EMAIL FOR TURNING IN ASSIGNMENTS You will turn in your assignment to the mailbox for GOALS400

goals400@bamaed.ua.edu

CORE COURSE

This is a Core Course, meaning this is a service course for all majors across the campus of The University of Alabama; it MAY or MAY NOT meet certain core requirements for your institution, if it is other than UA.  We recommend that you check with your own advisor at your institution, prior to completing enrollment.

The major goals for ALLstudents are as follows:

• allow for the practice and development of word processing skills within the framework of a highly specialized application (e.g. surveys, reports, hardcopy presentations)
• allow for the practice and development of desktop publishing skills within the framework of a highly specialized application (e.g. business cards, shipping labels, resumes)
• demonstrate the relationship of technology to accepted learning theories, educational goals and objectives, interpreted within education and other organizations (e.g.  discipline-based products projects)
• allow for the application of Internet research skills for the purpose of product development (e.g. electronic field trips and discipline-based development projects)
• describe and demonstrate uses of technology with culturally diverse populations and in international contexts (e.g. international/national collaborative projects completed on-line and development of individual and collaborative home pages)

This course is designed in accordance with the Alabama' s College of Education's  adopted knowledge base to prepare teachers and other school and training personnel to be facilitators of learning. It addresses the "curricular planning and selection of instructional tasks" and "instructional methodology" sections of the knowledge base, as well as important aspects of curriculum development. It is consistent with the standards for The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and NCATE.

For non-education majors, the purpose of the class is to allow for the development of technology skills related to product development within the context of their particular discipline. Every effort is made to individualize the products in the class, based on the majors of the students enrolled, while accomplishing the common goals.

Community service is a major goal for the entire technology program. Therefore, this course allows students the opportunity for community service activities, sharing newly acquired technology skills within their own community context. Technology knowledge and skills are critical to success and survival in the 21st century. For this reason, it is a fundamental belief of the BCT program that those individuals who have such skills and knowledge should share them with a social context. Therefore, a community service requirement is included in this class. See Course Requirements for Specific Details.

This course is based on several important assumptions, including that you, the student,:

• have mastered the basic use of the computer and have a general working knowledge of the hardware.
• have mastered the basic skills associated with word processing, database, and spreadsheet.
• will accept responsibility for acquiring the assumed skills if, for some reason, your pre-requisite experience did not include these basic skills, including doing the application classes and open class activities associated with achieving basic competency.
• accept responsibility for transfer of learning from other types of hardware to the Windows machines.
• will focus most of the effort in learning appropriate technical skills on your own equipment so that you can continue to use the technology skills learned AFTER leaving this class.

You will be using E-Mail extensively in this class, so it is important that you know and use your mailing address. You can not expect to succeed in this class without competency in using email. Since BCT 300 or its equivalent  is a pre-requisite for this course, it is assumed that you have full competency in all aspects of email use. If this is not true, please contact the professor  and review BCT 300 for background skills 

Use any email system you wish, but be aware that some (such as AOL)  may present some difficulties in terms of sending large assignments.

BE SURE YOU KNOW THAT YOU HAVE A SENT FILE on your email account. It keeps a record of all of the emails you SENT.Check your sent file once in a while; you will see that this gives an automatic record of what you SENT, including the assignments you send to the assignment mailbox. If you are not sure about the SENT file, check with your email provider.

This course features the application of current and emerging instructional technologies to product development embedded in the context of discipline-specific projects. Cognitive, product and skill competencies are included. Cognitive competencies are integrated into product & skills evaluations. Products are required to reflect some competencies, while skills competencies are either observed directly or inferred from the products. 

•   Students work in their own locations with their own equipment ed to  complete the products required. A major objective is to help students learn to use their OWN equipment so that they can continue to apply the skills after the conclusion of the class!.

BCT 400 is structured like 300, which you have probably already taken, in that:

• Responsibility for completing the course rests with you, not with the instructors. You are treated as responsible adults and expected to assume responsibility for learning the material.
• Your "learning time" is the central feature not the "class time". You can "learn" at your own rate, so if you are disciplined, you can finish early. If you are undisciplined, you will have to monitor yourself carefully in order not to fall behind in the course.
• All activities are all included in this course site. It is your responsibility to read this manual and note requirements.
• Professors will not "teach" in the traditional sense of standing in front of you and talking "at" you. Instruction for the class is asynchronous, supported by class materials and the use of technology, as well as with interactions the professor.
• You are expected to note the list of requirements for this course; this is a GOALS class so you set your own due dates. You must keep up with your own progress through the course.
• No exams will be given for this course; instead competency will be observed or inferred from products and skills demonstrated.

Students must have completed BCT 300, or its equivalent, with a grade of C or above. Students not meeting this pre-requisite will not be allowed in the class. If you transferred in a course in lieu of having taken BCT 300 or if you took BCT 300 prior to Summer, 2000, you may need to let your professor  know about this. The skills in the BCT courses change each year, so if you took the course more than a year ago, you may not have all of the prerequisite skills. In this case, you can go back and review BCT 300 online at http://www.bamaed.ua.edu/bct300    or the GOALS300 course, which ever you took.

COURSE MATERIALS

• Avery Business Cards (5317 Ink Jet Business Cards) and Avery Mailing Labels (5164 Laser Mailing Labels) (but before you buy them... figure out where you are going to print them and get the appropriate number for your ink jet or your laser printer):
• You get these at OFFICE DEPOT, the SUPE Store, Bookstore, or office supply.
• There are also cheaper cards you can use, but you have to be sure they will work with the printer you elect to use.
• YOU NEED TO KNOW IF YOU ARE GOING TO PRINT THE CARDS ON A LASER PRINTER OR ON An INKJET! The numbers above are for LASER OR FOR INKJET.... be sure the number you select matches the printer you will be using for printing this assignment!
• You need to purchace a microphone that can be connected to your computer  so you can do your original sound clips.  There is a range of microphones. There are really good, fancy ones, and there are many inexpensive ones that may meet your needs. You just need to go a find what you want. One of the best kinds to buy is the headset that has the headphones and a microphone attached to it. Here's a photo of Dr. Price with such a headset.  It was purchased at Radio Shack for under $20.00. This one will let you listen to the playback as well as use the microphone and your hands are free to work on the computer. There are many palces in Tuscaloosa where you can find microphone.

• For this class you and/or a group of your team mates have to have a digital camera. You can buy one or borrow one. We are no longer able to provide them for check out. However, the wide availability of digital cameras and the steep decline in their prices make it possible for you to easily find access to a digital camera. 
• You will need to download WinZip. This is a shareware, which means you can use it for a limited time, maybe thirty days. After that, you will have to buy it if you want to continue using it. You will just download it from the Internet and install it in the computer.




You can see here a comparison of a range of digital cameras. 

YOU WILL HAVE TO PROVIDE YOUR OWN CAMERA. We do not recommend or require any particular camera. You will find that the two cameras linked above are reasonably priced (below $100) and do a very good job, especially for the money.

If you decide NOT to purchase a camera for this class, you will need to either borrow one or scan in your photos as if they were digital.   Check with professor  by email (goals400@bamaed.ua.edu) if you are unsure about this.

Besides this course manual, resources to help you in this course include:

• Course Professor(s): The professor(s) are available via electronic mail through the Internet as well as being available by appointment, as in the traditional course environment. The email addresses for professor is  listed on page 1. 
• YOU ARE URGED TO BE IN TOUCH WITH YOUR PROFESSOR(s) at any time.

All acts of dishonesty in any work constitute academic misconduct. The University of Alabama's Code of Academic Conduct will be expected in this course. Please read and be familiar with the code of The University of Alabama.

To request disability accommodations, please contact Disability Services (348-42850). After initial arrangements are made with that office, contact your professor ( teaching team ).

Check out the listing of course requirements. Students will be expected to complete all competencies to complete this class. In order to do so, each student must assume personal responsibility for completing the learning activities required to acquire the knowledge and/or skill covered in the contract. The self-paced nature of the course requires self-discipline for all students as well as time management. Grades will not be posted for this course. Grades will not be given over the phone or posted in any way. You can request your grades throughout the course by sending an e mail request to the professor.

 

EMAIL ADDRESS FOR TURNING IN ASSIGNMENTS FOR THIS COURSE: goals400@bamaed.ua.edu

• Since this is a GOALS class, there are no specific due dates and times.
• Each product has specific instructions for turning in the products.
• They are to be turned in as an attachment to email. You will send them to the mailbox set up to collect assignments for this course. The email for assignments are shown above.
• DO NOT turn in assignments to the email accounts for the professors

THE CLASSROOMS:  anywhere you have a computer!

Because of the nature of this class (i.e. the fact that it is set up as individual activities to be done at the student's own rate) and is web-assisted, the professor is available for consultation via email.