Educ 3412: Computers In Education

Assignment 5. Databases

Description:

This assignment is an opportunity to develop your experience with modifying and manipulating information through databases.

Goals:

• Modify or create a database in order to manage useful information
• Merge data into stakeholder communications
• Study and share information regarding education technology issues
• Use and cite resources responsibly

Rationale:

Professional educators who organize information well can focus on the learning that takes place when students, colleagues, and other stakeholders have access to such professional resources. Databases are a suitable tool for this type of work.

Planning:

• Talk with your peers, your valued teachers, and your confidants about information professional educators are likely to manage.
• Then solo or with a partner create an electronic database to manage professionally useful information.

Instructions:

Database:

1. Organize your findings into an electronic database--which you modify or create from scratch.
2. Create 10+ records for your database
3. Modify your database's appearance so that it is thematic and highly readable
4. Sort your database in ascending order by a logical field (such as last name)
5. Spell check, grammar check, and proofread your work
6. Save it as UsenameDB.fp5

Mail Merging:

1. Modify or create a Word document which allows you to mail merge 3+ fields from your database into some form of professional communication regarding an education technology issue that interests you
2. Compose your professional communication with citations from two or more reliable sources of information about your topic
3. Modify your document's appearance so that it is thematic, highly readable, and visually appealing
4. Spell check, grammar check, and proofread your work
5. Save your document with 10 merged documents as UserID_MM.doc

Submitting your work

• Please electronically submit your database to Dan as UserID_DB.fp5
• Please electronically submit your mail merged letter to Dan as as UserID_MM.doc

Checklist:

• ___ Work is free of grammatical and spelling errors
• ___ Database contains ten or more records
• ___ Database is formatted for high readability
• ___ Database is sorted by an appropriate field
• ___ Mail merged file contain 3+ fields from your database
• ___ Mail merged file contains citations of 2+ reliable sources of education technology information
• ___ Files are file named as above--or in another decipherable way

Evaluation Rubric