install open source software. Excellence, Equity
- Students will understand strategies for using technology to help reduce the “digital divide”. Equity
- Students will become familiar with the educational technology literature, especially with relation to science teaching and learning. Excellence, Equity, Ethics
- Students will become familiar with virtual learning environments such as Second Life and Croquet. Excellence
- Students will become familiar with open source course management software and other educational software. Excellence
- Students will learn basic principles of programming using Scratch and Squeak. Excellence
C. REQUIRED PURCHASES: TEXTBOOK(S) AND SUPPLIES
1. Textbook (required): None You will not be required to purchase a textbook for this course. Instead, each student will review a different educational technology book from a list provided by the instructor. Most of these books are available in the Queens College library.
2.
Textbook (recommended): None
3. Supplies and/or tools: None
Supplies
and/or tools, hardware: You will need access to a computer
with an Internet connection to do the online
assignments. You should have ear phones that you can
connect to your computer in order to listen to webcasts and
podcasts.
Computer labs available on campus: Every other week we
will meet in a computer lab in Powdermaker Hall Room
151. If you need to use a computer on campus, here are
links to information on the computer labs on campus with the
days and hours they are available.
Software
needed: All you need for this course is access to a web
browser. I highly recommend that you use Firefox and
Google Chrome. Any other software needed will be
available for free, either as open source software that you
can download and install, or free Web 2.0 applications.
Accounts needed: You must have the following
accounts: Your Queens College CAMS account, a CUNY
Portal account, a CUNYFirst account, a Google account, and a
Science Moodle account.
Optional supplies - digital microphone, digital video camera,
smartphone, webcam. These will all be available for use
during face to face class meetings. I recommend that you
have a USB drive to store backups of your work.
How to get help: I will try to answer all email requests
for help sent to brian.murfin@qc.cuny.edu within 24
hours. If you don't hear from me by then, please resend
your request. It is helpful if you put a short
description of the question in the subject header of the email
message. Another way to get help is from your peers by
posting a message to our Google group or in the Discussion
area of Blackboard. If you have problems with your
Queens College, CUNY Portal, or CUNY First accounts you should
contact the OCT Help desk. Here are some places you can
get help.
- Online Student Services
- Technical Support for students, faculty and staff is provided via the following:
- Self-service at https://helpdesk.qc.cuny.edu
- Phone at 718-997-4444
-
In person by visiting us in the Dining Hall, Room 151
-
Email to help@qc.cuny.edu
- Fax: 718-997-3198
What to do if
BlackBoard and the QC website are down: If
BlackBoard is down, please check our QC course website and
also check your QC email If all of these are down,
go to our Google group http://groups.google.com/group/seys753-fall2013 and check your
gmail email for announcements about alternative
arrangements.
Tips and Advice for Students Taking an Online
or Hybrid Course
- Skills needed to succeed in an online or hybrid course
- Time management skills
- Ability to work and learn independently
- General computer skills such as searching the Internet,
sending and receiving email, knowing how to download and
upload files, to login to college accounts and to access
Queens College email.
- Ability to write clearly
- Tips for Students
- Find out what time of day you work best and make that "sacred time" to complete your work for the online or hybrid class
- Keep careful track of deadlines for assignments, set up email reminders
- Understand that online and hybrid courses are very demanding and can take even more time than face to face courses
- Always keep multiple backups of your work. You can use USB drives, dropbox and other tools.
- When typing an assignment, use a word processor to
complete it. Save the file offline and then copy and
paste the assignment or upload the Word doc to
BlackBoard. Do not type an assignment directly into
BlackBoard online as you may lose it if there is a problem
and you will have to do it all over.
- Login to BlackBoard, check your QC email, and the Google
group at least three times per week.
- If you have to read a long paper, download and print out
the file for easier reading.
- Stay in touch with the instructor. Feel free to email questions or set up an online appointment to chat or talk.
- Work as a team. Form a team or support group with
a few classmates. You can set up your own Google
group to keep in touch and help each other during the
course.
- Always be polite and respectful. Computer mediated
communication is different than face to face communication
and it is easy for misunderstandings to occur since you do
not see body language, facial expressions or hear tone of
voice.
- Stale or broken web links - Hyperlinks change all the time for many reasons. Sometimes the person hosting a website will change the link, or they might move or remove a file. Different web portal software can generate new links. What can you do when you have a broken link? Use the Wayback Machine from the Internet Archive! Copy and paste the old, broken link into the Wayback machine and if you are lucky you will find a saved version of the web page.
- First Steps for students in a hybrid or online course
- Read through the entire course outline and assignments
carefully.
- Ask the instructor questions if you aren't sure.
- Get organized. Create a calendar using Google
calendar or 30boxes.com. Put the due dates for
each assignment on your calendar and set up
reminders. Create a folder for all of your
assignments. Give each file a descriptive name and
keep your files organized with multiple backups. If
you are working on a major assignment such as a paper or
project, you can save the project and include the date in
the filename. This way, if you want to go back to an
earlier version you will have it.
- Create good work habits that will make sure that you use
your time wisely. For short work sessions, a simple
checklist like nowdothis.com can
help keep you on task. Lifehacker is
a great website that has good advice on how to be
productive, especially with technology.
D. WEEKLY TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
Week 1 – 8/28/2013 –
Introduction to technology use in science education, A Taste
of Raspberry Pi - FTF in Kiely Hall, Room 220A
Overview:
In this first class, you should make sure that you can access
the course outline, BlackBoard and all of your QC and CUNY
accounts. After we go over the goals of the course and
required assignments, we will discuss what you believe about
the use of technology in science education. Then we will
discuss some important concepts, e.g. what is technology, a
computer, etc. You will take part in an online scavenger
hunt to learn about the history of computing and we will
finish with a slice of Raspberry Pi, an innovative, new
inexpensive computer that has many interesting possible uses
in science education.
Activities:
- Science news:
- Canvassing Central Park and Finding New Tenants
- Scientists raise mini human brain in a petri dish
- RESEARCHER REMOTELY OPERATES COLLEAGUE’S BRAIN OVER THE INTERNET
- Earth Life Likely Came from Mars, Study Suggests
- Fukushima radioactive plume to reach US in three years
- Saturn Moon Titan Sports Thick Icy Shell & Bizarre Interior
- Researchers confirm new element 115 after atoms collide
- Salmonella
in Spices Prompts Changes in Farming
- Technology news:
- How computers work - simplified
- Visit the course web site using the Firefox web browser
- Press Ctrl T to open up a new tab, visit the CUNY portal at www.cuny.edu, login, access our course in BlackBoard. If your CAMS account is not working, you may need to activate it by visiting the following site: https://cams.qc.cuny.edu/
- Sign up for gmail, access Google drive, our Google group. Email your gmail and qc addresses to qcscied@gmail.com and I will then create a class mailing list.
- Introduce self on the Discussion forum in BlackBoard
- Enjoy a slice of
Raspberry Pi
- Overview of course, goals, assignments, textbook
- Use the wiki in Blackboard to sign up for your preferred panel discussion topic:
Topic 1: MOOC's
Topic 2: Khan Academy and the flipped classroom
Topic 3: Robotics
Topic 4: Digital textbooks and tablets
Topic 5: Digital games, e.g. http://www.sciencegamecenter.org/
Topic 6: Social media and education
- Complete the History of Computing Scavenger Hunt
- Introduction to the Smartboard
- Small group discussion -
- The Journey Inside - an excellent technology education resource
- History
of
Computers
- The Internet Lesson
- The World Wide Web
- The Next Generation Science Standards
- http://www.nextgenscience.org/case-next-generation-science-standards
- http://www.nextgenscience.org/
- NSTA
Collection of Documents and Supporting Materials to
Study Second Public Draft of NGSS
Week 3 – 9/11/2013 – FTF
in Kiely Hall, Room 220A -
Cloud computing, Web 2.0, Open Source Software, and Apps
Technology
news:
- I forgot my phone
- Digital
tattoos, mind-reading headphones: The shape of things to
come?
- Israeli Researchers Debut Software That Extracts 3-D Objects From Photos
- 5 Ways Smithsonian Uses 3-D Scanning to Open Up History
- FACEBOOK PLANS TO ADD MILLIONS MORE FACES TO ITS FACIAL RECOGNITION DATABASE
- THE MORE PARTICIPANTS USED FACEBOOK IN A MICHIGAN STUDY, THE WORSE THEY FELT
Science news:
- Sixth Sense in Human Brain Mapped by Scientists
- Stem cells: Living adult tissue transformed back into embryo state
- Curiosity makes its longest one-day drive on Mars: 464 feet
- Recorded Tiger Growls Enough to Chase Away Herds of Elephants
- The Ig Nobel Prizes - ceremony this Saturday
- Hawaii molasses spill could lead to more predator species, agency says
- Rocket frog takes a flying leap
Activities:
- View the following screencasts:
- How
to submit assignments for this course
- How
this course works
- Overview
of cloud computing, Web 2.0, Open source software and
apps
- Visit the discussion board in Blackboard and view the results of the History of Computing scavenger hunt
- What is cloud computing and why is it important?
- Introduction to Web 2.0
- Introduction to Open Source Software
- What is Open Source software?
- Other terms for free software
- Introduction to Stellarium (open source planetarium software)
- Sourceforge.net
- Select the software application you will review.
- Please browse through the following materials on how to
integrate technology into your teaching:
- Educational tools from Intel
- Instructional Strategies - Introduction to Computers
- Introduction to Computers - Explore the curriculum
- List of general open source software applications that will be useful in this class. Please feel free to install these at home.
- ChemSpider
- Computer Hardware
- Software
Week 4 – 9/18/2013 – ONLINE - Blogs and Science Education
This week we will begin exploring the use of blogs in science teaching and learning. Skim through the links below to see some examples of different types of blogs and how they can be used in science teaching. After that, you can start on assignment 2, creating your own blog using Blogger. You can find the instructions for Assignment #2 below.
- Examples of science blogs:
- BATA blog
- a very useful resource for teachers
- Bats, Bats, Bats!
- Useful Chemistry
- 100
Blogs Every Science Student Should Subscribe To
- Ten Essential Qualities of Science Bloggers
- Watts Up With That?
- Top 10 Fun and Quirky Science Blogs
- Doing Good Science
- Examples of Science Education blogs:
- Top 50 Science Teacher Blogs
- Extreme Biology
- Using blogs in science education
- sciencegeekgirl
- Education blogs by discipline (scroll down to science)
- NYT lesson plans, science
- Science for All Your place for transformative science education resources
- A great education blog
- BATA blog
- a very useful resource for teachers
- What is the origin of the term "blog"? Answer: The History of Blogging
- Instructions for the blog
assignment #2
- Brainstorm ideas on how blogs can be used to enhance science teaching and learning, you should then post your ideas on BlackBoard
- Look at some science and science education blogs
- Pick a target audience and theme for your blog
- Take the Quick Tour at blogger.com
- Sign up for a blogger.com account
- Create, name a customize your blog
- Add your first post
- How to add youtube videos to your blog
- More info on adding videos to your blog
- Post the url to your blog on the Discussion Board in BlackBoard
Readings and Extension activities:
Week 5 – 9/25/2013 – FTF in Kiely Hall, Room 220A - Videos, webcams, and science educationAssignment #1 due – Web 2.0 app or Open Source app review
In-Class activities:
- SingularityHub
- Science news:
- Interstellar 8-Track: How Voyager’s Vintage Tech Keeps Running
- A first: Stanford engineers build computer using carbon nanotube technology
- Scientists create never-before-seen form of matter
- Yahoo Will Offer ‘Not My Email’ Button To Report Mistaken Deliveries Due To Username Recycling
- Technology news:
- A Surge in Growth for a New Kind of Online Course
- The
Science Author Clive Thompson Does Not Think Tech
Is Ruining Your Mind
- Class discussion: Who are we teaching? How do our students prefer to use technology to communicate?
Baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) |
Gen-Xers (born between 1965 and 1979) |
Net-Geners (Born in the 1980's and early 1990's) |
iGeners Millenials, Generation Y, Generation M) |
Draw the table above on a sheet of paper.
Place the preferred technology uses under each
generation in the table. (Exercise from Rewired
by Larry D. Rosen, Ph.D.)
1) text
message, IM, Facebook;
2) Face-to-face or telephone;
3) text
message, Twitter, Skype, Myspace, Facebook,
iPhone."
4) email or cell
phone
- Take a Turing
Test
- View the following science videos:
- Fed up with
technology? Enjoy this ancient video...
- For each video pay special attention to the
techniques, approaches used. If you were going
to make a similar video, how would you do it?
- The DNA Rap
- The Power of video - View "The Mom Song Sung to William Tell Overture with Lyrics"
- Synaptic Cleft
- Rapping
about
genes
- Individual in-class activities:
- Look through the links below and then brainstorm ideas for using webcams, and video in science teaching and learning, post ideas on the Discussion Board in BlackBoard
- Science Education videos
- Science Education videos on youtube
- Science education videos on Teacher Tube
- Iron Science Teacher
- learner.org (for science teachers)
- learner.org (science
discipline resources)
- Science webcams
- Download a Galapagos creatures (wmv) (mov) (Source: HHMI web site)(right click, and then "save link as"), and import, and edit with MovieMaker
- Demonstration of video creation and editing with Windows MovieMaker.
- Small group, in-class activities:
- Small group paper plate science video activity
- Pick a paper plate science activity
- Write script and instructions
- Record a video, save, edit. You can use a Flip camera or smart phone camera to record a short video
- Sign up for a youtube account or you can sign in with your gmail account
- Upload your video
- Post the url on the discussion board in BlackBoard
- Individual activities to do outside of
class -
- Make screencast using Cam Studio or Jing and link to it on your Google site
- Screencasting info
- Carry out a webcast using justin.tv or ustream, save and link to it from your Google site.
Useful Links:
- CamStudio - This allows you to record your computer
screen and edit it later.
http://camstudio.org/ - Windows MovieMaker tutorials
- http://movies.atomiclearning.com/k12/moviemaker2
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZZij3NNyVg
- Mighty Coach MovieMaker tutorial
- http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/moviemaker/a/mov_mak_beg.htm
- Video players
- VLC Media Player - This is free, open source
and it works on Mac, Windows and Linux -
http://www.videolan.org - Video editing apps
- for the iPhone
- iMovie
- Reel Director
- Animoto videos
- Vintage Video maker
- Camera Plus Pro
- Cute CUT
- for Android phones
- Magical Video Editor
- VidTrim Pro
- HighlightCam Social
- AndroVid Video Trimmer
- AndroMedia Video Editor
- Snip Video Trimmer
- Clesh Video Editor
- Video Slide Show Maker
- Ultimate Special FX
- Lapse It
- VideoCam Illusion
- Stock Camcorder
- cute cut Apple iOS
- Video Editing Tools
- Commercial video formats
- Video formats
- http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_media.asp
- http://gizmodo.com/5093670/giz-explains-every-video-format-you-need-to-know
- Video Search - http://www.blinkx.com/
- Video archives
- Science videos
- Science webcams
- tryscience.com
- webcamsmania.com
- webcamgalore.com
- South
Pole Station Webcams
- live penguin cams
- Animal webcams
- Science
and education webcams
- Zoos and aquariums from the Open Directory Project
- How to set up a webcam
- software tools available to create and edit media:
- images - digital cameras, smart phone, scanner,
the GIMP,SumoPaint, FlockDraw
- drawings - Dia, Inkscape, Google Sketchup, FlockDraw
- sounds - Audacity
- animations - Scratch, Squeak, Goanimate
- video - Flip digital camera, smart phones, there
are many video editors available
- Windows Movie Maker (This is on the computers in the QC computer labs)
- iMovie
- Xtranormal
- Animoto
- Youtube and Google Picasa
- http://photobucket.com/
- http://sourceforge.net/projects/jahshakafx/
Open source tools to author e-learning activities
Readings and Extension activities:
- Big ideas (pdf), important concepts in computer science
- Construct a concept map to illustrate the relationship between computers and humans
- Write your first program using C++ or Java
- C++
Week 6 – 10/2/2013
– ONLINE - Data
and Science Teaching and Learning
- Science news
- Science education news
- Next Generation Science Standards
This is a new
activity that we will be doing every week for the first 30
minutes of each class. First of all you need to sign up
for a free account at codeacademy.com.
- Once you have signed in, click on "Learn" at the top of
the page.
- Click on "Web fundamentals" and start completing the
online courses.
- You can move through these at your own pace and you can
also work on them outside of class. By the end of this
course, you should finish the web fundamentals lessons,
although please feel free to complete as many as you
can. This will not count as part of your grade but it
will help you learn how to code, an extremely valuable skill
in the 21st century.
Consider the following questions:
- What is data? What is a database?
- Why is data important?
- Training to Climb an Everest of Digital Data
- What are the advantages and disadvantage of using authentic scientific data in science teaching?
- High-School Student Discovers Strange Astronomical Object
- NASA Student discoveries
- Discovering Student Discoveries
- Students
Find
Snake Rare to Area; Scientific Discovery Made by Fourth-
Graders on Field Trip
- Massive amounts of data - "The end of science?"
- Internet world statistics
- What are some common databases? Oracle, mysql, Filemaker, dbase, Access, Open Office Base
- Database file formats
- Method of data collection,
- surveys, phpESP, google form, survey Monkey
- LAMP applications
- digital probes and software
- scientific instruments
- Bugscope
- http://www.mse.iastate.edu/excel/
- Scanning probe microscope construction kit
- SLOOH space camera
- Online telescopes
- http://mo-www.harvard.edu/MicroObservatory/
- GPS/GIS
- Google Earth
- e.g. the silk road in china
- STEM career tours
- Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle
- the path of a food from farm to table
- the migration of birds, salmon, eels, monarch butterflies
- Online databases, scientific data
- Earthquake data,
- Live Earthquake data
- weather data, Wunderground
- Earth Science data
- NASA Space Science data center
- genome data,
- Genecards
- EPA data
- Data sets
- Social science data sources
- Google Flu Trends
- Google trends
- Data analysis
- Wordle, word clouds
- statistical software
- crowdsourcing
- Search engines
- Data visualization and display
- Data analysis
- Free statistics software
- PSPP (alternative to SPSS)
- OpenStat
- Hadoop
- Graphing tools
- Simulations
- PhET - Interactive Physics demonstrations
- breve
- http://scienceshareware.com/indexSub.htm
- http://www.dmoz.org/Science/Software/Simulation/
- http://www.google.com/Top/Science/Software/Simulation/
- http://www.modelscience.com/
- Modeling,
Work in small groups and carry out the following:
- Create
a form that stores data in a spreadsheet in Google docs.
Test out your form. You can gather data from your
colleagues, friends or family. Post the link to your
form on the discussion board.
- List at least three ways you
could use a Google spreadsheet and form in your science
classes. Post your ideas on the discussion
board.
- Come up with an idea for a science activity that uses authentic scientific data from the web. Download a dataset from one of the sources listed in this week's materials, and try transferring the data from a spreadsheet to a database such as Microsoft Access, These are both free: OpenOffice Base, or LibreOffice Base. Write a brief description of the activity that the students could carry out. Include examples of questions students could use to guide their exploration. All software used should be free. Post your Data Exploration activity on the Discussion Board.
- Biology - Check out the DOGS (Database of Genome Sizes) or other Biology data sets
- Earth Science - Earth Quake global data
- Chemistry - NIST Web book
- Physics
- Create a brief Google Earth Tour related to a science topic you teach. Post the link to your tour on the discussion board in BlackBoard.
- Start thinking about what you might want to do for your group project.
Assignment #2 due – post link to Blog assignment
Week 7 –
10/9/2013 - Audio, podcasts and science education -
FTF in Kiely Hall, Room 220A
Activities:
|
|
- The Power of Technology - Read article and view youtube video "In My Language"
- What technology tools were used and why were they so important?
- Digital versus analog sound
- In small groups, brainstorm ideas for how digital sound can be used to enhance science teaching and learning. Post your group's ideas on the Discussion Board in BlackBoard
- Earliest sound recording (mp3) (picture of the phonautogram) (phonautograph)
- Introduction to Audacity, a free open source sound editing application
- Pick a sound from the links below, download it, and play around with it using Audacity
- Sounds from the web
- Laysan
Duck · Anas laysanensis (Right click and choose
"save link as" from http://www.xeno-canto.org/116368
- Free sound effects
- Bird songs
- You’ll
Never Guess Who: Strange Recordings From the Library
of Animal Sounds
- http://macaulaylibrary.org/
- Free music
- Danosongs
Royalty Free Music - http://www.danosongs.com/
- Demo: Volunteers set up an ipod using the smartboard
- Work in small groups to develop a short science podcast.
- Write a script, record a simple podcast and edit using Audacity. In general, use the same planning process as you did for your youtube video. Remember, it must be related to science! Please note: Audacity on the computers in our lab, does not have LAME installed so you won't be able to export your sound files in mp3 format. You can export the file in .wav format and then email me (qcscied@gmail.com) the file using gmail, I can convert it and send it back to you. Also, for this first attempt at a podcast, just use voice, you don't need to include a music track.
- Upload your mp3 file using freedrive or drop.io Please place your file in a public folder, and then post the url to your folder on the Discussion Board in BlackBoard.
- Advanced activity if you have time: Make a mashup
- http://gsn.k12.oh.us/Westfall/
HS/ITL/Mashup/lesson.htm - http://www.stumbleupon.com/
url/gsn.k12.oh.us/Westfall/HS/ ITL/Mashup/lesson.htm - http://www.maximumpc.com/
article/howtos/how_to_mash_up_ your_music - http://forum.audacityteam.org/
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=12212
- Discuss possible science activities that use Audacity and podcasting
Extension activities:
- At home or school install RavenViewer
- then visit http://animalbehaviorarchive.org/
- Pick an education or science podcast from the link below and add it to your blog, OR install Juice on your home computer and add the podcasts and newsfeeds you are interested in.
Useful Links:
- Juice (a nice aggregator to organize your podcast and rss feeds)
- Recording a podcast
- How to make a podcast
- Recording an audio podcast with audacity
- Audacity tutorial for podcasters
- Itunes Tutorial for Windows
- How to create a podcast on Windows
- Podcasting for Itunes tutorial
- Screencasting and Webinars
- CamStudio
- Jing
- Slideshare.net has a nice tool to make screencasts and webinars
How personal audio devices work
- Royalty free music - http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/
- More free music - http://www.danosongs.com/
Week 8 – 10/16/2013 - ONLINE - Linux, Android apps -
Learn about Linux and Build your First App!
Reminders:
- Make sure to keep posting on your Blog (Assignment #2).
Also, you should make sure that the link to your blog is
posted on the discussion board.
- You can start working on Assignment #3. If you have problems setting up your website on qcpages.qc.cuny.edu please email me. I will post a link to a screencast demo and a short version of how to set up your website.
- You should be reading one of the books for Assignment #4.
- You should also be thinking and planning for your final group project,
the video, with associated website and lesson plan.
Class
activities:
- This week you are going to explore another operating system called Linux. An operating system is the interface between the hardware and software on a computer. Examples of operating systems are the various versions of Windows and Mac OS's. Linux is a free, open source operating system that is becoming more and more popular. There are several reasons that Linux is important:
- It can help to reduce the digital divide so that all students, teachers and schools can have access to up to date, high quality software.
- It can be installed on old computers and make them
usable again.
- It can be used to easily set up servers to run useful educational software such as Moodle, a popular, free open source learning management system.
- It is a free alternative to Windows and Mac operating systems and software.
- I can be installed on any computer, Mac or
Windows.
- Please post your answers to the following questions on the discussion board in BlackBoard using the links below:
- What is linux? How is it different from Windows and the Mac operating systems?
- Who invented linux?
- What is the most common distribution of linux?
- What is the digital
divide? Read: Caught
in the Digital Divide
- How might you use linux to enhance your science teaching?
- How can you recycle computers using linux?
- http://www.freebyte.com/free_computers/
(Check out freegeek as an example)
- Download
putty.exe (Click
on
this link and save the file to the desktop) and use ssh to connect to
qcpages.qc.cuny.edu (This is a server running a
version of Linux. It is also where you will upload
your personal website for this course).
- launch putty
- hostname is qcpages.qc.cuny.edu and click open
- login as: INSTR\username (for students)(Note: this is case-sensitive)
- or login as QC\username (for faculty) ( Note: this is case-sensitive)
- enter your password: (remember this is case sensitive)
- Once you have logged into your account, you are now at the linux command line. Notice that there is no graphical user interface. Instead, you have to enter commands by typing them. Try entering the following commands:
- ls
- ls -al
- ps -aux
- pico (this is a simple text editor, you press the ctrl key with various letters to carry out commands)
- help
- man
- exit
2) Android is a new operating system developed by
Google for mobile phones and tablets. Go through the beginner's
tutorials for MIT App Inventor.
3) Use
MIT App Inventor to build the helloPurr app
Read the
following:
- Linux history
- What is linux?
- Common linux distros
- Useful linux commands
- Android
tutorial for beginners
- Volunteers will install ubuntu on a discarded (and rescued) desktop computer (We will do this next week in class)
- Ubuntu
- Download Ubuntu
and burn on a DVD (Windows)
- Change boot order on machine
- Boot up with CD-ROM, install Ubuntu (if you have a
machine that can boot from a USB drive, you can use UNetBootin
instead.
Science
news:
Activities:
- Demonstration of how to create a web page and upload it to qcpages.qc.cuny.edu (Using Kompozer or Seamonkey Composer) and WinSCP)
- http://www.webmonkey.com/2010/02/make_an_html_document/
- Post the URL of your QC web page on the discussion board in BlackBoard
- Create a simple web page using Kompozer or SeaMonkey Composer and upload to your qcpages.qc.cuny.edu account using WinSCP. (help creating web pages)
- Introduction to Google sites
- Google Sites tutorial
- Make sure to check out the templates
- 20 Google Doc Templates for use in Science and Math Classrooms
- Introduction to web
design
- The Educator's Guide to Copyright and Fair Use (PLEASE READ)
- Fair use and intellectural property on the web
- Practice with ScienceMOO for online class next week.
- Read the following and then take the Educators
Media quiz:
- "Should I post this image"
- The Educator's Guide to Copyright and Fair Use (PLEASE READ)
- Fair use and intellectural property on the web
- Noted with interest: a few links about intellectual property
- http://www.frolic-blog.com/.a/6a00d83451c0f869e2014e5fef751e970c-pi
- Locate and save free clipart, sound, music, video for educational use that you can use in your online science course
- OpenClipArt
Library
- Sign up for a Flickr account
- Read the following articles:
- Where All the Purty Pictures Come From: Flickr + Creative Commons
- Using Creative Commons Licensed Material in Your Classroom
- How to find free, online content that you’re
allowed to re-use
- Search for some science images for your web site using the Creative Commons
- Royalty free music - http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/
- More free music - http://www.danosongs.com/
- Webmonkey.com
- Kompozer site
- Kompozer tutorials
- How to design and publish your web site with Kompozer
- Graphics and Web Design based on Edward Tufte's Principles
- Top Ten Mistakes in Web Design
- Usability 101
- Complete HTML tutorial
Week 10 – 10/30/2013 – ONLINE - Learning Management Software and Science Education
Activities:
- What is moodle?
- The pedagogical principles of Moodle
- Login as a guest and take a look at the Moodle site
- Moodle tutorials for teachers
- Moodle tutorials for students
- Read and skim the following documents "Moodle for teachers"
- Explore examples of online science alternative assessments
- What other tools can be used to teach online classes?
- Work on your group project - a science youtube video
- Post progress report on your
group project
Week 11 –
11/6/2013 – CLASS IS CANCELLED THIS WEEK
During
this course you will have access to a Moodle Learning
Management System named Science Moodle. This is a
free web-based course management system and I have set
up a Moodle for our course.
Visit
the following link:
http://tinyurl.com/qcmoodlefall2013
If this is your first time to visit Science Moodle, click on the "Create new account" button on the lower right side of the screen. Follow the instructions to set up your account and then select our course and enroll using the following enrollment key "seys753" (without the quotes, all lower case).
Assignment 3 due – Creation of a web site
Week 12 – 11/13/2013 - Panel discussions on hot topics in educational technology - FTF in KIELY 220a
- Review of what we've covered so far
- Questions and answers
Topic 1: MOOC's
Topic 2: Khan Academy
Topic 3: Robotics
Topic 4: Digital textbooks and tablets
Topic 5: Digital games
Topic 6: Social media and education
Topic 7: Teaching science online
- What is the difference between a webinar and a webcast?
- How does a webinar compare to a face to face classroom lecture?
- Educational technology webinars
- Science webinars
- How
to create a webinar.
- Small group activity using BigBlueButton, an open source web conferencing application
- View edtech
presentation on slideshare.net
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of web conferencing?
- How might you use this tool in your own school?
- Teams meet to continue planning group projects
Cal Newport's views on Facebook
Virtual
learning
environments in Science Education, Science
Education in Second Life, Virtual and Augmented Reality -
Implications for Science Education
Tonight
we are going to explore some different types of virtual
learning environments. Normally we would start
by exploring a text-based virtual reality environment called
a Multi User Dimension Object Oriented, or MOO.
Unfortunately, due to a recent Java web exploit, many web
browsers make it more difficult to run java applets so won't
be using ScienceMOO this week. In our next face to
face class we can try and use it in the computer lab.
Activities:
- Login to Blackboard and post the following on the discussion board:
- Post the title and author of book you are reviewing on the Discussion Board in BlackBoard
- Post a progress report on your group video project
- After you have explored some 3D virtual worlds during this week's class, please post your answers to the questions on the discussion board in BlackBoard.
Browse through the following:
- Virtual learning environments - definition, types
- Today we are going to concentrate on virtual worlds and
science education. I have listed below some of the
virtual worlds that have potential in science
education.
- Virtual Worlds
- Text-based, 2D graphics, chat, hypertext and
hypermedia links enabled, Requires a java client to
run Java applets.
- Multi User Dimension Object Oriented (MOO)
- These started out as games and then became very
useful as virtual learning environments.
- 3D virtual worlds with sound, video, chat
- Second Life
- You need to join Second Life and then download a
Second Life client in order to access Second
Life.
- OpenSimulator (This a project that
develops and distributes free, open source software
that enables anyone to set up to 3D virtual
world.
- ScienceSpace - I have set up a 3D virtual
world called ScienceSpace using OpenSimulator.
- Open Cobalt virtual workspace
- Visit some virtual learning environments
- MOO's (Please note: You can only do this if you browser is Java-enabled. Don't worry if you can't do this now, we will connect in class to demonstrate this tool.):
- ScienceMOO 2
- login as a guest and explore
- Visit Second Life - You
can try this activity at home
- Join Second Life,
- download
the software,
- login, click on Help and get oriented.
- In the search box, type Genome Island.
- Explore Genome Island. You can also type in
science to go to the Science cafe.
- Here is a link with some science destinations you can visit in Second Life: http://secondlife.com/destinations/science
- Five
Great Science Education Places in Second Life
- View SL Science School video
- ScienceWorld - this is a low-budget version of a 3D virtual world that I have set up and installed using OpenSimulator.
- First you need to download and install an OpenSimulator viewer client (I recommend the Hippo viewer)
- Follow the instructions here to connect to ScienceWorld
- Try to build in the virtual world
- Visit Open Cobalt,
- download and try out the software
- You can try connecting to a Open Cobalt world I have
set up using this external link: <joinme><routerAddress>216.
254.73.74:6900 </routerAddress><routerId>0496bbd4331a4deb200b776fa2623002</routerId><routerName></routerName><vpn>mainEntry</vpn></joinme> - There are no guarantees that it will work. You
need to enter the link in the Open Cobalt
interface.
-
Other useful collaboration tools and VLE's
- http://lifehacker.com/5373339/
top-10-web-collaboration- tools-that-arent-google-wave? skyline=true&s=x - http://www.ccbetty.com/
- http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/
MediaWiki - http://www.timebridge.com/
- http://www.textflow.com/
- http://mindmeister.com/
- http://drop.io/?code=present
- http://campfirenow.com/
- http://www.zoho.com/
Readings and Extension Activities:
News:
- Before MOOCs, ‘Colleges of the Air’
- Los
Angeles USD Makes iPad Lurch
- DNA SEQUENCING IS MOVING TO THE CLOUD
- Education
Startup Udacity Bets It Can Fill The Need For More Data
Scientists With New Online Degree Program
- CALIFORNIA STARTUP, TRIBOGENICS, DEVELOPS SMART PHONE SIZED PORTABLE X-RAY MACHINES
- Ming the Mollusc
- Random walk to Stockholm: the discovery and significance of graphene
- Locust eardrum is a tiny frequency analyser
- Did Early Life Build Earth's Continents?
- Sign up for a scratch account
- Go through the
- Try
It Out Step by Step Intro
- "How to Get Started" page and the Getting Started Guide
- Scratch for
Educators
- Create a Scratch project that illustrates a science concept
- Share your project on the scratch web site and upload to BlackBoard and post the link to your scratch project on the Discussion Board
- Take a look at MIT App Inventor at the following
link: http://appinventor.mit.edu/explore/teach.html
Notice the similarities between Scratch and App Inventor and
how a software application can be built by dragging and
dropping "objects" into specific sequences.
- Class discussion: How might you use Scratch in your
science content area?
- If you are interested: Submit your video, lesson plan and website to the TED-Ed website - TED Education Wants Your Help Bringing Cool Science to the Classroom
- Scratch site
- Connect real-world sensors to scratch projects
- OpenLazlo
- simulations and modeling software
Week 14 –
11/27/2013 – NO CLASS
ONLINE - Squeakland, EToys
- Go through
the Introduction to Squeak. Think about how you
might use Squeak in your area of science.
- Sign up for a squeak account
- Watch the tutorial screencasts
- Quick Guides
- Tutorials
- Features of EToys
- Showcase of Science Squeak projects
- Go through screencasts of lessons or interactive demos
- Share one of your squeak projects on the squeak web site
- Brainstorm possible ways you might use Squeak in science teaching and learning
Readings and Extension activities:
Week 15 – 12/4/2013 – FTF in Kiely Hall, Room 220A -Squeakland, EToys
Activities:
(You can install Squeak at home. Unfortunately we do
not have the new version installed on the computers in the
lab yet.) Squeak is another interesting, free tool
that allows students to build interactive multimedia.
Visit the website below and download
Squeak.
- http://squeakland.org/download/
- At home you can download the Windows or Mac version of Squeak
- In the computer lab, you should download the Etoys to Go version of Squeak
- Note the folder where you download the file. The
file is a .zip file. Open the folder and on the
upper left, click on extract all files. All the
files will be extracted into a new folder. Double
click on this folder. Then click on the eToys icon
to launch Squeak. After you have launched Squeak
go through some of the tutorials and play around with
this very useful software application.
- Go through
the Introduction to Squeak. Think about how you
might use Squeak in your area of science.
- Sign up for a squeak account
- Watch the tutorial screencasts
- Quick Guides
- Tutorials
- Features of EToys
- Showcase of Science Squeak projects
- Go through screencasts of lessons or interactive demos
- Share one of your squeak projects on the squeak web site
- Brainstorm possible ways you might use Squeak in science teaching and learning
Readings and Extension activities:
Please complete the course
evaluation before
the last week
Week 16 – 12/11/2013– Discussion
of how to design and teach an online science course,
E-waste, other important topics related to educational
technology, Work on projects ONLINE
Assignment
4 due – Review of Educational Technology book
Activities:
Science news:
Read the following article and then discuss in small groups. Before MOOCs, ‘Colleges of the Air’
Discussion of how to design and teach online science courses:- Explore examples of online science courses
- Academic Earth
- Carnegie
Mellon Open Learning
- MIT OpenCourseware
- http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/online_hs.htm#science
- FOSSWeb - (Online Middle School Science courses)
- Useful sources of science content:
- Sign up for a merlot.org account
- Explore
examples online science learning activities related
to your online science course, add to your personal
Merlot collection. Post the url to your merlot
personal collection on the discussion board in
BlackBoard
- You may also want to
explore the NSDL resources in your area of
science.
- Ben (Biology)
- ChemEd DL (Chemistry)
- DLESE (Earth Science)
- comPADRE (Astronomy and Physics)
- All NSDL Collection K-12 Short Cuts
- Can students learn science as well online as FTF?
Here are a few interesting online, interactive science
learning activities:
- Biology
- http://bodybrowser.googlelabs.
com/ - Virtual Frog Dissection
- http://mariemarie0000.free.fr/
fichiers/images/frog.swf - Earth Science - Determine the epicenter of an earthquake
- Chemistry - interactive periodic table
- Physics simulations
- Some technology tools you might see being used to create and teach online science courses: learning management systems, blogs, vlogs, glogs, social networking tools, websites, wikis, polls, screencasting, webcasting, podcasting, live streaming video, twitter, open source software, web 2.0 apps, Google docs, and many others
- Discuss types of online learning activities: hands-on, inquiry activities, exploration of authentic science data, simulations, virtual labs, group projects, cooperative learning, webquests, small group discussion, problem solving, creation of images, drawings, songs, poems, stories, video, interactive multimedia such as scratch, Flash animations, goanimate, geocaching, keypals
- STUDENT READINESS
- Post your answers on the discussion board in BlackBoard.
- How would you determine whether your students are ready for online science learning? What characteristics will the students need to succeed?
- What are the goals of your online course? What 21st century skills do you want your student to acquire? Take a look at the materials on the p21.org website.
- Skim through Bloom's digital taxonomy and write a short page with tips and advice for the students in your online science course.
- Read The Rise of K-12 Blended Learning
Practice creating
content in an online course using Science Moodle
- Take a look at Science Moodle
- Find our course under the graduate courses,
- Login to our course as a student in Science Moodle and explore
- Now login to the Science, Technology and Earth
Day course I created in Moodle.
- How to login to the Science, Technology and Earth Day Course:
- Your username is your firstname followed by the first letter of your last name, all in lower case.
- The default password for everyone is Seys753$ (You can change this when you login)
- Everyone in the class is a teacher in this online course. Go through the Moodle tutorials below and then add content to the course.
- Include and customize a module or block in the Science, Technology and Earth Day course
E-waste, other important topics related to educational technology, Work on projects, Class activities:
- Carry out a personal E-waste inventory
- Work in small groups to develop E-waste plans
- The Digital Divide
- Cybersafety - How can we keep students safe on the web?
- Student misbehavior and technology - What can teachers and parents do?
- Health aspects of technology use
- RSI, eye strain, Internet addiction, obesity and others
Useful links:
Work on group projects
Assignment 5 Due – Grant proposal for submission to donorschoose.org
Week 17– 12/18/2013 –FINAL EXAMS -
Presentations of group projects - Please
note: the time has changed, we meet from 2pm to 4pm.
(If enough people arrive by 6pm we can start early)
FTF in Kiely Hall, Room 220A
Science
news:
If you are
interested: Submit your video, lesson plan and website
to the TED-Ed website - TED
Education Wants Your Help Bringing Cool Science to the
Classroom
Assignment
6 Due – Science
video or podcast along with lesson plan and web page
E. ASSIGNMENTS, DUE DATES, AND GRADING PLAN
Procedure for submitting assignments:
1) All assignments that include text:
- Post a copy on the Discussion Board in BlackBoard
- Submit an electronic version (a Word document) using the Digital Dropbox in BlackBoard
- Upload your document to docs.google.com and share with qcscied@gmail.com
2) Video or podcast assignments:
- Upload your video to Youtube.com (or other site) or podcast to Itunes. Post the link to your video or podcast on the Discussion Board in BlackBoard. Burn a copy of your video or ipod on a CD-ROM and hand in.
3) Web site and blog
- Post the URL to your blog and web site on the Discussion Board in BlackBoard
Assignment Description |
Due Date |
Possible Points |
Assignment 1 – Review of a app, a web 2.0 application OR of an open source software application for possible use in science education |
Week 5 |
10 |
Assignment 2 – Create and maintain a blog related to an aspect of science or science education |
Week 11 |
10 |
Assignment 3 – Creation of an individual web site to serve as an electronic portfolio to display all work in this class |
Week 13 |
10 |
Assignment 4 – Critical review of an educational technology book from the list of recommended books |
Week 16 |
10 |
Assignment 5 – Grant proposal to fund a project that makes innovative use of technology in science education, donorschoose.org |
Week 16 |
10 |
Assignment
6 – Group project 1) Create, edit and post
an educational science video on youtube.com and
teachertube.com OR Group project - Create, edit
and post an educational science podcast on
itunes, OR Create, edit and post an educational
science Android app, 2) web page with a lesson plan and, 3) explanation should also be provided. 4) Presentation (10 points each) |
Week 17 |
40 points |
Participation – Active participation in all class activities. |
|
10 |
F.
FIELDWORK REQUIREMENTS - None
G. CUNY POLICY
ON ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Academic Dishonesty
is prohibited in The City University of New York and
is punishable by penalties, including failing grades,
suspension, and expulsion as provided at:
http://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/provost/policies/index.html
H. ADA
Statement
Students with disabilities needing academic
accommodation should: (1) register with and
provide documentation to the Special Services Office,
Kiely 171; (2) bring a letter to the
instructor indicating the need for accommodation and
what type. This should be done
during the first week of class. For more
information about services available to Queens students
contact: Dr. Mirian Detres-Hickey, Special
Services Office; 171 Kiely Hall; 718 997-5870 (8:00 a.m.
to 5:00 p.m.). E-mail address: mdetres@yahoo.com
or to mirian.detreshicky@qc.cuny.edu
I.
USE OF STUDENT WORK
All teacher education programs in New York State undergo
periodic reviews by accreditation agencies and the state
education department. For these purposes, samples
of students’ work are made available to those
professionals conducting the review. Student
anonymity is
assured under these circumstances. If you do not
wish to have your work made available for these
purposes, please let the professor know before the start
of the second class. Your cooperation is greatly
appreciated.
J.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION