TEACHING LEARNING ACTIVITIES (TLA)

You are a school head someday. For technology to serve its ultimate purpose of
improved learning, you involve your faculty in the formulation of guidelines on the use of
technology in the classroom. Simulate a faculty meeting and come up with written guidelines
then pass to your professor.

Teaching and learning with technology can be both challenging and engaging for
instructors and students. While technologies make it easier for instructors to create learning
opportunities, provide prompt feedback, and improve student engagement with content
materials, they also pose challenges. If I were the school head, I would gather all the faculties to
discuss how to use technology in the classroom to make children’s learning effective and
efficient. Following are some written guidelines for using technology in the classroom or even in
teaching. They may help you manage technology-supported teaching more effectively.

PowerPoint
 Use fonts 24 points or larger for the text.
 Use dark type and light background for the overhead/slide.
 Limit seven words per line and eight lines per overhead/slide.
 Use the overhead/slide as a guide for presentation.
 Face the audience when showing the overhead/slide.
 Avoid putting students in a passive mode of receiving information by combining the
overhead/slide presentation with chalkboard/whiteboard use or other learning
activities.
 Have a backup plan in case of a power outage or equipment failure.

Using Video Clips in Presentation

 Have a clear goal for using a video clip or clips (e.g., ask yourself why you are using the
clip and what you want to students to learn from it).
  Provide proper context for your clip(s) (e.g., explain that a clip comes from a sequence
or part of a story or conversation).
 View the entire clip before bringing it to class and design activities to accompany the
clip.
 Limit the length of video clips. No matter how interesting they may be or how motivated
students are, video clips longer than 10 minutes may fail to hold students’ attention.

Email
 Establish rules for using email for class communication, for example:
 Keep specific subject lines.
 Clarify wait time for the instructor’s response (e.g., a student who sends an email at 3
a.m. cannot expect a timely response from the instructor.
 Ask students to use consistent attachment formats (e.g., saving documents in DOC, RTF
or Text format).
 Keep a copy of important correspondence yourself.
 Do not assume that your students will keep all the messages you send.

Online Conferencing/Discussion
 Define clear goals and objectives for the online discussion.
 Organize the online conference clearly by category and topic ahead of time.
 Provide detailed instructions for students, including student roles and responsibilities.
 Establish rules for appropriate and inappropriate behaviors before starting discussions.
 Require students to log in for a certain number of times each week.
 Establish clear expectations and standards for assessing student performance in the
online discussion.
 Create an outline of different types of activities for the online conferencing/discussion.
 Make online discussion/conferencing an integral part of the course. (Do not separate
what is happening in the conference from what is happening in the face-to-face class
meetings.)
 Establish a clear starting and ending time for each discussion topic.
 Direct students to technology training classes, online tutorials, and any other assistance
when necessary.
 Be an active participant.
 Challenge the students without threatening them.
 Use personal anecdotes when appropriate.
Teaching with the Web
 Allow plenty of lead-time for planning the course and designing course web pages.
 Be sure that the course web pages are functional.
 Have a back-up plan for lectures (e.g., print or save the web pages on your local hard
drive).
 Verify links, especially the external links.
 Check the room lighting to see if it is suitable for both viewing the projected screen and
taking notes.
 Arrange for a technical support staff to be in your classroom at the start of class to help
with the setup if necessary.
 Always know whom to call for help if technical problems occur.
 Emphasize the need for filtering and interpreting information on the Web when
encouraging students to use online resources.
 Remind students that only a smaller fraction of the whole archive of knowledge is
available on the Web.

ANALYSIS
1. Which of the following would be considered ethical access of a computer database?
a. Going into the main office at school and changing your grades
b. Using the computer catalog in the media center to search for a book
c. Breaking into a government database and reading confidential information
d. Changing a misspelled word on the school’s web site

I considered letter C, using the computer catalog in the media center to search for a
book, as an ethical access of a computer database. According to Ten Commandments of
computer ethics, thou shalt not snoop around in other people’s files because reading other
people’s e-mailed messages is as bad as operating and reading their letters. This is invading
their privacy. Obtaining other people’s non-public files should be judged the same way as
breaking into their rooms and stealing their documents. No matter how good you are at the
computer and how smart you are, anyone of us has no right to interfere with property of
others. Letter C shows the correct use of the computer. It is used by man in the right where it
cannot be harmful to anyone. He uses the computer to find books that can help him for his
study.

2. Hackers are unethical people who

a. Access databases that they have no right to be in.
b. Create programs intending to destroy other computer systems
c. Do not respect the rights or privacy of others.
d. Are out to destroy other people’s computer systems.
e. All of the above.

An unethical hacker is one that is done without the target of the hacker being aware of
it. It is often done to break into a network system to steal information or money, and
sometimes to cause damage by inserting a virus or malware program. They violate computer
security for personal gain or for pure maliciousness. The unethical hackers are criminals
performing illegal activities for personal gain and attacking others. That access databases that
they have no right to be in, create programs intending to destroy other computer systems, do
not respect the rights or privacy of others, and destroy other people’s computer system. An
unethical hacking is against the law, and those who engage in the act are considered cyber
criminals.

3. If you want to use one program on thirty different computers, you should, and why?
a. Purchase a site license or buy enough copies for every computer
b. Buy two copies, in case one becomes damaged, and load it on all the computers
c. Buy one copy and put it on all the computers
d. Borrow it from another school, copy it, and send it back promptly

If you want to use one program on thirty different computers, you should purchase a
site license or buy enough copies for every computer because according to ten commandments
of computer ethics, thou shalt not copy or use proprietary software for which you have not paid
(without permission). You must refrain from copying software or program, or buying pirated
copies. Pay for software unless it is free. Like any other artistic or literary works, software is
copyrighted. A piece of code is the original work of the individual who created it. It is
copyrighted in his/her name. In case of a developer writing software for the organization he or
she works for, the organization holds the copyright for it. Copyright holds true unless its
creators announce it is not-obtaining illegal copies of copyrighted software is unethical and also
encourages others to make copies illegally.

Based on the scenario, choose the best answer and explain.

On a school computer, Ena learned how to copy programs. A classmate asked her to
copy a program for his home use. Her most ethical response would be which of the following
and why?

Ena should refuse what her classmate wants her to do like copying a program for home
use because according to Ten Commandments of computer ethics; thou shalt not appropriate
other people’s intellectual output. It is wrong to claim ownership on a work which is the output
of someone else’s intellect. Programs developed by a software developer are her or his
property. If he is working with an organization, they are the organization's property. Copying
them and propagating them in one’s own make it unethical. This applies to any creative work,
programs, or design. Establishing ownership on a work which is not yours is ethically wrong.
This unethical act is often referred to as plagiarism. It is when you take the work or an idea of
someone else and pass it off as one’s own copy from someone.

Upon walking into Mr. Johnson’s workroom, Elijah saw a test for tomorrow on the
computer screen. Which of the following can Elijah ethically do?
a. Correct obvious errors on the test to help Mr. Johnson avoid embarrassment.
b. Read the questions as a study guide.
c. Add a few well-chosen questions that Mr. Johnson left out.
d. Leave the room without reading the test questions.
 Elijah must leave the room without reading the test questions. According to Ten
Commandments of computer ethics, thou shalt not use computer technology to steal, which
means do not use a computer technology to steal information. Test question is confidential
information. Stealing information or leaking confidential information is as bad as robbery. It is
definitely wrong to steal or to acquire personal information or other such information that is
meant to be confidential. Similarly, breaking into bank accounts to collect information about
the account is wrong. Illegal electronic transfer of funds is a type of fraud. With the use of
technology, stealing of information is much easier.

You are a school head someday. For technology to serve its ultimate purpose of
improved learning, you involve your faculty in the formulation of guidelines on the use of
technology in the classroom. Simulate a faculty meeting and come up with written guidelines
then pass to your professor.

Teaching and learning with technology can be both challenging and engaging for
instructors and students. While technologies make it easier for instructors to create learning
opportunities, provide prompt feedback, and improve student engagement with content
materials, they also pose challenges. If I were the school head, I would gather all the faculties to
discuss how to use technology in the classroom to make children’s learning effective and
efficient. Following are some written guidelines for using technology in the classroom or even in
teaching. They may help you manage technology-supported teaching more effectively.

PowerPoint
 Use fonts 24 points or larger for the text.
 Use dark type and light background for the overhead/slide.
 Limit seven words per line and eight lines per overhead/slide.
 Use the overhead/slide as a guide for presentation.
 Face the audience when showing the overhead/slide.
 Avoid putting students in a passive mode of receiving information by combining the
overhead/slide presentation with chalkboard/whiteboard use or other learning
activities.
 Have a backup plan in case of a power outage or equipment failure.
Using Video Clips in Presentation
 Have a clear goal for using a video clip or clips (e.g., ask yourself why you are using the
clip and what you want to students to learn from it).
 Provide proper context for your clip(s) (e.g., explain that a clip comes from a sequence
or part of a story or conversation).
 View the entire clip before bringing it to class and design activities to accompany the
clip.
 Limit the length of video clips. No matter how interesting they may be or how motivated
students are, video clips longer than 10 minutes may fail to hold students’ attention.

Email
 Establish rules for using email for class communication, for example:
 Keep specific subject lines.
 Clarify wait time for the instructor’s response (e.g., a student who sends an email at 3
a.m. cannot expect a timely response from the instructor.
 Ask students to use consistent attachment formats (e.g., saving documents in DOC, RTF
or Text format).
 Keep a copy of important correspondence yourself.
 Do not assume that your students will keep all the messages you send.

Online Conferencing/Discussion
 Define clear goals and objectives for the online discussion.
 Organize the online conference clearly by category and topic ahead of time.
 Provide detailed instructions for students, including student roles and responsibilities.
 Establish rules for appropriate and inappropriate behaviors before starting discussions.
 Require students to log in for a certain number of times each week.
 Establish clear expectations and standards for assessing student performance in the
online discussion.
 Create an outline of different types of activities for the online conferencing/discussion.
 Make online discussion/conferencing an integral part of the course. (Do not separate
what is happening in the conference from what is happening in the face-to-face class
meetings.)
 Establish a clear starting and ending time for each discussion topic.
 Direct students to technology training classes, online tutorials, and any other assistance
when necessary.
 Be an active participant.
  Challenge the students without threatening them.
 Use personal anecdotes when appropriate.

Teaching with the Web

 Allow plenty of lead-time for planning the course and designing course web pages.
 Be sure that the course web pages are functional.
 Have a back-up plan for lectures (e.g., print or save the web pages on your local hard
drive).
 Verify links, especially the external links.
 Check the room lighting to see if it is suitable for both viewing the projected screen and
taking notes.
 Arrange for a technical support staff to be in your classroom at the start of class to help
with the setup if necessary.
 Always know whom to call for help if technical problems occur.
 Emphasize the need for filtering and interpreting information on the Web when
encouraging students to use online resources.
 Remind students that only a smaller fraction of the whole archive of knowledge is
available on the Web.

MAYBELYN L. OCZON
BTTE 3A