Test Data Slideshow

Websites Providing Test Data from National, State, & Local Educational Resources

This website was very useful on providing the local, state, and national test scores for all schools. The Data Center provided all of the state’s Department of Education and the state’s Higher Education Agency. Each state had its own website that revealed information about the local schools and universities, such as the latest news and activities. The Data Center also had report cards for all the schools in the state, report cards for the teachers, the school’s directory, report cards on school districts, and the annual report for the schools in the state.

I looked at quit a few websites that provided test scores for all national schools, but this website was the most informative and helpful. I think this website is a good way for students to decide what schools they would be interested in applying to. Parents can also benefit from this website because they can review the schools directory and the report cards on the teachers and schools. This could save parents time and money on making sure their children receive a good education. In addition, this website can help students and parents determine if the school is too challenging, or if the school is challenging enough. The website can also get students excited about school and motivated to find the perfect school for themselves.

http://www.datacenter.org/research/education.htm

Educational statistics

One of the biggest arguments against a teachers evaluation system such as the one recently adopted by Tennessee is the question of how to evaluate teachers and other school professionals who don’t have test data. The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), actually has a pretty good model for evaluation teachers, looking at videotaped lessons, examples of student assignments, examples of student feedback, and portfolios showing growth. Using TCAP (Teacher Evaluation Advisory Committee) scores only captures about 30% of Tennessee teachers at this point. Memphis is currently trying to up the 30% of teachers who are evaluated with statistical data to 65%. This will help evaluate what the students are learning from the teachers and there methods of teaching.

http://nashvillejefferson.wordpress.com/2010/02/11/evaluating-teachers-who-lack-test-data/

Slideshow

National Education Statistics

National Center for Education Statistics
Daniel Ramnath
http://nces.ed.gov/

This government created website is was located from the master directory of http://hcl.harvard.edu/research/guides/education/index.html#first. This Harvard bases website included links to not only the NCES but the Department of Education, Fed Stats, Census Bureau, National Education Association, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. The website is very well organized and provides multiple tools to access the information you are looking for. The Washington D.C. centered database contains articles and headlines about what is going on in the education community. Within the website there is also a most viewed sites tab that allows surfers to view the different sites that the site offers. Such sites as publication products, school searches, demographic systems and the nation’s report card.
The publications and products tab at the top leads you to a search engine for anything from books DVD’s and articles to data files, handbooks and videos. The survey and programs tabs show a variety of tests assessments and resources to pull information from students that would be needed to fulfill the ASSURE model requirement. As for the Data Tools and Tables and Figures tab respectively, these tabs encompass school navigators and endless charts and graphs of information on schools all across the country and at all levels. The last three tabs of fast facts, school searches and annual reports provide much of the same information except for annual reports which displays statistics in year periods. Not all information is accessible to the public, but the amount of info that is more than overwhelming.

Test Data Slideshow

Test Data Slideshow

Test Data websites

Schools are now realizing that it is important to analyze the data that comes from standardized tests, in order to assess learning and teaching, and to determine improvement. The California Department of Education website provides blueprints for the different categories (Math, Science, Language arts, etc.) of the California Standards Test. It does not provide individual scores, but a general over view for areas that need improvement in schools. Unfortunately, teaching based on test data, can also lead to problems in the classroom. The link to the California Department of Education website is posted below.

http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sr/blueprints.asp

Two Websites Providing Tutorials for Using Word, PowerPoint and Excel in K-12 Classrooms.

http://www.baycongroup.com/wlesson0.htm

This website provides excellent tutorials for using many microsoft based applications such as word, powerpoint, excel, and more. This website goes through the basics to even more advanced applications of the software and teaches you a lot of the terminology used. This website is divided up into sections of which program you are interested in learning and what application you wish to achieve out of the program, whether it be beginner or advanced.

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/on-line2.htm

This website is designed to help build upon the knowledge of the user. It is divided into subgroups and each subgroup contains the type of program tutorial. It has a broad spectrum of tutorials which can really help in finding the specific tutorial you would need for solving any problems you may be experiencing with the specific program.

Tutorials for Using Word, PowerPoint and Excel in K-12 Classrooms

Tutorials for Using Word, PowerPoint and Excel in K-12 Classrooms
Daniel Ramnath

http://www.sabine.k12.la.us/edu/tutorials.htm
This master website is a directory of sites that provide tutorials on close to all of Microsoft office programs. The site is divided up into subcategories for each program and provided multiple sites for each program. The sites show step by step instructions with diagrams and helpful arrows. One downside to this site is that it is severely underdeveloped and looks very non credible.

http://www.microsoft.com/education/howto.mspx
This is an actual Microsoft site that provides tutorials on all of their programs. I like that it gives the program name as a sub heading and directly asks what you would like to do in each of the programs. The list of “add borders” and “add text to drawings” tells exactly how to complete each of the tasks. The site also has a search engine that can search for articles pertaining to the information you are looking for. This helps tremendously in the search process.

Daniel Ramnath Excel Worksheet

Tutorials

Technology Tutorials

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/on-line.htm

I thought that this website was very informational and helpful. It provides tutorials for Excel, Powerpoint, Word, ect. It also provides tutorials for specific computer types such as Apple-Mac and Windows.

Education World

http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/archives/techtorials.shtml

This website is filled with all kinds of neat information and useful tutorials. It provides tutorials on Excel, computer basics, and email as well as using the internet in general. This site gives information on basically everything you need to know.

Alexandra Newton Excel Worksheet

Microsoft Tutorials & Resources

http://rmtc.fsdb.k12.fl.us/tutorials/office.html

This site is useful because it contains tutorials and resources on Word, Excel, and PowerPoint; it explains what each program is and allows people to download the different tutorials for free. In addition, this site provides information and numerous resources for each program tutorial. This site includes articles on how effective the program was in the classroom, videos on how to use each program for beginners in technology, and different ideas on how to use the programs in the classroom.

http://www.teachersfirst.com/getsource.cfm?id=7592

After looking at this site, I think it is useful because it provides tutorials on many programs that would be useful to teachers, such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft FrontPage, and Microsoft Access. Each tutorial for these programs contains information on how to get started on using the program, how to save each program, how to add images, and how to check for spelling and grammar errors. I think this site would benefit educators who are just starting to learn how to use a computer and how to incorporate these programs into their lesson plans.

Site Reviews

The Hard and Soft Wares of Evaluating Tools for Educational Purposes

The Hard and Soft Wares of Evaluating Tools for Educational Purposes



As an Educator, How Can You Evaluate Software and Hardware Tools Used for Instructional Purposes?



The basis for all software and hardware standards for use has two basic factors that have to be considered when choosing from the many available. The software or hardware has to be safe and reliable as well as have an educational motive. The educational motive goes more for the software than the hardware because the software is what is actually programmed to facilitate learning. The article that I chose can be located at the URL: http://entertainingten.blogspot.com/2009/09/evaluate-software-and-hardware-tools.html. This sites blog post by Erica Reill is very familiar to me in that she uses examples like Angel, the online system we use here at FGCU and Course Compass, which we also utilize. Ms. Reill states that the fact that Angel, “is a great course management tool for educators and students because lesson plans, tutorials, homework, and quizzes can all be accessed, as well as, communication between teachers and students.”

When evaluating software and hardware for educational purposes, Angel could be rated a 10 because it is directly related to course curriculum and facilitates student teacher organization and efficiency. That is not to say that Angel could not be improved upon. There are many updates and maintaince that Angel regulators must stay on top of, but so far off to a good start. In conclusion as an educator, when you are evaluating software and hardware to use in a classroom to assist you it is detrimental to find products that are useful and reliable but that also have validity toward the purpose of teaching.

A Little Help with Evaluating Software as an Educator

Technology, hardware and software tools included, can be education both inside and outside of the classroom - and essential. How ever, a few things must be considered. Immediately, when and educator is making a decision about hardware or software in a classroom they should consider if the information they are bringing in is from a valid, reliable source. They also should consider what the purpose of that product is. For instance, is the product meant to teach or just for a review? Next, they should consider their audience versus the audience intended for that particular product. Products used in classrooms of children should be created by people with a clear understanding of the learning processes of children. Additionally, the educator should consider the usefulness of the product in terms of time and effectiveness. Finally, the instructor could look to reviews on the product before exposing their students to it.

Childrenssoftware.com provided the above tips for evaluating software. I thought they were great. It also proved lists of who's evaluating what software, what exactly they are looking for, and their websites. I thought the entire site could potentially very helpful.

A little help with evaluation

View more documents from Gina Mathewson.

Technology used for educational use

When teaching a class, regardless of what age group, the educator must make sure that they are doing something that keeps the students interested. One strong way of doing so would be to bring in such technological media as power points, interactive digital games, internet activities, etc. and Because effective use of technology must be supported by significant investments in hardware, software, infrastructure, professional development, and support services, over the last decade, we as a nation have invested more than $66 billion investment in school technology. The educator must make sure that they are using the right form of software/hardware tools for the specific activity to ensure that the students are learning as much as possible. When it comes to distanced learning, the internet has broadened the capabilities substantially. Previous to the internet, distanced learning was done via phone, mail, video tapes, and other forms of “primative” communication.
Traditional classrooms have used objectivist model of learning which is based off of the teacher transferring his or her knowledge to the student. Now with such technological capabilities, this process can be more consistent. With the abilities of online classes, educators can send the students audio, video, graphics, power points, word documents, and many more types of media via the internet. Essentially, the educator can give the student as close to an in class experience as possible.
The educator needs to develop a system for finding out what software/hardware would be most suitable for teaching there students. There are many factors that can go in planning this out, such as what subject is being taught, age group, the intended interaction level with the students, if the program meets state requirements and is essential to the subject, and how familiar the educator is with this software/hardware. When the educator has familiarized themselves with the software/hardware being used, he or she can then engage the students with this interaction.

Technology Used for Instructional Purposes

Summary of Using Technology to Improve Acheivement

Hardware and technology in schools has become more and more important. Back in the 90’s technology was not so important in school. Now it is very important, most teachers and students would not be able to do much work without it. Also, in the 90’s, schools were lucky to have internet access and if they did there were only a few areas to get it. Schools now are given money to purchase equipment for new technology. Ten years ago teachers were using overhead projectors that plugged into the wall, used light bulbs that didn’t last long and, had to use clear projector sheets to write on. Now, teachers have projectors that hang from the ceiling, and they can easily show power points and other things straight from their computer. Almost every child in school now knows how to use the internet. Also, these children rely on it for almost every assignment they receive. Technology has become very important, and it is definitely beneficial in many ways.