Technology Department

Mr. Kenneth Salhany

On-line Information Resources

N.A.S.A Science & Technology Video Location

SURVEY --- SURVEY --- SURVEY --- SURVEY ---

TECHSTEPS - TECHSTEPS - TECHSTEPS - TECHSTEPS

Digital Portfolio Digital Portfolio Digital Portfolio Digital Portfolio

CmapTools CmapTools CmapTools CmapTools

KHAN ACADEMY KHAN ACADEMY KHAN ACADEMY KHAN ACADEMY

Flip Classroom Flip Classroom Flip Classroom Flip Classroom

RHODE ISLAND TECHNOLOGY SKILLS ASSESSMENT

 Welcome to Computer  & Keyboarding 
Course Syllabus Teacher: 
Mr. K. Salhany salhanyk@bpsmail.org 
  
Characteristics of Program: 
  
• MicroType Pro5 Keyboarding Lessons 
• Dynamic Cross-Curricular Technology Integrated Projects 
• Differentiated  Instruction - Students Progress at Own Pace
• Student/Teacher/Parent Partnerships are welcome
• Synchronous Collaborative Intra-Classroom Problem-Solving 
• Reflective Learning 
•  Computational Thinking
• "FLIPPED" Classroom experiences
• Digital Portfolio Cloud Storage/Access/Distribution (paperless classroom) 
  
ASAP (After School Assistance Program) is available  daily after school from 2:05-2:35. This time-frame is made available to assist students who may need help with skills covered in class, writing, formulating computational concepts, or any other academic need. 
  
Keyboarding is an integral component of this program for all students and is used as an "anchoring" activity.    Students are expected to become fluent in using the keyboard and will be allocated a fixed period of time at the beginning of each class meeting to practice keyboarding using a computer based application called Southwest Keyboarding MicroType Pro (MicroType).    MicroType is a combination software program for keyboarding instruction and document checking. MicroType includes touch-typing instruction for alphabetic and numeric keyboarding and the numeric keypad, skill-building activities, games, motivating graphics, and a word processor with built-in timer. MicroType teaches correct finger placement and helps students build basic keyboarding skills, then develop speed and accuracy. MicroType includes instructor utilities that enable teachers to indicate preferences for the way the programs will work and it can generate detailed lesson, timed-writing, and summary reports to track students' progress. 
  
• Keyboarding assessments will comprise fifteen (15%) percent of the student’s final grade. 
  
Computer Applications: Students will be using a digital teaching platform called, TechSteps. TechSteps is a rigorous and relevant middle school technology curriculum that assists in the development and assessment of student technology literacy and 21st Century skills. This platform efficiently infuses technology skill development into core instruction in an integrated and systematic manner. This platform is accessible from any internet connected computer and uses any version of Microsoft Office (Widows or Mac; Word, Excel, PowerPoint) in solving real-life problem scenarios. 
  
Student are encouraged to access and work on projects after school and from home from any internet connected computer equipped with most versions of, MS Office Suite (2000, ’03, ’07, ’10). Student will complete a self-evaluation rubric, for all their TechSteps projects. Projects will be digitalized, stored, and available for, Barrington School District teachers, students, and parent review. 
  
Students will upload exemplar work products (grade of A- or above) and publish them to their, District Digital Portfolio.  
  
"Cmap Tools”: The term Web2.0 is associated with web applications that facilitate participatory information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web. A Web 2.0 site allows users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social medial dialogue as creators of user-generated content in a virtual community, in contrast to websites where users are limited to the passive viewing of content that was created for them. 
  
Toward this end, and in preparing our students to use developing and developed technologies, a portion of our program involves, on-line, real-time, synchronous collaboration using, “Cmap Tools”, from the, Florida Institute of Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) and free for educational use. 
  
Concept Maps are, open-source, graphical, "computational thinking"  tools for organizing and representing knowledge. They include concepts, usually enclosed in circles or boxes of some type, and relationships between concepts indicated by a connecting line linking two concepts. Words on the line referred to as linking words or linking phases, specify the relationship between the two concepts. 
  
Computational Thinking (CT) is a fundamental skill for everyone.   CT confronts the riddle of machine intelligence: "What can humans do better than computers?"   (and) "What can computers do better than humans?"        It involves solving problems, designing systems, and understanding human behavior, by drawing on the concepts fundamental to computer science.
  
“Cmap Tools” enable two or more students to synchronously collaborate (communicate) in the construction of knowledge models, silently, and from remote locations.    
“Content Community”: Collaborative Projects, Wikis, Blogs, and Social Media: Content communities, represents a revolutionary new trend with the number of users exponentially growing. 
  
The, BMS Technology Department, is actively investigating methods of integrating, intra school-based, “content community” activities within our program. Our main idea underlying “content communities” is for implementation of collaborative projects and ideas, with the belief that the joint effort of many actors leads to a better outcome than any actor could achieve individually. Development of an intra school-based “content community” is presently a “work-in-progress”.