ECI 304 - Educational Applications of Computers: Agenda for February 15 and 16

Are Media Technologies Worth the Cost?

Materials

• Spreadsheet
• Web Browser

Task

You need to determine the total cost of 5 new computers for your classroom. Include your best estimates for the the following, and cite the source of those figures:

• Hardware Costs - Initial costs of 5 computers. Get prices from Dell, Gateway and Apple
• Software Costs - What software needs to be included. Get prices from CreationEngine
• Infrastructure - We will assume the network is in place. But you need 5 computer desks.
• Maintenance - Determine what items may need to be cleaned, serviced or repaired
• Personnel - How many person-hours do 5 computers require for maintenance?
• Materials - Do you need floppies, zip disks, blank CD-Rs or CD-RWs? How many? How much?
• Training - What would the cost be for a workshop on one of your software packages?
• Services and Utilities - We'll assume these to be covered by the district.

Procedure

1. You have a budget of $15,000
2. Plan on consumables for one year
3. Create a spreadsheet template, including data categories and formulas
4. Gather data to populate that spreadsheet
5. Write a short report using data gathered from the spreadsheet

Assignment

You will work in groups on this project. We will take the first half of class to work on it, then it is to be completed this week. If in a group, use BlackBoard to interact with one another. There is a forum called "Technology Costs" in the Discussion Board. Start a thread for your group.

Resources

Designing and Costing the Technology Plan

http://www.ed.gov/pubs/techinvest/chap2.html

Describes a workable system for a school district to develop a plan for introducing and maintaining a learning technology system. In addition, this chapter discusses how to determine what it will cost to do so.

 

Investing in School Technology: Strategies to Meet the Funding Challenge

http://www.ed.gov/pubs/techinvest

This is the parent site to the one listed above. Goes beyond just the cost issue.

 

The Impact of Media and Technology in Schools

http://www.athensacademy.org/instruct/media_tech/reeves0.html

This is a research report by a leading evaluation specialist in educational technology. It is a useful introduction to the "benefits" side of the cost-benefit equation.

 

Readings

• Myths and Realities about Technology in K-12 Schools
• So Much High-Tech Money Invested, So Little Use: How Come?

Break

Starting PowerPoint

Creating a simple presentation using PowerPoint

• The Basic Slide Show

Your First Presentation

In your groups, take the data from the discussion on costs and work together to create a 5 screen presentation, plus a title screen (so 6 in all). When this is complete, post it to the Digital Drop Box in Blackboard and prepare a way to present it. Then we will do so in class tonight.

Assignments due next week

Readings

Work

• Complete computer cost analysis
• Techtools - PowerPoint

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