Database Design and Assessment

The following PDF gives teachers a great understanding and starting point for assessment.

Databases can be a complicated subject. Most students will not have used Access before. The following video is about understanding database design. It explains in plain English what Access is, how it is different from other Microsoft office software and how to create a good database. The visuals a great, there are a lot of graphical representations and imagery. It is as though it was made for students. This would be a really great intro to the topic and help the students to gain knowledge and understanding of the first section of the syllabus for this topic:

Database development

·          purpose of a database

·          components of a database

·          inputs of a database

    

    

The following website is great for school kids. It has specific link headings in the table of contents (shown below) that students can access to learn how to accomplish a particular task in creating a database.  This helps teachers as students learn at different paces especially in IST, some students are whizzes and other take continual explanations. This website allows the struggling students to refresh their own memory/ reteach themselves. It will make them be and feel more autonomous and less incapable in the subject, without having to continuously ask for the teachers help.

Link: Database Tutorials

 

References

Database Tutorial. (2012). Retrieved May 23, 2012, from Quack IT: http://www.quackit.com/database/tutorial/

Software Development and Programming

This option topic can be very difficult for students to understand but from a practical perspective, really fun. During the presentation i thought it all sounded really complicated with its topic specific vocabulary. However the activity associated was easy to use and really fun. There are many great projects that could be organised for a stage 5 class using scratch. I particularly like the following instructional video on the basics of how to create an animation using scratch as it is narrated by a student. In a class students could have the option to keep referring back to the video while making their animation if they are unsure of how to use certain feature such as getting a background etc.

Technology in the Workplace.

How things have changed even in the short time since we were at school. Now most classrooms have a smart board, most students have a laptop and the once common phrase “take out your pen and paper” is becoming more and more obsolete. It is therefore essential that the previous generation (us) learns how to integrate technology in the classroom. I found the following website that is great to give teachers ideas in general across any KLA on how to use technology for many different types of tasks and lessons. It is called 50 ways to use technology, and is aimed specifically at teachers. The site separates the ideas into categories, they are as follows

Word Processing, Spreadsheets and Databases, Internet, Email, Presentation Software, Digital Camera, Digital Video, Web Page, & Videoconferencing.

Link:  50 Ways to Use Technology In the Classroom

 

References

50 ways to use technology . (2008, 12 19). Retrieved May 4, 2012, from Classroomtech: http://www.classroomtech.org/integration/50ways.htm