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SUMMER INSTITUTE SCHEDULE

WEEK OF JULY 7
CAITE SPONSORED WORKSHOPS

Our partner, CAITE, held two workshops in Amherst and Waltham during the week of July 7th. These workshop were also free of charge.

For more information about the Waltham workshop on "Media Computation" (July 7-9), click here.

For more information about the Amherst workshop on "Innovative Approaches for First Courses in Computing" (July 10-11), click here.

WEEK OF JULY 7
MIDDLESEX COMMUNITY COLLEGE, BEDFORD, MA

July 7th-8th in Room North Academic (NA) 102
Microsoft Vista and Office 2007 Overview

Michael Puopolo, Bunker Hill Community College, Boston, MA

Taught totally hands-on, this two-day workshop provided a complete overview of Microsoft’s recent new product announcements: VISTA, Internet Explorer 7 & OFFICE 2007. VISTA provides a dramatically new look & feel to the user interface including hundreds of new features, better security, AERO technology, sidebar gadgets, etc. IE 7 implements “tabbed browsing”, increased security, improved printing and numerous other browsing improvements/options. OFFICE 2007 is a major redesign of the Suite utilizing a “Ribbon” interface, contextual tabs, “Live Preview”, new style galleries, professional designed templates and numerous other features in WORD, EXCEL, ACCESS, POWERPOINT and OUTLOOK. Special topics included: Taking advantage of the BATEC Microsoft Developer Network Academic Alliance (MSDNAA); New task-based, content & outcomes based assessment tools for gauging student achievement; Group project work in OFFICE Applications; Implementation costs and considerations in deploying of all new programs.

July 9th in Room North Academic (NA) 102
Teaching Information & Communication Technology (ICT) in the 21st Century: A New Paradigm

Michael Puopolo, Bunker Hill Community College, Boston, MA

This hands-on workshop introduced ICT Educators and Administrators at all levels (High School, Community College & University) to several key areas where ICT Education CAN & MUST be changed to insure competitiveness of our students in the 21st Century global economy. New approaches to insure quality assurance and consistency in delivery of content, infusion of Employability Skills, Critical Thinking, Problem Based Learning, Group Project Work and Customer Service Skills were covered and demonstrated. Participants were also introduced to new technologies for pre and post assessment, as well as content and outcomes based assessments. Participants were asked for input and participation in the BATEC ICT Statewide Articulation Project.

July 9th in Alcott (Library #4)
Implementing Podcasting - How Do I Get Started?

Jeanne Canale and Louis Perriello, Middlesex Community College

Podcasting enhances teaching and learning through easy-to-use audio and visual technology. But where does podcasting fit into contemporary curriculum? This session covered podcasting essentials as applied to intuitive curriculum augmentation. Each participant was required to develop a Podcast presentation.

July 10th in Alcott (Library #4)
"Why Isn't Johnny Ready for College”??

Michael Puopolo, Bunker Hill Community College, Boston, MA

The disconnect between MCAS and the Accuplacer College Placement Test (CPT), used by almost all Massachusetts Community/State Colleges & Universities is becoming more widely known. Many older, returning students as well as High School graduates who pass MCAS with flying colors show up at College Testing Centers, take the Accuplacer CPT and place “Developmental” in Reading, English & Math. Not knowing that the Accuplacer is really a “high stakes” exam, unprepared students are placed into a series of “Developmental” courses often with serious financial & other consequences. If these students knew what’s at stake in the CPT, and had a quality test-preparation tool, they could be better prepared to place into College Level courses. This workshop introduced High School Counselors, Teachers and College Faculty, Staff & Administrators to a proven solution for solving the “College Readiness” problem for students with “dormant” skills. This hands-on workshop demonstrated how A+dvancer College Readiness On-line is increasing student success with targeted assessment and instruction for Math, Reading & Sentence Skills. Already widely deployed across the US, A+dvancer College Readiness On-line can go a long way to help solve the State’s serious “College Readiness” problem. Workshop attendees received a free trial account for their respective schools to test the A+dvancer Software.

WEEK OF JULY 14
BUNKER HILL COMMUNITY COLLEGE, BOSTON, MA

July 14th -15th in Room D101
Microsoft Vista and Office 2007 Overview

Michael Puopolo, Bunker Hill Community College, Boston, MA

July 14th -15th in Room D121B
Education on the Holodeck: Getting Started with SecondLife!

Mary Hopper, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA

This session began with a quick introduction to the virtual world SecondLife. Participants learned what SecondLife is and how it can be used in education as a fun new tool for online course delivery, content instruction and advanced multimedia production or programming. The beginning of the workshop focused on a very basic hands-on introduction about how to register, enter and navigate the system. Participants then learned about many resources available to help you learn the system, participated in a virtual classroom activity, received a whirlwind tour of fascinating sites with entertaining and education content, and then learned how both you and students can begin to actively participate in this unique new educational venue. This session also provided instruction and guidance to help participants find, buy or make the things you need to live a virtual life. The session concluded with a tour of the many projects going on locally and a down to earth discussion of the pros and cons of getting started now or waiting for emerging virtual reality platforms to mature over the next few years.

July 14th -15th in Room E165
Flash Professional CS3 Workshop - Level 1

Rashmi Pimprikar, TechBoston, Boston, MA

This workshop was for participants who are new to Flash or who are interested in the features that are new to Flash CS3 and who want to use it to build media rich applications that effectively use animation, sound and video. This course introduced participants to Action Scripting - an object oriented programming language.

July 16th in Room D101
Introducting Moodle: Designing Engaging Online Instruction

Joyce LaTulippe, BATEC, Boston, MA

This one-day, hands-on workshop introduced participants to the power of Moodle, the leading open-source, learning management system (LMS) employed in K-12, higher education and industry settings. Participants learned how to design a course, workshop or community experience using Moodle's flexible features (journals, forums, chats, wikis, blogs, etc...). Each participant designed an online environment within their own Moodle account. A specific emphasis in this workshop was on design considerations involving the use of employability skills.

July 16th, 17th and 18th in Room D121A
AP Computer Science A

Maria Litvin, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA and Rashmi Pimprikar, TechBoston, Boston, MA

This hands-on workshop accommodated participants with different levels of familiarity with Java and OOP. Participants reviewed Java control structures (if-else, loops) and arithmetic, studied Java classes and objects, constructors and methods, interfaces, inheritance, and polymorphism, strings, arrays and ArrayList. Participants also studied recursion, sorting and searching, worked with the College Board's GridWorld case study, reviewed the College Board's AP materials and the 2008 AP CS Exams, and discussed techniques for teaching Java in high school.

July 17th in Room D101
Teaching Information & Communication Technology (ICT) in the 21st Century: A New Paradigm

Michael Puopolo, Bunker Hill Community College, Boston, MA

July 18th in Room D101
"Why Isn't Johnny Ready for College”??

Michael Puopolo, Bunker Hill Community College, Boston, MA

The disconnect between MCAS and the Accuplacer College Placement Test (CPT), used by almost all Massachusetts Community/State Colleges & Universities is becoming more widely known. Many older, returning students as well as High School graduates who pass MCAS with flying colors show up at College Testing Centers, take the Accuplacer CPT and place “Developmental” in Reading, English & Math. Not knowing that the Accuplacer is really a “high stakes” exam, unprepared students are placed into a series of “Developmental” courses often with serious financial & other consequences. If these students knew what’s at stake in the CPT, and had a quality test-preparation tool, they could be better prepared to place into College Level courses. This workshop introduced High School Counselors, Teachers and College Faculty, Staff & Administrators to a proven solution for solving the “College Readiness” problem for students with “dormant” skills. This hands-on workshop demonstrated how A+dvancer College Readiness On-line is increasing student success with targeted assessment and instruction for Math, Reading & Sentence Skills. Already widely deployed across the US, A+dvancer College Readiness On-line can go a long way to help solve the State’s serious “College Readiness” problem. Workshop attendees received a free trial account for their respective schools to test the A+dvancer Software.

WEEK OF JULY 21
BRISTOL COMMUNITY COLLEGE, FALL RIVER, MA

July 21st in Room K104
Flash

Chris MacDonald, Bristol Community College, Fall River, MA

This course introduced Flash and covered ways to use it effectively in the classroom.

July 22nd, 23rd and 24th in Room 118
Object Oriented Concepts 3-day Seminar

Igor Kholodov, Bristol Community College, Fall River, MA

The seminar was designed to help educators introduce students to the "object-oriented world." This was a visual-form introduction to the notion of software development with objects. While some Java syntax relative to classes was discussed, the details of object-oriented programming was presented via Unified Modeling Language (UML) diagrams. The roles of classes and objects, as well as their association by aggregation, encapsulation, inheritance, and interfaces was introduced. First look at the design patterns and polymorphism was also presented.

July 22nd in Room K104
Photoshop

Ceasar Cabral, Bristol Community College, Fall River, MA

The goal of this course was to make participants aware the basics of Photoshop, and introduce a learning environment in which participants felt comfortable enough to experiment, test, and to develop their own tips, tricks, and ultimately, skills.

July 23rd in Room K104
Graphics Design Seminar

Paula Mailloux, Bristol Community College, Fall River, MA

The Graphic Design Seminar offered an introduction to the basic principles of design as applied to print and electronic media, as well as an overview of the industry standard computer design programs and the print production process. An in-class guided design project incorporated design, page layout and graphic elements to offer the participant a fun, hands-on experience.

July 24th in Room K118
Microsoft Office 2007 Workshop

Craig Watson, Bristol Community College, Fall River, MA

This session introduced new features of the Office 2007 Suite of Applications. Specifically those features that have changed, tools menu features and where they have gone, the new ribbon system and new applications in the Office Suite.

WEEK OF JULY 28
BUNKER HILL COMMUNITY COLLEGE, BOSTON, MA

July 28th - Aug 8th in Room D103
Cisco CCNA Discovery 1

Leo Carey, Boston Latin Academy, Boston, MA

This ten day course provided educators the training they needed to be able to teach CCNA Discovery 1. This curriculum presented basic networking education to equip students with knowledge and skills that can be applied toward entry-level ICT careers and also CCENT and CCNA certifications. CCNA Discovery is a blended curriculum with both online and classroom learning. CCNA Discover has the following features:

Designed for students with basic PC usage
Can be delivered as an independent curriculum or integrated into broader courses of study at secondary schools, technical schools, colleges, and universities.
Offers a hands-on, career oriented approach to learning networking.

WEEK OF AUGUST 4
BUNKER HILL COMMUNITY COLLEGE, BOSTON, MA

Aug 4th -8th in Room D103
Packet Tracer 5.0

Leo Carey, Boston Latin Academy, Boston, MA

This five day course enabled educators with prior CCNA training to utilize the new Packet Tracer 5 tool that focuses on hands-on labs.
Packet Tracer simulation software can be used to teach complex networking concepts and to supplement classroom equipment. With Packet Tracer 5.0, instructors and students can design, build, configure, and troubleshoot networks using virtual equipment. PT4.11 provides a simulation and visualization environment with continuous real-time updates of underlying network logic and activity. It provides a common environment for instructors to demonstrate technologies and configurations, making it extremely useful for lectures, group and individual labs, homework and competitions. Students use Packet Tracer 5.0 to explore concepts, conduct experiments and test their understanding. Other Cisco offerings such as LINUX, Security, VOIP, A+ and wireless were previewed.

WEEK OF AUGUST 11
UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS BOSTON, BOSTON, MA

Gordon Anderson, UMass Amherst, Amherst, MA

iJava is a newly-developed online interactive textbook for introductory Java instruction. The text is unique in its hands-on style: users type code directly at the book, and receive instant correctness feedback. Because of its hands-on, interactive engagement style, the text has dramatically reduced failure rates in introductory classes at UMass-Amherst. An iJava-based class is suitable for the AP exam in computer science (level A). High school teachers could also arrange for college credit in Computer Science for their students upon successful completion of the course from the UMass Amherst Computer Science department. Up to 50 students will eventually be covered through this generous offer!