Session Plan and Activities

This week, we will be reviewing what you need to do for the Competency Study Guides you will be preparing. In addition, you will be completing your first skills application, the PowerPoint portion of the MTT test.  You will also continue your work in seeking funding sources for your classroom or school.

Readings

Your reading this week will include the information provided below that prepares you to begin working on your MTT competency.

Due this Week

• Meeting in Collaborate
• Case Study A Due
  

You will be expected to complete Case Study A this week. This case study question is similar to what you can expect to find when you take the MTT exam. The case study is either from the test prep manual study guide or has been developed to simulate the typical test problem. You can find all of the practice tests (except Haddad's) at the following location: http://thebutlerdidit.pbworks.com/w/page/41488170/MTT-Practice-Tests 

Project Title: MTT Competencies Study Guides

Project Description: For the MTT Competency Study Guide, you will be selecting a competency and developing a study guide for others in the program who are preparing to take the MTT exam. This serves several purposes:

• You will learn intensively about one portion of the MTT exam and competencies as you prepare to teach others.
• You will have the opportunity to practice your skills in developing effective training materials using two Web 2.0 tools.
• You will develop a game to reinforce learning about your topic.
• You will practice your skills in presenting in the online environment via Collaborate.
• You will become more familiar with the test as you watch other presentations.

This study guide will include the following components:

Component 1 - Create a PowToon Presentation

For Part 1, please create a PowToon presentation that will provide information pertaining to the competency you chose. Keep in mind: You will be expected to use the best skills that you learned in EDTC 6340 about creating effective presentations.  

For your study guide, you will provide an overview of the competency you selected and what the MTT is expected to know about the competency. If there are any key terms, provide a working definition and other relevant information regarding those terms. If the concepts can be illustrated, then please provide graphics so that we may better understand the concepts.  Also, if the definitions are obscure or hard to understand, make the concept understandable to us.  A picture is worth 1,000 words and all that. If you can find a picture, then by all means, use it.  Please note:  Again, you will be expected to follow the rules of good design as explained in the test for 6340, They Snooze, You Lose.

Your presentation should provide your information with the understanding that peers will be studying the material as well as watching your Collaborate presentation. Thus, in the presentation, you should provide an overview of your study guide materials and how to use them rather than all the details needed for the competencies. Above all, this is not to be an "information dump" presentation. This means that we do not want you to simply copy and present the competency bullets of information.  

We have noted some areas that are important for you to consider when you are developing your presentation, but please do not limit yourself to the suggestions made below.

Some key points to note in each competency:

In Competency 001, bullets 12 and 13 deal with citation of sources. You may want to include some key examples of the information needed when citing sources for articles, databases, encyclopedias, listservs, emails, photographs, graphics, music, etc. While you do not need to be specific to a particular format (for example it does not matter whether you are citing for APA or MLA) the information required in a citation is essentially the same. Thus, for a journal article you need to cite author, title, volume, issue, date and page numbers. Volumes have been written to cover citation documentation, so you do not need to cover all the possible sources but instead focus on sources that are most likely to be used.

Competency 002 requires that you know a great deal about animation, so make sure that you provide a good working definition – and examples, if required to better understand the terms. Proportion, balance, color, variety, etc. are important design concepts for all media not just website design. But remember, a picture is worth 1,000 words, so if you can show us rather than just tell us, we will better understand.

In Competency 003, you do not have to provide a tutorial on developing websites, but you would want to provide definitions for the most common terms used in Web site mastering such as some basic HTML tags (bold, underline, italics, alignment, for example), hyperlinks and how to create them, alt tags purpose, firewalls, links to email, etc. How the typical MTT would use this knowledge in the completion of the Case Study is key to this competency.

Competency 004 requires much background information on digital video technology. All terms should be defined. Examples should be provided, when possible. Some terms may be duplicated in Competencies 002 and 003, but, that’s okay. The more we are exposed to the terms, the better.

Competency 005 has some terms that are also identified in other competencies, but it is important to reinforce these terms – so duplication is not a problem. In this competency, please address lossy compression and the different files formats such as bmp, gif, jpg, png, tif, etc. What do they mean and when do you use them? Although not mentioned, I would think it would be helpful to provide definition of vector and raster graphics and why it is important to understand the difference. Also, what are the differences in the various graphic formats and under what circumstances would you use the various formats? Rubrics are also part of this competency. Please provide rationale for their use – why are they so important?

Competency 006 should address the various forms of communication and what format is appropriate for what purpose. This should look at audience and purpose, productivity tools and presentation formats.

Competency 007 is rather large. The discussion below might be helpful in preparing study guides.

• In bullets 1-9, discuss assessments and their role in education. You would need to address such issues as bias, reliability, and validity. Discuss quantitative as well as qualitative assessment – differences and purposes of each as well as formal and informal assessments.
• Bullets 10-19 should provide a broad overview of educational research as well as instructional strategies. For example, what is direct instruction, cooperative and collaborative learning, project-based learning, and student-centered vs. teacher-centered instruction? What does the research say is effective?

Competency 008 deals with diversity – so please give an overview of Assistive technology and the role of the MTT regarding Assistive technology.

Competency 009 and Competency 010 will be covered in class so we will not have study guides for those.

Component 2 - Create a Game and Introduce it to Classmates
For this Component, you will be creating a game that will serve as an additional study guide for potential MTT test takers. You will include key concepts and vocabulary in some format that will allow test takers to prepare for each competency in a somewhat "drill and skill" format, albeit more fun than "drill and skill" stuff, we hope. Creativity in your presentation will be rewarded and will help the candidate remember the content they need to learn. I want you to get familiar with Zondle, so please use this to develop your game quiz.  

Component 3 - Add Resources to MTT Test Prep Page
In addition to the PPT and the "drill and skill" study aid, you will be expected to prepare a list of relevant websites and add them to the MTT wiki study page. These will serve as additional resources for the potential MTT candidate who is preparing for the test as well as the MTT who is performing as a mentor. These websites should focus on the competency you are addressing in your project. Please indicate your name above your resources as well as the relevant competency they pertain to.  In addition to the resources, you will also post the link to your presentation study guide materials.

Component 4 - Present in Collaborate
You will be expected to present your study guide materials on the date and time you selected in Week 1. The presentation should be an overview of your materials and of the competency. You should also showcase your study game. The presentation will be no more than 15 minutes and should be well-rehearsed. Above all, you need to make sure that you are presenting your materials and not reading your slides. Although some technology glitches can be expected, it is important that you do not ask how to upload a presentation into Collaborate or move from one slide to the next on the evening you present. The Collaborate room is open at all times so that you may go in and practice for your presentation. 

Rubric - the rubric for this project can be found by clicking here.

In addition to working on this project, you should continue to work on your grant application.