Winter 1999 LInC Online Assignments

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The assignments below outline the major assignments of the class. There will be some additional but minor assignments added as seen fit by the Facilitator Team as the course develops.

Due Dates (CST)	Assignments
Wed Feb 3 6:00 PM	Bookmark the Winter 1999 LInC Online Home Page. You can reach everything you need in this course starting from this page. Read Getting started in LInC Online, End Products, Tips for Success in LInC Online, Participant Scenario (about 16 printed pages in total). Note: You do not need to follow and read all the links contained in these 4 web pages - reading just the 4 web pages is all that is intended. Bring questions to this week's chat at 6 PM CST. Download ChatNet software (if you use a MAC) or MSchat software (if you use a PC). Install it and try it out with another member of your team before the chat.
Sun Feb 7 Midnight	Submit Technical Self Evaluation Form. Submit Engaged Learning Evaluation Form. Submit Participant Information Form. Subscribe to course electronic mailing list by sending mail to mailserv@fnal.gov with blank subject and message body of subscribe ed-lincon4 AOL users must fill in something for subject. It doesn't matter what. Use these Listserv Instructions if you need help. Read the Using COW web pages. Post a message in the Topic: Administrivia, Conversation: Getting to Know You using the Web Conferencing program (COW), Change your COW password, and Fill in your User Profile. Post a message in the Topic: Adminstrivia, Conversation: Your Spring Break Dates using the COW Post a message in the Topic: Administrivia, Conversation: Individual and Group Work Times using the COW Post a message in the Topic: Reflections, Conversation: Best Hopes using the COW Browse through the existing topics and conversations in COW. (You do not need to read all the Spring Break and Work Time postings). Read about the Education and Technology project simulation you will be participating in over the next week.
Sun Feb 14 Midnight	Post your presentation on your selected issue for the Education and Technology project in the COW Topic: Ed / Tech Project Presentations. Include a few links (URLs) for useful related resources. Also include first-hand information about how the issue is handled in your district and how it is handled in one or more of your colleagues' districts. Start a new conversation for your presentation in COW. You can work with your team or with other partners in the course. One posting per project group is all that is needed. We suggest you write your post in a text editor first and then copy and paste it into the COW. As you are working, post in the COW Topic: Ed / Tech Project Collaboration to get input from participants in other districts or to get partners who are interested in the same issue you are interested in. Also, if you like, you can schedule to chat with other participants to get their input. Use the Internet to find out recent information about your issue and/or to contact an expert for an opinion. Respond to two other groups in COW in the Topic: Ed / Tech Project Collaboration during the week to give them input for their projects. After the chat, read the first 20 pages of Plugging In. This is the yellow booklet you received in the U.S. mail. The first 20 pages is the first 2 sections which are Introduction New Times Demand New Ways of Learning. Read these three web pages before the next chat. These will be discussed during the chat. Proposal Activity 1 Proposal Activity 2 Proposal Activity 3
Sun Feb 21 Midnight	Post a message in the COW Topic: Reflections, Conversation: Technology-Supported Engaged Learning 1. Read these three web pages. (You can read these pages straight through. It is not assigned to follow and read the links.) Getting Started on Your Project Proposal Creation is a Process Project Review Questions Post a first draft of two project proposals in the COW Topic: Proposals. Create one new conversation and post both of your project proposals to that one new conversation. The proposals should be about different topics. The proposals should be short: about one half page in length. We suggest you write your post in a text editor first and then copy and paste it into the COW. One posting per group working on the same project is all that is needed. You do not need to include rationale or state goals in your proposals. Please do provide the learner outcomes though. Be ready to share your proposals and provide feedback for your colleagues proposals in the next chat.
Sun Feb 28 Midnight	Post a message in the COW Topic: Reflections, Conversation: Proposals - WOWs. Post a second draft of your two project proposals or new proposals in the COW based on feedback and ideas from your colleagues and your facilitator. Post in Topic: Proposals. Use the same conversation you created last week and post both of your new draft project proposals to that one conversation. Read the Project Design Guide. (You can read the page straight through. It is not assigned to follow and read the links.) Browse through the hard copy of the 100% Recycling project you received in the U.S. mail to get a better feel for what a LInC project might look like. You don't need to read every page. Just browse to get an idea of the different project components (presentation page, scenario for teachers, web pages for students, and rubric for students). Post a message in the COW Topic: Chat Break-Out Sessions, Conversation: Suggest Topics for March 3 Online Chat. Please suggest topics that will help you make progress on your project.
Guidance for March and April Assignments Please see the Guidance for March and April Assignments page. This has been put on a it's own page to shorten this assignment page.
Sun Mar 7 Midnight	Turn in a proposal draft in COW Topic: Proposals if you are working on your proposal. Use the same conversation you have used before. If not, start working on a draft of one project component. You do not have to turn this in yet. Learn the technical skills needed to turn in your homework assignments in future weeks. The following are items needed to learn file transfer so you can transfer (publish!) your project pages on the web server. Note - The following might look like a lot, but it boils down to reading about 12 pages and downloading 2 pieces of software. Read the Guidance for March and April Assignments page. Read the Getting Started Writing Web Pages tutorial. Read the File and Folder Naming Guidelines. Download ShockWave. Download FETCH (for Mac users) or WS_FTP (for PC users) if you do not already have one of these. Watch the FTP Animations for WS_FTP (for MAC users) or Fetch (For PC users).
Sun Mar 14 Midnight	Turn in a draft of one project component by using FTP to transfer your project folder and file to the web server. The component may be in plain text or a web page. Select your top 2 topic choices for March 17 chat (by Tuesday) in COW Topic: Chat Break-out Sessions, Conversation: Sign up for March 17 chat topics. Before the chat, read the Project Rubric that will be used for grading your projects. Bring questions or comments if you have them to the chat.
Sun Mar 21 Midnight	Turn in a draft of one project component by using FTP to transfer your project folder and file to the web server. The component may be in plain text or a web page. Text files should end in .txt, web page (html) files should end in .html. Be ready to present your work so far (the drafts of the two components you have turned in) to your colleagues in the Wed March 24 chat.
Sun Mar 28 Midnight	Turn in a draft of one project component. Use FTP to transfer your work to the web server. Reply by e-mail to the LInC evaluation I e-mail message. Select your top 3 topic choices for March 31 chat (by Tuesday) in COW Topic: Chat Break-out Sessions, Conversation: Sign up for March 31 chat topics.
Sun Apr 4 Midnight	Turn in a draft of one project component using FTP. Revise other components based on feedback received. Read the following web pages (about 25 pages total): Staff Development Plan Components (This page contains links for example plans from past LInC participants and a rubric) How to Help Someone Use a Computer Features of Effective Learning Summarized from the Literature Characteristics of Adult Learners Professional Development that Works (FNO) A High Schooler's Perspective on a Problem-Based Learning Project A Checklist for Planning A Professional Development Program (~3 pages, will be sent via U.S. mail) Post a message in the COW Topic: Staff Development, Conversation: Comments/Questions on Readings. Select your top 3 topic choices for April 7 chat (by Tuesday) in COW Topic: Chat Break-out Sessions, Conversation: Sign up for April 7 chat topics.
Sun Apr 11 Midnight	Turn in a draft of one project component using FTP. Revise other components based on feedback received. Be ready to present a draft of your web pages for students to your colleagues in the Wed April 14 chat. Use the Project Rubric for guidance as you are creating your web pages for students. Use the PageMill Animations to help you. These are movie clips that demonstrate how to do each step - mouse-click by mouse-click. It' s like having someone there show you each step!
Sun Apr 18 Midnight	Turn in a draft of one project component using FTP. Revise other components based on feedback received. Take a look at these examples of student pages (from this semester) that have a great/clear task and hook for participants that sets the stage right away for student-directed participation in the project. Also, the different sections they decided were needed for students work well for each of their projects, and the navigation bar provided makes it easy to get from place to place. Exploring Our Past: Revolutionary War (Carrollton, IL team) We Never Promised You a Greenhouse (Plymouth, NH team) Roller Coaster Design (Mahtomedi, MN team) G.R.I.D. Guided Relevant Internet Discovery (Farmington, MI team) Lead It Be (Milwaukee, WI team) Select your top 3 topic choices for April 21 chat by Sunday in COW Topic: Chat Break-out Sessions, Conversation: Sign up for April 21 chat topics.
Sun Apr 25 Midnight	Work Time! (1 week extension) Select your top 3 topic choices for April 28 chat by Monday in COW Topic: Chat Break-out Sessions, Conversation: Sign up for April 28 chat topics.
Sun May 2 Midnight	Project Due (all project components) See the End Products page for a list. (This link is also in the navigation bar at the top of each LInC page.) You'll share your final projects with each other during the May 5 chat. Use PageMill and/or a link checker to spell check and link check your final project web pages.
Sun May 9 Midnight	Staff Development Plan Due You'll present your staff development plans to each other during the May 12 chat. See the Staff Development Plan Components page for a description, examples, and the staff development plan rubric. You can also make up COW assignments by Wednesday You can see which ones you have missed by looking at the assignment status sheet. Then use this page to find the assignments. See Feb 7, Feb 21, Feb 28, and April 4 boxes. Evaluation Forms Due The first one is long. The rest are much shorter. We really use these to improve the course and materials which you can then use in your district. We appreciate your time in completing them! LInC Course Evaluation I LInC Course Evaluation II Technical Skills Self Evaluation. Engaged Learning Self Evaluation. RTEC Program Evaluation Form Instructor Evaluation

You may check your own status on these assignments by clicking on Assignments Status button in the navigation bar at the top of this page.