LECTURE OUTLINE: TEACHER SUPPORT TOOLS AND GRAPHICS SOFTWARE
Integrating Teacher Support Tools and Graphics into the Classroom
Teachers can use teacher support tools to create crossword puzzles; create a slideshow to learn about a country; use a gradebook program; use a flash-card maker to help students with math skills; use a story starter program to help the class in writing; and create personal name tags for classroom trips.
Students can use graphics programs to prepare a portfolio; create a newsletter; use print software tools; create signs for special events; and create a timeline banner.
Teacher Support Tools
Teacher support tools increase the teacher's effectiveness and are not meant for the student but for the teacher, to assist with grade keeping, test generating, flash-card makers, puzzle and worksheet generating, and statistical analysis.
These programs reduce time spent and improve accuracy by assisting the teacher with chores that cannot easily be done by traditional means.
Teacher tool software should be selected that fits the teacher's needs, saves time, and results in more effective output.
Electronic grade books can quickly inform students, parents, and administrators about pupil classroom performance.
Some teachers feel they need to keep a traditional grade book in the event a computer is not accessible.
A grade book should let the teacher enter students' names easily and correct errors; provide an option for sorting names alphabetically, numerically, or by class standing; let the teacher enter a large number of students for each class; record a sufficient number of grades; record absences; flag students with problems; calculate statistics; print copies; and provide individual reports.
Examples of grade-book software are Grade Busters: Making the Grade, Gradebook Plus, Grade Machine, Grade Quick, and Gradekeeper shareware. See Appendix A for a complete list of grade-book software.
Teachers are also using online programs such as ThinkWave Educator on the Web to manage their grades, assignments, calendars, lessons, and attendance.
Test generators resemble word processors in their capabilities and have various test formats and options, e.g., Test Designer Supreme II, Teacher's Tool Kit, Teacher's Resource Companion Deluxe, Test Creator.
Puzzle makers motivate pupils studying potentially unexciting topics and can be used to generate a variety of types of puzzles, e.g., Crossword Companion Deluxe, Crossword Studio, Word Bingo, Word Cross, Crossword Creator, Puzzle Power, Crossword Compiler.
Electronic portfolio programs allow students in all curriculum areas to use the computer to create portfolios, organized collections of documents that are used by students to reflect their knowledge, skills, and learning accomplishments.
Personal portfolios show a student's growth and development outside school.
Academic portfolios show the student's academic performance and achievement.
Professional portfolios could contain samples of student work that meets graduation requirements for high school or requirements for college admission.
create portfolios with portfolio programs such as Portfolio Builder for PowerPoint or HyperStudio, students import work created with other software applications and can import graphics, text, scanned images, full-motion video, and sound clips.
Teacher support tools such as Learner Profile 3.0 and Grady Profile help provide the content or structure of the portfolio.
The Teacher Profile was specifically developed for schools of education, school districts, and teachers to keep and maintain portfolios.
Portfolios should be checked for eight characteristics:
Based on standard or theme
Organized
Easy to read
Understandable
Interesting
Grammatically correct
Lacking in spelling and syntax errors
One cohesive unit
Worksheet generator programs produce worksheets in a variety of formats, e.g., Worksheet Magic, Math Companion, Make-a-Flash.
Other useful utility programs produce labels, time lines, attendance charts, flowcharts, and lesson plans, e.g., TimeLiner 5.0, Interactive Report Writer, PowerPak for PowerPoint, Teacher TimeSavers, Research Assistant, and Inspiration.
Statistical programs from simple to complex help teachers make calculations and analyze statistics, e.g., SPSS, GB Stat, NCSS Statistical Analysis, Systat, AcaStat Statistical Software, and DeltaGraph.
Teacher support tools on the Internet such as Blackboard and Google can help teachers locate a vast array of resources and online references.
Clip art, or "canned" images that the teacher can insert into documents such as desktop publishing, presentation programs, word processors, authoring programs or Web pages, can be accessed through programs such as Corel, Adobe, or IMSI, or through a vast array of clip art that is available through free sites and subscription services online.
Individual Instructional Educational Plan (IEP) generators such as IEP Writer Supreme II and Teacher's Choice 2003 help educators prepare IEPs that are required by the American Disability Act.
Graphics software, which can be divided into five categories, allows the user to create and manipulate picture images in the computer that range from a simple pie graph to a detailed anatomical painting; computer graphics refers to "the creation and manipulation of picture images in the computer" (Freedman, 2003).
Graphing and charting software such as Microsoft Excel, GraphPower, and AppleWorks' graphic component allows users to create graphs from databases and spreadsheets to illustrate presentations; to show relationships among categories of data; to understand a student's performance; and to get a clearer understanding of what data represent.
Presentation graphics software in education, such as PowerPoint, can display charts, diagrams, special effects, predefined backgrounds, clip art, sound, transitions, and video in a computer-driven, printable slideshow and has become a substitute for the overhead projector.
Print graphics programs help the user create such items as a poster, banner, greeting card, or certificate through the use of different templates, fonts, borders designs and clip art, e.g., The Print Shop Deluxe, Print Explosion Deluxe, Print Shop, Kid Pix Studio Deluxe, Print Artist, PrintMaster Platinum, Stationery Studio, and Culture World Diorama Creators.
Draw and paint programs have different features.
Drawing programs allow the user to create illustrations that maintain a vector-based format, with pictures consisting of mathematically defined curves and line segments called vectors, and the capability to isolate, move, and scale pictures separately from one another, e.g., Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw Graphics Suite.
Paint programs let the student do paintings on the screen with use of a graphics tablet or a mouse and are art oriented rather than design oriented, creating pictures made of dots or pixels, e.g., Canvas, Painter, Kid Pix Deluxe 3.
Paint programs allow for instantaneously changing, enlarging, or moving images without concern for spills, drips, or smears.
Paint programs may fail to connect with traditional art media and hands-on experience with tactile art media.
Computer-Aided Design (CAD) assists in the design of objects such as machine parts, homes, and anatomical drawings.
CAD software allows the user to change or modify designs easily without having to create actual models, saving time, money, and effort.
Students can use some programs such as AutoCAD 2004 LT to create, view, manage, plot, and output, share and use drawings; such programs are suitable for the professional architect, engineer, and drafter.
Other CAD titles that incorporate simulation and design principles are Car Builder Deluxe, SIMS and Sim City 4, 3 D Railroad Concept & Design, Master 3D Railroad, and Train Engineer Deluxe.
