Copy of our syllabus

The Florida State University College of Education Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies COURSE SYLLABUS Ideas that move, leadership that inspires, scholarship that makes a difference for the 21st century Fall 2010 Instructor: Dina Vyortkina, PhD 1301-D Stone Building Tallahassee, FL 32306 Phone: 850.644.9623 Skype: cgs_5310

Course mentor/TA: Ms. Cathy Starling Email cas03r@fsu.edu Work Phone 800-311-6437 Skype - Cathy.Starling alternative email: starlca@bay.k12.fl.us

A. CGS 5310 Technology and Communication in Schools (3 credit hours) B. Prerequisites or Co-requisites – none. This course fulfills requirements for both the Modified and Master’s programs in Educational Leadership/Administration.

C. Objectives/Description The central theme for this course is what do school leaders need to know and be able to do with technology to lead an efficient and effective school and enhance student learning? It is actually one of the ten Florida Principal Leadership Standards is Technology (High performing leaders plan and implement the integration of technological and electronic tools in teaching, learning, and communication responsibilities). The course covers many issues related to technology and communications: the types of literacy that students engage in, standards in educational technology, the role of technology in schools, instructional uses of technology, special technology related issues (e.g., digital divide, access, cyber safety, cyber bulling, etc.), technology planning, and communication theories and effective practices. This course addresses several competencies and skills as identified by the State of Florida.

Students will demonstrate these competences and skills by the successful completion of course assignments and three critical tasks (to be uploaded to the EDA Student Center at the end of the semester).

Course Objectives: 1. Students will be able to describe various types of multiple literacies of modern learners, recognize them in their teaching practice, and suggest ways of enhancing student learning with technology.

2. After reviewing state and national standards and Standards for Educational Technology, students will be able to reflect on how these standards are

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manifested in everyday work of teachers, school administrators, and school district leaders.

After participation in field experience exercises, students will be able to identify effective ways of utilizing information management technologies for administration, instructional, and staff development purposes.

Given a school-based scenario, students will be able to present their rationale and select the most appropriate computer hardware and software appropriate to school operations, identify web-based communication applications, and suggest effective presentation software programs Students will be able to discuss issues related to technology integration to enhance learning and teaching, suggest ways on how educational leaders could overcome the digital divide and other issues related to technology (to include but not be limited to access, skills, and equality, cyber bulling, school safety, etc.).

Given a technology plan, students will be able (a) to identify hardware, software, and related technologies appropriate to design and delivery of instruction, (b) identify ways to integrate technology into a subject area to improve student performance and identify appropriate technology applications to address student performance needs for a selected grade level, (c) assess compliance with State technology goals and regulations (e.g. copyright law, Internet usage, digital learning environment, instructional leadership, Florida’s digital educators, access to technology, infrastructure, support, etc.), and (c) and present their findings according to the specified format.

Students will be able to identify practices and applications of effective communication and interpersonal professional relationships.

Students will be able to identify, select, and apply effective strategies for communication about state standards, needs of students, instructional programs, the community, and goals of the school to various stakeholders, as manifested through a devised School Communications Strategy and Plan.

Field Experiences: These exercises (we have four during the semester, that might take you about 20 hours to complete) provide the opportunity to apply theory into practice, check the understanding of the course readings, seek clarification on some disputable issues, develop new skills, and explore different kinds of work related to technologies that a school leader might perform in a real life school setting.

Students are expected to negotiate the field experience setting themselves. However, the instructor can facilitate this by providing a letter to a school or a person (e.g., for an interview) or assisting in finding the person for an interview or observation. Please plan accordingly and make arrangements in advance.

Four field experiences each requiring five hours (appr.) are embedded into this course.

They are: 1. Conduct a basic technology and communications audit of a school, post, and discuss findings. Students will reflect on the experience and receive feedback from the classmates and professor.

2. Evaluate technology used for instruction in a school, post and discuss findings.

Students will reflect on the experience and receive feedback from the classmates and professor.

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3. Interview a person responsible for technology support and planning in a school or district, post, and discuss findings. Students will reflect on the experience and receive feedback from the classmates and the professor.

4. Conduct a comprehensive communications audit (including an evaluation of a school website according to a plan). Students will reflect on the experience and receive feedback from the classmates and the professor.

Curriculum Critical Tasks (CT): There are three critical tasks in this course. The Florida DOE has identified competencies and skills that relate to each of the ten leadership standards. These competencies and skills are represented as specifications for the FELE. Each of the nine core courses in Educational Leadership/ Administration program incorporates them in the form of critical tasks (CT). The competencies and skills addressed in this course are: 4.2: Given a scenario of an elementary, middle, or high school,  4.2.2: Select computer hardware and software appropriate to school operations.  4.2.4: Select web-based communication applications.  4.2.5: Select presentation software applications.

4.1 and 4.2: Given a technology plan,  4.1.1: Identify hardware, software, and related technologies appropriate to design and delivery of instruction.  4.1.2: Identify ways to integrate technology into a subject area to improve student performance and identify appropriate technology applications to address student performance needs.  4.2.1: Assess compliance with State technology goals (e.g. copyright law, Internet usage, digital learning environment, instructional leadership, Florida’s digital educators, access to technology, infrastructure, and support).  4.2.3: Given a scenario, identify components of a technology infrastructure related to school and student safety.

8.2: Knowledge of vision related to state standards, needs of students, the community, and goals of the school.  8.2.1: Describe effective strategies for communication about state standards, needs of students, the community, and goals of the school to stakeholders.  8.2.2: Communicate the instructional program to community, staff, and district personnel.

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8.3.1: Given a school-based document, identify the conventions of standard written English and appropriate word choice.

8.3.2: Given a school-based document, identify diction and tone appropriate to a given audience.

10.2:  10.2.1: Given a scenario, identify effective, research-based communication strategies.

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10.3:  10.3.1: Given a school-based document, identify logical order in a written passage.  10.3.2: Given a school-based document, identify irrelevant sentences in a written passage.  10.3.3: Given an audience and an occasion, identify an appropriate topic for an oral presentation.  10.3.4: Given a school-based example, identify logical fallacies.

William Cecil Golden Florida School Leadership Development Program: This program is aligned to Florida’s Principal Leadership Standards and includes web-based resources to support an ongoing culture of continuous school improvement that can be used by all school districts and schools. Students are encouraged to explore this site and use the resources. Please refer to this website for your current coursework and future activities.

D. Required Texts, Readings, and/or other Resources Required Text: Picciano, A. G. (2006). Educational Leadership and Planning for Technology (4th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall.

Textbook purchase info is available on the COE website.

Other Required Readings: Can be found online within the week’s assignment folders and in the course library on BlackBoard course site.

We will be also using http://delicious.com/cgs5310 as a collection of relevant resources.

Course blog: http://edafsu.wordpress.com/ E. Topical Course Outline (more details are on Bb under Syllabus; See Course calendar and due dates) Our weeks start on Monday. If using the Discussion Board, initial posting is typically required on Wednesday, response in a PQP format is expected on Friday, and closing of threads is done on Sunday. Sometimes it changes (typically due to holidays). See your Course Library in BlackBoard (Active Discussion Board folder) for more details and expectations for PQP and good posting.

You have the detailed calendar with due dates, points possible, and topics on Bb site under Syllabus.

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F. Teaching Strategies This course is a distance learning course. Students will have an opportunity to interact with the professor and other students through online discussion boards, videoconferencing via skype, email, and other means. Some weeks have personal study guides (PSG) that cover required readings. Other learning activities include field experiences, completing critical tasks, viewing videos, conducting research using online resources, and participating in discussions.

H. Expectations/Attendance Students can expect: 1. Timely grading and feedback on all assignments.

2. Weekly or unit-wide generic feedback on Bb and individual feedback via email or comments/tracked changes in submitted files.

3. Additional resources to facilitate student learning and/or professional activities enhanced with technology.

4. 24 hour time frame for responding to student questions and concerns.

5. Openness and fairness in communication, grading, and feedback.

6. Though this class is not about learning software and pushing buttons, students can expect learning and exploring new tools that can be used for administrative and instructional purposes.

Instructor expects: 1. Timely submission of all assignments.

2. Professional, open, and courteous communication with instructors and colleagues in the class.

3. Active discussion board participation.

4. Willingness to think outside the box and try new technologies to enhance learning, teaching, assessment, and research.

5. Responsible group membership and following ground rules for effective group work.

The instructor decides what effect unexcused absences/non-participation will have on grades and will explain class attendance and grading policies in writing at the beginning of each semester. I will accommodate absences due to documented illness, deaths in the immediate family and other crises, call to active military duty or jury duty, religious holy days, and official University activities. I will do so in a way that does not penalize students who have a valid excuse. Consideration will also be given to students whose dependents or children experience serious illness.

All students are expected to abide by this class attendance policy. Students must also provide, when possible, advance notice of absences as well as relevant documentation regarding absences to the instructor as soon as possible following the illness or event

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that led to an absence/non-participation. Regardless of whether an absence is excused or unexcused, the student is responsible for making up all work that is missed.

University-wide policy requires all students to attend the first class meeting of all classes for which they are registered. Students who do not attend the first class meeting of a course for which they are registered will be dropped from the course by the academic department that offers the course. In order to enforce this policy, instructors are required to take attendance at the first class meeting and report absences to the appropriate person in their department or school/college.

For further information, consult the FSU General Bulletin at: http://registrar.fsu.edu/bulletin/undergrad/apdefault.htm

Reading requirements: Students are responsible for all assigned readings in required texts and other materials distributed or linked via the Blackboard website. In addition, students will be locating and sharing appropriate resources on the Internet. All students need to make sure they can access FSU library online resources: http://www.lib.fsu.edu/ Additional Bibliography Brooks-Young, S. (2003). The Electronic Briefcase for Administrators. Washington, D. C.: International Society for Technology in Education.

Brooks-Young, S. (2006). Critical Technology Issues for School Leaders. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Papa, R. P. (2011). Technology Leadership for School Improvement. Sage.

Ramsey, R.D. (2009). How to say the right things every time. Communicating well with students, staff, parents, and the public. Sage.

Smith, G. F., & Throne, S. (2007). Differentiating Instruction with Technology in K-5 Classrooms. Washington, D. C.: International Society for Technology in Education.

Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools. Washington, D. C.: International Society for Technology in Education.

Note: Use google to search for books. Very often you can find them scanned.

Participation: Students are expected to participate in all assigned activities.

Participation is to be conducted through the course Blackboard site.

Skype (skype.com) will be used for videoconferences (group projects, virtual office hours, etc.). Students are to obtain accounts (free) and inform the instructor by the end of the 2nd week of classes. Skype test with the instructor to be completed by the end of the 3rd week of the semester, ideally with video (you need a webcam for this). See BlackBoard course library for more materials on skype and its features. Unfortunately EDA program can no longer supply webcams to students.

Late assignments: If extraordinary circumstances cause a student to be late in submitting an assignment, it is the student’s responsibility to contact the instructor in 6

advance to make arrangements for an extension of a due date. If no such arrangements are made, 25% will be deducted from the assignment grade, per day. Assignments received more than four days after a due date will receive no credit. NOTE: This policy applies to all assignments except discussion board posts; any late discussion board post automatically receives a score of zero.

I. Grading/Evaluation Each assignment has a point value and the points add up to 100. Final grades will be determined according to the following scale: A AB+ B BC+ C CD+ D DF

94-100 points 90-93 87-89 84-86 80-83 77-79 74-76 70-73 67-69 64-66 60-63 Below 60 points

J. Honor Code The Florida State University Academic Honor Policy outlines the University’s expectations for the integrity of students’ academic work, the procedures for resolving alleged violations of those expectations, and the rights and responsibilities of students and faculty members throughout the process. Students are responsible for reading the Academic Honor Policy and for living up to their pledge to “. . . be honest and truthful and . . . [to] strive for personal and institutional integrity at Florida State University.”

(Florida State University Academic Honor Policy, found at http://dof.fsu.edu/honorpolicy.htm).

Plagiarism: For some assignments we will be using Safe-Assign, anti-plagiarism tool.

You can see the features and user’s manual online at http://learningforlife.fsu.edu/ctl/explore/bestPractices/safeAssign.cfm Instructor might use this tool for random checking of discussion board postings, PSGs, or other assignments. Students will submit papers through the Blackboard website to the professor or on a discussion board. Critical Tasks and other assignments as appropriate will be submitted to SafeAssign for an “originality report.” Submitting work that was previously submitted for another course is NOT acceptable and is considered to be plagiarism. Works taken from published works or on websites must be cited and documented according to APA style (6th edition). The EDA faculty recommends that 7

you become familiar with the Plagiarism policy of the university. This policy is available in the EDA Student Center under the Organizations tab of your Blackboard site. Once you are in the EDA Student Center, click on the Expectations tab to review the Plagiarism policy.

Copyright Statement: Some of the materials in this course are possibly copyrighted. They are intended for use only by students registered and enrolled in this course and only for instructional activities associated with and for the duration of the course. They may not be retained in another medium or disseminated further.

Syllabus Change Policy: Except for changes that substantially affect implementation of the evaluation (grading) statement, this syllabus is a guide for the course and is subject to change with advance notice.

K. ADA Requirements Students with disabilities needing academic accommodation should: (1) register with and provide documentation to the FSU Student Disability Resource Center; and (2) bring/send a letter to the instructor indicating the need for accommodation and what type. This should be done during the first week of class.

This syllabus and other class materials are available in alternative format upon request.

For more information about services available to FSU students with disabilities, contact: Student Disability Resource Center 874 Traditions Way 108 Student Services Building Florida State University Tallahassee, FL 32306-4167 (850) 644-9566 (voice) (850) 644-8504 (TDD) sdrc@admin.fsu.edu http://www.disabilitycenter.fsu.edu/

Have a good semester!

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