A Design Plan in Boardmaker

1. A Design Plan in Boardmaker Alejandro Alonso March 9, 2010 EDTC 3332 Instructional Technology Practicum

2. Needs Assessment: • Special-Ed teachers and paraprofessionals need to learn how to use the Boardmaker • With Boardmaker users will create better lesson materials for their students.

3. Needs Assessment: • According to teachers and their assistants they are not getting any kind of training on this software. • Some of them don’t know how to use Boardmaker and many of the tools provided in this software. • Others lack of computer skills which makes it more difficult to learn this program.

4. Needs Assessment: • A Web-Based Training Tutorials will help alleviate this problem to teachers and their assistants. • The training will be provided with the use of a computer and a training module. • This new method of training will save time and money to the organization and their employees. • They will be able to work from a prefer location (work, home, public library, etc…).

5. Instructional Goal: • Teachers will learn how to use Boardmaker to create on-screen picture icons, change fonts, and colors, and print their lessons based on the needs of their students. • My goal is to provide a clear web-based tutorial that will guide users with basic instructions showing how to install and use Boardmaker in a short period of time.

6. Performance Objectives: • Using Boardmaker the learner will be able to create better colorful lessons materials to their students within a shorter period of time.

7. Performance Objectives: • With the use of templates included in Boardmaker, the learner will be able to create perfect size pictures with a 100% accuracy.

8. Performance Objectives: • Using the search symbol tool, the learners will find symbols or pictures a lot faster by simply typing the first two or three letters of any desire word.

9. Assessment of Learning Outcomes: • I will use a survey to collect data that will allow me to identify the strongest and weakest areas that I must cover in my tutorial. • It will consist of simple questions regarding how much they know about Boardmaker and how often they get training and updates for this software. • The learner will take a short quiz and will be graded at the end of the tutorial, it will be to measure the skills acquire with the software after they have completed the online tutorial.

10. Assessment of Learning Outcomes:

11. Learner Characteristics: • My target audience is for special-ed teachers and paraprofessionals either males or females, who are not very familiar with the Boardmaker software. • Most of them are hispanics and bilingual. • Many of them they have basic computer knowledge and many years of working in this field. • Their age range is between 30-55 years old. • Training is not provided very often to keep them up to date with technology. • Very few of them know about Boardmaker and its uses in the instructional area and all the excellent features that can be used to create learning activites.

12. Learning Context: • The learner must know how to start Boardmaker. • The learner must be able to create simple icon lessons by using the symbol search tool. • Learners must have access to a computer either from his/her home, workplace, public library, etc., and have access to the internet. • The learner will be able to go online and watch the tutorial(s) • The learner will be able to download a free trial version of the software if he/she has not purchase the cd that contains the software for installation • The learner will be taught to easily install the software into any computer of his/her choice at the beginning of the turorial. • The learner(s) will take the training during their conferene hour in their own classroom or at the computer lab located inside the school at Rivera High School.

13. Instructional Strategies: • Introduction: Boardmaker is a software designed to create lesson with the use of picture icons mostly for life skills students. It that can be easily learn with the assistance of web-based tutorials. • Basic instructions to use Boardmaker • How to download, install, and use Boardmaker • Open the software, choose new document, create multiple icons and lessons • Saving lessons as templates and printing options • Downloading the Software • Go into the internet and select your search engine (e.g. google,yahoo…) • Type Boardmaker on the search engine bar • It will take you to the Mayer Johnson official web page • Look for download center on the upper tab • Click on trials and demos • Select the Boardmaker software free trial • Click on desire language • Click on download now and save it

14. Instructional Strategies Con’t: • Installing Boardmaker • Run the exe. for Boardmaker • It will begin to install the software • Click next at the bottom of each message • Boardmaker will be installed shortly • Installation is complete • Opening the software • Click on the Boardmaker icon • Select new document • A blank page will be display • Create your icons and lessons • Click on the ugly man • Find picture in the library • Type the desire picture name • Click on any picture you wish to paste • Click on the cell you wish to paste the picture • Combine symbols for your lesson

15. Instructional Strategies Con’t: • Saving lessons and creating templates • Click on file on the upper left corner • Click save as: e.g. Lesson 1 • Click ok • Click file save as template for future lessons • Click on the x to close the program • Summary • Boardmaker is a software used by special-ed teachers and paraprofessionals • Is very easy to download and install with very simple steps • You can create multiple picture icons or combined to create lessons • It has gives you the option of saving your document as simple lessons or as template for future use. • Is very easy to print all your lesson that you create

16. Instructional Resources: Teachers and paraprofessionals will need the following: • The learners will require the use of a computer with working speakers or headphones and must have internet access to watch the web-based tutorials. • The learner must acquire the Boardmaker Software v6 by downloading the free trail version that is available online at http//:www.mayer-johnson.com. • The learner will take short survey at the beginning before the tutorial and a quiz at the end of the tutorial.

17. Training Module Blueprint:

18. Formative Evaluation: • To evaluate my design plan I will use peer evaluation and small group evaluation. • For peer evaluation I will ask one of my co-workers that has being in this field for more than 10 years as a paraprofessional and he barely uses the computer because he is not very computer literate. • For the small group evaluation I will ask three special-ed teachers that work in the same department, they do use this software more often, but there are some functions that they don’t know what are for.

19. Summary • The purpose of my training is to show others how to use Boardmaker and the advantages that it has to create picture icon lesson for students with special needs. With this web-based training module I will be able to find the weak areas where the teachers are lacking of knowledge with this software. After taking this training users will become more experts in Boardmaker and they will create better picture icons, and better learning instructional lessons for their students.