Unit+5

**Unit 5: Application Software, Productivity Tools, and Spreadshe**ets
 * ED 585 | Integrating Technology into the Curriculum **


 * Overview **

An essential aspect of building computer literacy is learning about software. In this unit, you will learn about the role and choices of operating systems used on today's computers. This unit will also demonstrate how to start and use application software and the advantages of software suites. Using spreadsheets in the classroom will also be presented.

Various types of productivity software, graphics and multimedia software, software for school and professional use, and software for home and personal use are available. There are a variety of learning aids and support tools available for application software which work with different software versions and files on both Macintosh computers and PCs. Your knowledge of these topics increases your computer literacy and in turn, will help your students understand how personal computers can help them in their careers, in school, and at home.


 * Objectives: **
 * Explain the role of an operating system and list the main operating systems used on today’s computers
 * Define and describe a user interface and a graphical user interface
 * Identify the important features of widely used software applications
 * Describe the advantages of software suites
 * Explain how to create a spreadsheet document
 * List and describe learning aids and support tools that help you use and learn a spreadsheet application
 * Demonstrate applications for the spreadsheet in the classroom


 * Opening Scenario **

System software consists of programs that control the operations of the computer and its devices. One type of system software, the operating system, contains instructions that coordinate all of the activities of the hardware devices in a computer. Use Fig. 1 above to see the relationship between a user, application software (see specific types in Fig. 2 in Topic 2), system software, and computer hardware. Many application programs are designed to run with a specific operating system. When shopping for an application software package, buyers must make sure they have a compatible operating system. That is, a software package designed to be used with the Macintosh operating system may not work with the Windows operating system. The Web Info has additional information on Windows at: @http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/default.mspx


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Using Different Operating Systems **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">The first version of Windows (1985) imitated the GUI (graphical user interface) used by Apple’s Macintosh computer. In fact, Apple sued Microsoft unsuccessfully for copyright infringement. Although some users still feel the Macintosh interface is superior, some form of Windows is used on almost 90 percent of personal computers today. Because of the popularity of Windows, even competitive products often use similar features, such as the same menu names.

__//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Microsoft Windows //__

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">There have been several versions of the Windows operating system: Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Millennium Edition (Me), Windows 2000 Professional, and Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.

__//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Macintosh Operating System or MAC OS //__

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">The Macintosh operating system has changed over the years too. The most recent OS X changes have been Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard and most recently Lion and sometime soon Mountain Lion.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Topic 2. Application Software[[image:Screen_shot_2012-05-30_at_2.45.42_PM.png align="right"]] **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Application software consists of programs designed to perform specific tasks for users. Use Fig. 2 to see the five major categories of popular application software. The categories are not mutually exclusive. A software package is a particular software product, such as, Microsoft Word.

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Word Processing Software //

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">In Unit 2 the assignment was to use word processing software and create a flyer for your classroom. A word processor is the most widely used application software. Today, most word processing software has a capability known as WYSIWYG (//what you see is what you get//) that allows users to see on the screen (//using the Print Preview command//) exactly how a document will look when printed. Most word processors can display more than one page or enlarge a single page in print preview. Some of the word processing features used in formatting, editing, and creating documents are: borders, clip art, and clip art collections, import, margins, word wrap, scrolling, find or search, replace, and spell checker.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">clip art <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;"> @http://school.discoveryeducation.com/clipart/?campaign=DE <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">and spelling bees @http://www.spellingbee.com/


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Topic 3. Open Source Software **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Open source is free to the public. Some examples of open source software which may be useful to you can be found at the links below:

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_free_and_open_source_software_packages


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">50 Open Source tools that replace popular education apps **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Open Office <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">http://www.openoffice.org/

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Scribus – Desktop Publishing <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">http://www.scribus.net/

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">CMAP - Concept map software <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">http://cmap.ihmc.us/

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Gimp -Photo Retouching <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">http://www.gimp.org/

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Tuxpaint - Drawing Program <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/tuxpaint/

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Inkscape – Vector graphics program <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">http://www.inkscape.org/

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Dia – draw diagrams <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">http://dia-installer.sourceforge.net/

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Blender – 3D modeling, animation <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">http://www.blender.org/cms/Home.2.0.html

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Audacity – Sound Editor <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">NVU – Web authoring software <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">http://net2.com/nvu/

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Alice - computer programming <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">http://www.alice.org/

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Netlogo <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Celestia – Space exploration <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">http://sourceforge.net/projects/celestia/

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Skype- Free calls to other Skype users <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">http://www.skype.com/

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Moodle – Course management system <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">http://www.moodle.org/

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Pachyderm – Multimedia authoring tool <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">http://pachyderm.nmc.org/


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Discussions **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">On page 146 and 147 in your text, take a look at some of the software mentioned. You can also download the file with this information from your companion website/chapter 3/software corner and digital media center. Choose one resource and discuss how you could use it in your classroom. **Software Corner** and **Digital Media Center**


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Assignments **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">This assignment will help you begin a two-part course project that includes using an electronic survey to conduct action research in your classroom.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">To get started, read the booklet on action research available at http://www.alliance.brown.edu/pubs/themes_ed/act_research.pdf paying special attention to the steps of action research outlined on p. 9:

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">1. Identification of problem area <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">2. Collection and organization of data <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">3. Interpretation of data <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">4. Action based on data <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">5. Reflection

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Also, for an example of using a survey to conduct action research, see the second scenario at @http://education.jhu.edu/newhorizons/strategies/topics/action-research/index.html

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Now, to begin the first part of the course project:

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">(1) Identify a problem you observed about your class or a question you have about some type of class instruction that you could study by conducting a survey. Pose a single sentence question (ex. Why aren't my students reading books after school? What is the most effective way of motivating my students to learn?)

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">(2) Explain why the question is important to you. Include examples from your experience or observations that motivated you to select this question.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">(3) Do a search on ERIC (Please refer to @http://wilkes.edu/MediaFiles/ERICbasics.swf for an online tutorial on how to access ERIC.) and choose at least 5 data-based articles that support your position that this is an important problem or question for others as well as yourself. You may substitute one of these articles with a personal communication (email thread) that you initiated with an expert recognized in the field for studying the issue you have selected. These articles do not have to be lengthy, however, they must have data tables or graphs. You will attach copies of your article(s) and/or a copy of the email communication with a professional expert at the end of this assignment. Doing this part of the project will help you to shape your ideas about your question (that is, they will help you design items you might ask on your survey)

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">(4) Write a summary of the article(s)/expert opinion you gathered, but explain what is unique about your problem or issue that will require you to gather your own data.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">(5) Write a single statement explaining that the purpose of your survey is to address the problem or question you identified in items 1 and 4.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">(6) Using the booklet at the link at the top of the page.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Write a brief description of what action research is and why surveying your target audience is an example of research design. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Identify the population that would give you the best information to answer your question (ex. students, parents, other teachers teaching at your grade level in the school district) and describe important characteristics about the audience that explain why this group would give you the best information. Provide some descriptive information about members of the population (ex. age range, typical education level, amount of time you have known the group) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Describe how you will construct your survey, how you will distribute it, and how you will analyze your results (see the example survey at the link provided above).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">(7) Submit each of the items above in separate paragraphs and number the paragraphs corresponding to each item. For example:

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">(1) Identify a problem or a question <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">The question that I chose to discuss is: What is the most effective way of motivating my students to learn?

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">(2) Why the question is important to me <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">This question is important to me because. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">etc.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">This assignment will be graded using the <span style="color: #1717b5; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Formal Scientific Reasoning Scoring Rubric <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Please see the grading rubric for more specific information on the spreadsheet.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">File Submissions **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">When submitting a file, ensure the identity of the submission by putting your name, the unit number and your first or last name in the file name, such as "Unit5 Dowd". To submit an assignment go to "Projects" in the navigation pane > click on the Edit button on this wiki > click in the cell next to your name > click on file > upload your file > browse to your file > once loaded, click on it to place it in the table.