tech603



=Technology Needed for EDET 603 - [semester]=

// Note: If you have a documented disability and you need course materials in an alternative format or you need other equipment or software to access some of the materials, please contact the Office of Student Disability Services (SDS) at 803-777-6742 (TDD) or 803-777-6744. The instructor will work with you and SDS to put the materials in a format that works with technology you have available to you. – SWQ // Equipment Software Miscellaneous

Equipment
// In general, most people who have recently taken a course at the university level have found a location to access a computer with internet access. The main difference with the equipment needed for this course is that many of the materials are presented in a web-based format, usually using some sort of multimedia (such as audio or video). In addition, you will need to experiment creating and editing multimedia and other instructional materials as part of some of the class activities. // - **Computer** Your computer can have Windows, Macintosh, or most open source operating systems on it. You will need to have **speakers** for viewing videos and listening to sound files. You will also need to use a **microphone** to record sound to your computer in at least one of the class projects. If you do have a microphone, you many need to go to the Training Center at USC Columbia or borrow one from someone to do this activity. (Often when a candidate has borrowed a microphone to do this project, he or she has ended up purchasing one – which can be purchased for around $10 - because they see how desirable it is to add sound to their materials!) Note: The materials for this course are primarily developed and tested in the Windows environment. If you are using a Macintosh or an open source system, please notify the instructor if you have any concerns so she can test various materials with you prior to the class activities. - **Internet access** You need reliable internet access. The faster your internet access, the happier you will be. You may find that you can access many of the materials with a dial-up connection through a modem, but you may discover that you need to use a high speed connection to view some of the multimedia materials. If you have dial up access at your primary location, you may want to consider finding a computer lab at a public library or school that you can use regularly because these places generally have high-speed, reliable internet access (and they usually have a person assigned to troubleshoot technology problems!) - **Data storage device** (highly recommended) A disk drive, CD burner, USB thumb drive, or other data storage device is highly recommended to back up your class work and to have it available in the event you need to move to another computer to complete your work. - **Printer** (highly recommended) You will not have to turn in any work on paper, but it would be wise to print out copies of the work you submit, including date/time information when applicable, in case a technology glitch occurs and you are not given credit for submitting your work on time. - **Other equipment** For at least one activity, you will need to use a **digital camera** to take a still picture and a **digital scanner** to scan an image. If you do not have access to these technologies, you many need to go to the Training Center at USC Columbia or borrow a camera or scanner from someone to do this activity.

Software
// In general, the instructor’s goal is to use free tools whenever possible or to use programs that are ‘standards in the industry’ and readily available in educational settings. For almost all of the class activities, you will be able to use software that is already available to you or that you can download for free. Even when a commercial product is demonstrated, the instructor will also let you know about free alternatives to the commercial product whenever possible. // - **Virus protection software, etc** The University provides free virus protection for faculty, staff and students to put on their home computers. Information about downloading the program - and the updates - on your computer can be found in the How To… Get Virus Protection area of this site or at the USC Virus Information Center site at http://csd.sc.edu/virus/index.shtml Operating systems also regularly release security updates. You should schedule regular security checks if your computer is not set to automatically look for updates. Many people also use other malware protection tools to attempt to stop or clean spyware, adware, etc. Know what security tools are available on the computer(s) you use and keep these protections up-to-date throughout the semester! - **Web browser** A web browser is a software program, such as Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox that is used to access information on the internet. Sometimes web sites look or act differently on one browser or another. (In general, people tend to design their sites for Internet Explorer because is is what most people use.) You only need one web browser. Go to the How To… Get a Web Browser area of this site for links to free browsers. If your web browser does not have the following plug-in(s) – the most recent versions of the most popular browsers do – the following program(s) may need to be installed or updated separately. (Your browser will tell you if the plug-in is missing or out of date when you attempt to open a file, and it will usually prompt you to download the program/update.) Flash Player (free) http://www.macromedia.com/software/flashplayer/ Java (free) You may also be asked to download Java or update the version you have. You can do this at http://www.java.com/en/download/ - **Media player(s)** You will need a media player(s) to view video and sound files. Most media files can be viewed using one of the three most common media players: Quicktime Player, Windows Media Player and Real Player. For more information about these programs, go to the How To… Get Media Players area of this site. In this class, your instructor will try to be consistent and use file types that can be viewed in Windows Media Player because it is so popular. Be sure to download the latest version of any media player you need to use because upgrades are frequently made to this type of tool. Windows Media Player (free) http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/download/download.aspx - **iTunes** (optional) Copies of many of the audio and video files in this course will also be available on iTunes U, which is a tool that USC supports. The files you will access are on a special iTunes U account that is only available to participants in the class. Some candidates may already be comfortable using iTunes, or you may want to use this as an opportunity to learn to use this very popular multimedia tool. In some cases, the audio and video clips may be clearer or more reliable on iTunes. You will want to experiment. For information about iTunes and iTunes U, go to the How To… Get iTunes and How to…,.Use iTunes U areas of this site. - **Adobe Acrobat Reader** - or other PDF viewer To open a PDF (Portable Document Format) file, you need to install Adobe Reader, which is a free program. (You can also read PDF files if you have the full program, Adobe Acrobat Professional.) The reason instructors and others use PDF files is that these files will maintain the formatting of the original document regardless of the computer operating system you are using. Many of the documents you will access in this class are only available in PDF format. Acrobat Reader (free) http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html and follow the steps. - **Office suite tools** Microsoft Office is the most widely available office suite containing word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation programs. Word, Excel and PowerPoint are not free programs, but you can still view these files using free viewer programs without having to buy the full program. There are different versions of these viewers. One way to find the appropriate viewer is to go to the Microsoft Download Center site at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/search.aspx?displaylang=en and use the search tool. Type “Viewer” (without quotes) into the search box and choose the appropriate program and version to download. // Office Note 1 // You may use any **word processing program** to create your documents as long as you save them to a file type that can be read by others after being posted in Blackboard or sent to the instructor/classmate. Text documents saved in the Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) format almost always work within Blackboard. Depending on the programs and other conversion tools available on the computer the instructor (or a classmate) uses to read your file, he or she may or may not be able to read files from other programs. You can also use text files (.txt) or rich text format (.rtf) files in Blackboard, but the formatting of your document - centering, italics, etc - may be lost when it is converted by the user. If you use a word processing program other than Microsoft Word, such as Microsoft Works or Word Perfect, there are some options. Please see the appropriate part of the How To… Post Files in Blackboard area of this site for information about some of these options. // Office Note 2 // Most of the documents in this course will be PDFs. A few are posted as .doc or .docx files. If you have Office 2003 and you have any problems opening Microsoft Word 2007 documents (or other files in Office 2007), you can download an automatic conversion tool at the Microsoft site: (**2007 to 2003 Conversion Tool**) Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=941B3470-3AE9-4AEE-8F43-C6BB74CD1466&displaylang=en // Office Note 3 // There is one activity in which you are asked to do a short activity using a feature available only in **Microsoft Word**. (The feature is in both 2003 and 2007 versions.) If you do not use Microsoft Word, you many need to go to the Training Center at USC Columbia or another public computer to do this activity. // Office Note 4 // Most **PowerPoint presentations** in this course will be narrated and published to the web using a program called Adobe Acrobat Connect (formerly called Breeze). You do not need PowerPoint or a viewer to watch these presentations – you just need an internet connection and speakers. You will be given a URL (Uniform ResourceLocator), which should take you directly to the web site with the appropriate presentation. Your web browser will need to be able to view Flash files. See the information above about web browsers and media players to make sure you have the appropriate tools.

Miscellaneous
- **E-mail account** You need to check an email account regularly during the semester. You may use your personal e-mail account, such as AOL, Hotmail, Earthlink, etc. If you do, you must remember to update your Personal Information in Blackboard to show the e-mail address of the account you will check most frequently. Instructions for doing this can be found in the How To…Confirm Your Preferred E-mail Address in Blackboard area of this site. If you don’t have another e-mail account or it is unreliable, consider using your University E-Mail account. All faculty, staff and students at the University of South Carolina have an account on this web-based e-mail system that uses the same network username and password you use to access Blackboard. Your e-mail address is YourNetworkUsername@mailbox.sc.edu If you need instructions using your University E-Mail account, go to the How To… Use University E-Mail area of the site or go directly to the information page about University E-Mail at http://www.sc.edu/universityemail/ - **Restricted access** Finally, many candidates in Education courses use computers in their schools, and many schools have placed restrictions on the computers. Many block access to certain types of web sites; others block certain features such as the ability to download items to the computer. This purpose of this course is to explore a wide range of technologies and tools. You need to be able to explore them. A few suggestions are to find a computer to use as your secondary computer that does not have restrictions, make friends with a classmate who has a less restricted computer, or make friends with the network administrator at your school. (Actually, many schools have a procedure for asking for exceptions to the blocks.) Regardless of the method you use, develop a schedule to keep your operating system updates and malware protection tools up-to-date – and do it even more regularly during this semester!