How to Conduct a Group Study

Earlier in the course you chose a group with which to work during the semester. You will be responsible for conducting a Group Study and presenting your findings, on the last night of class. Class time will be provided for planning and research. A variety of study topics are open to you. Some topics include: – Word Processing applications in classroom instruction and management – HyperText Publishing – Spreadsheet applications in classroom instruction and management – Statisitics for the K-12 Teacher and Administrator – Presentation applications in classroom instruction and management – Introduction to Network Planning and Topology – Audio, Video and Animation Techniques – Necessity for and level of technical expertise in classroom instruction and management – Database applications in classroom instruction and management OR – Choose a web site, software or instructional technology strategy to demonstrate (more on this topic later) But you are not limited to these topics. Choose any topic related to our course objectives, projects, assignments and activities.

The purpose of the study is to explore in more detail various topics in teaching and learning with technology. This gives you a chance to spend some of your course time investigating topics of interest to you. If you “chose” group members with similar teaching interests this might be easier, but it is not necessary to focus on specific curriculum interests that you have in common....just focus on technology explorations that you want to make. Study your selected topic and meet creatively to share information. Even Groups 1 and 2 have approximately a month to conduct their study. Divide your topic into smaller portions for study and then summarize your study as you combine the individual work. Be creative in your discussions with one another. Collect examples of successful implementation of whatever you are studying. For instance, if you are studying ubiquitous computing review school districts where this has been tried (small, handheld computers, one per student) and summarize the projects to look for advantages and disadvantages of technology implementations such as these.

The creative element comes to bear again in the report that you create. You may make a short movie, downloading video from the Internet, and including your own text. You may create a PowerPoint presentation to report your findings. You might produce a document of any variety, with interviews, with pictures, with text. Depending on the study you could include instructional activities that you have discovered, or statistics from associated studies. Since your group is supposed to "report" you may do so in a variety of ways so as to take advantage of the virtual nature of our class. If you produce a movie, the teacher will take your upload and make it available to the other class members online. If you produce a written report or PowerPoint presentation, it can be uploaded as described in class.

Rubric for Group Study Report Beginning 1 Developing 2 Accomplished 3 Exemplary 4 Score Topic (12 points possible) Totally unrelated (3 points) Remotely related (6 points) Somewhat relevant (9 points) Directly relevant (12 points) Organization (20 points possible) Not organized, events make no sense (5 points) Some organization, events jump around, start and end are unclear (10 points) Organized, events are somewhat jumpy (15 points) Good organization, events are logically ordered, sharp sense of beginning and end (20 points) Quality of Information (20 points possible) Unable to find specific details (5 points) Details are somewhat sketchy (10 points) Some details are non-supporting to the subject (15 points) supporting details specific to subject (20 points) Grammar & Spelling (16 points possible) Very frequent grammar and/or spelling errors (4 points) More than two errors (8 points) Only one or two errors (12 points) All grammar and spelling are correct (16 points) Interest Level (12 points possible)Needs descriptive words (3 points) Vocabulary is constant, details lack "color" (6 points) Vocabulary is varied, supporting details need work (9 points) Vocabulary varied, supporting details vivid (12 points) Neatness (8 points possible)Illegible writing, loose pages (2 points) Legible writing, some ill-formed letters, print too small or too large (4 points) Legible writing, well-formed characters, clean and neatly bound in a report cover, illustrations provided (6 points) Word processed or typed, clean and neatly bound in a report cover, illustrations provided (8 points) Timeliness (12 points possible) Report handed in more than one week late (3 points) Up to one week late (6 points)Up to two days late (9 points)Report handed in on time (12 points) Total (Possible of 100 points) w.sdcoe.k1 2.ca.us/sco re/actbank /trubrics.h tm