October 17, 2012 - LAST CLASS 104 minutes Internet Moment: Students had a chance to explore FreeRice.com today. This website, created by John Breen who also created Poverty.com, gives students and others a chance to practice their vocabulary skills while helping to support the United Nations World Food Programme. After having time to use the site students were asked if the site is bogus or real. We then did an activity to demonstrate how to research the validity of websites by independently verifying the facts. Students also had a chance to explore snopes.com as an example of a website where they verify internet rumors. Make-up Time: Since this is our last class all students have time to make up any work they may have missed. All projects were handed back and students could submit anything they missed or re-submit a project that they hadn't finished for full credit.  Computer Class Rubric: We completed a rubric that gave students an opportunity to reflect on their own computer skills and their performance in this class. Closure to Computer Class: Students were reminded that computers are constantly changing and that they had to learn to adjust to new programs, new hardware and new ways of using technology all the time. We are all constantly learning to adapt to new technology. October 15, 2012 94 minutes* Internet Moment: As an example of how to use the the internet to learn independently we went to DrCalculator.com to learn about some basic money concepts and vocabulary. Students experimented with the Simple savings calculator to learn about interest rates and did an activity to see how much money they could save up for their graduation. We also experimented with the Simple loan calculator and talked about how car loans work and what a credit score is. Finally we used the Cost of Living Calculator to experiment with the effects of inflation over time by comparing the current cost of a school lunch today to what their parents and grandparents might have paid. Students were then given some time to explore other calculators on their own. Finish PowerPoint Project: We had some technical trouble with recording narration today but most students were able to record narration on at least three of their slides. We then did a peer evaluation activity and final rubric. Students also had some time to make any final adjustments before turning in their shows. Slideshows were turned in by sending them to the teacher as an email attachment. All but a few students were able to do this. Those who didn't have email access simply saved their shows to a class thumb drive to submit them for a grade. Technology Current Event Video: We watched a two minute video from MSNBC News about recent cyber attacks on US business institutions that may have originated from Iran. Class ended before we could see the end. Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy *Note that our District wide network issues continue to limited our use of some network resources. October 11, 2012 91 minutes* Internet Moment: Students looked at a website from Microsoft today called PhotoSynth.net. They were able to view 360 degree pictures from the Mars Rover Curiosity as well as high resolution images from all around the world.  Technology Current Event Video: To wrap-up the earlier presentation about Photosynth we watch parts of a TED presentations by Blaise Aguera y Arcas who is the Microsoft Engineer in charge of developing Photosynth. Students were specifically challenged to think about how these technologies could eventually be used by companies like Microsoft and/or Facebook to insert their own online photos into grander online images of specific locations. Seadragon & PhotoSynth *Note that our District wide network issues continue to limited our use of some network resources. October 9, 2012 104 minutes District-wide Computer Network Outage:  Unfortunately, the network being down today limited our use of the computers in the lab.  Instead of continuing with our PowerPoint project we did the following activities. With & Without Computers Worksheet:  This written activity required students to reflect on how we would do a common activity, like getting driving directions, with computers and without computers.  After completing the worksheet we reviewed the answers as a class and discussed specific examples of technologies and resources that existed before computers such as telephones, radio, TV, newspapers and libraries. Common Computer Terms and Acronyms Crossword Puzzle:  Students worked with a partner on this computer vocabulary activity.  There will be a follow-up vocabulary quiz at a later date. Computer Hardware Activity:  While students worked on the Computer Terms Crossword Puzzle small groups were invited to the front of the room where we took apart a desktop computer.  During this activity specific parts such as the processor, motherboard, hard drive and expansion cards were identified and explained to the students.  Students were specifically cautioned to never disassemble a computer that was plugged in due to the electric shock hazard and they were reminded to not take apart their parent's computer as they might damage it. Computer Hardware Quiz:  After everyone had participated in dismantling and reassembling the desktop computer there was a 10 point quiz. Old Technology Video:  Instead of a Technology Current Event Video we finished class with a video clip from the HBO series "From the Earth to the Moon."  Before the video students were shown a slide ruler and reminded that the entire Apollo Program was conducted 40 years ago, before the advent of the personal computer as we know it today.  A sample from the video is posted below: October 5, 2012 91 minutes Internet Moment: Today is World Teachers' Day so our students had a chance to use the internet to send an e-card to one of their elementary school teachers. As part of this activity we talked about several strategies to protect your information online. Students were reminded to not use last names (last initial would be enough) and that if they didn't want their email address to be distributed they should either not input it, or input it incorrectly. Students were also reminded that they can have multiple email addresses and that a way to manage spam is to have a separate email address just for online coupons and offers. Technology Current Event Video: We watched 9 minutes of a video by a comedian about PowerPoint. The presentation by Don McMillan is appropriately entitled "Life After Death by PowerPoint" and highlights the many things you should not to do when making a slide show. October 3, 2012 42 minutes* Internet Moment: Students had an opportunity to experiment with VirtualPiano.net today. Online instruments like this give anyone an opportunity to learn to play some music.  Google Earth Tour: Today we explored Google Earth and discussed how a 3 dimensional virtual environment can be used to augment human memory. Students opened Google Earth and we began a tour of the earth and the moon. The whole class toured a specific list of locations. Afterwards students typed out a paragraph about where they went and what they saw to demonstrate the effectiveness of using 3D spatial references, such as the virtual environment of Google Earth, to augment memory. *Class time was limited today due to the half-day schedule October 1, 2012 104 minutes Office Yoga Break: As usual, students were reminded to take frequent breaks whenever they are using a computer or gaming system. For today's break we again practiced a simple office yoga stretch and then students got up and moved around for a few minutes. Internet Moment: Students were shown Weather.gov (National Weather Service) as an example of a huge online database that's full of real-time and archived information. We checked our local weather and spent a few minutes checking the satellite images and Doppler radar from the whole United States. Students were also shown how to interpret the hourly weather graphs to predict future snow days. Technology Current Event Video: We watched a short video about the problems with the mapping system on the new iPhone 5. Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy September 27, 2012 44 minutes Internet Moment: Students explored Google Books as a resource for free ebooks and they were shown how to search the text of a book. The legal controversy surrounding the Google Books Project and copyright laws as well as the settlement to date was also discussed. Downloading ebooks from Google Books to various devices such as ebook readers, tablets, computers and smart phones was also discussed. Finish Final Word Project: Students finished the Gettysburg Address Project that we had started last class. Click here to enlarge project description. PowerPoint Introduction: As a catharsis activity we made a list of all the bad & ugly things our students have seen in PowerPoint presentations. We then prepared a short list of good things to do in PowerPoint. View a sample T-chart here.Technology Current Events Video: Today we watched parts of a TED video featuring Vijay Kumar from the University of Pennsylvania in which he demonstrated robots that fly and cooperate. September 24, 2012 91 minutes Prepared for Video Conference: Today we started class by preparing for a formal skype interview with Mr. Shanker, an ICT teacher at Audenshaw School in Manchester, England. In preparation for the interview our class made a T-chart of what to do and what not to do during a formal video interview. We also discussed good lighting, camera presence and speaking volume.  Skype Interview: Four of our students interviewed Mr. Shanker, an ICT teacher at Audenshaw School in Manchester, England to learn about what school is like for his students. We prepared our questions in advance and discusses good interview procedures. From him we learned about school in England and he informed us that October 5th was World Teacher Day. He specifically challenged our students to do something to celebrate the day at our school. Unfortunately his webcam wasn't working so we could only hear him, but we were able to talk with him and he could see us.  Technology Current Events Video: At the end of class we watched a short video about job interview techniques using webcams. September 20, 2012 104 minutes Internet Moment: Students were shown various features in Google Maps. We toured the area around Newtown using satellite photos, got directions and found street level photos of New Town Primary School in Singapore. We also got directions for a trip from Zion National Park to Las Vegas Nevada and used the 3D button to see what the trip would look like. Finish Internet Treasure Hunt Project: To finish this project students did the following: they changed web addresses to words and built a sentence around the web addresses, we made a table, merged cells, then dragged and dropped their sentences onto the table, images were added from the internet and the images were turned into hyperlinks. The finished projects were saved as single file web pages. Students displayed and shared their finished webpages during a gallery walk at the end of class.  Technology Current Event Video: Today we finished class with a video from a TED Conference. The concept of TED (Technology Entertainment Design) was introduced to the class and the background of the presenter, Pattie Maes (an instructor at the MIT Media Lab), was also discussed. September 14, 2012 44 minutes Internet Moment: In continuing with the theme of protecting yourself online students were shown the website OnGuardOnline.gov and given an opportunity to try some of the games in the Video & Media section. Some of their favorite games were: Phishing Scams, Invasion of the Wireless Hackers, Cyber Criminal & Invest Quest.
September 12, 2012 91 minutes Internet Moment: Boolean Searching using +, -, and "" - In this activity students were shown how they can narrow an internet search. Click here for an example of the search techniques. Students then practiced the search techniques by finding something they would like to buy on Google Shopping. Business Letter #2: Students practiced professional communication and typing by making a second block format business letter. To make this letter students copied text from Business Letter #1. set-up a table, merged cells and copied and pasted text. They also used the header and printed their letters. Click here to view the project description.  Technology Current Event Video: Students watched a short video about Samsung's Transparent Smart Window which debuted at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada last January. September 10, 2012 104 minutes Internet Moment: Students were shown this website and told that they can check here anytime to review what work was done in class. Their parents will also be sent an email with a link to this website so they can also review what we are doing in computer class.  Typing Test: All students took a typing test using http://www.typingtest.com. Each student had 10 minutes to take the 1 minute test multiple times. Their best adjusted speed was recorded and graphed in an Excel spreadsheet. The average typing speed for this class was: 28.2 WPM Click here for more information about typing speeds at Newtown Middle School.  Assigned Seats: All students have an assigned seat/computer in computer class. Students have a responsibility to report any problems with the machine they have been assigned. In this way we all participate in maintaining our school computers. Online Typing Activities: As a follow up to the typing test we looked at the typing speeds for the whole school. Students were given some time to find at least 3 online typing activities (tutorials or games) that they enjoyed. They then added these typing activities to their favorites list or bookmarks list so they could go back and practice their typing skills in class when they finish their projects. Skyped with Students in Mexico: We had a special opportunity to speak to students at an English language school near Mexico City. Four of our students volunteered to talk with them and the rest of the class watched the conversation.  September 7, 2012 91 minutes* Internet Moment: Google News - Students were shown how to use this popular news aggregator to find current event stories and how to search the news for topics that interest them or might be required for another subject area. Finish The Basic Computer Knowledge Presentation: To finish this presentation we reviewed internet connection speeds, the origins and growth of Microsoft, and internet safety (avoiding online predators and identity theft). MS Paint Project: Students were shown how to open and use MS paint to make a simple drawing. Students then shared their drawings using various district network resources and basic skills such as saving to a network drive and using drag & drop. The best use of the H: & X: drives was also explained. Technology Current Event Video: To finish class today we watched a short video about identity theft and what to do if you are a victim of it. The video was from OnguardOnline.gov which is a great resource for students and parents. * Note that today's class moved slowly through the curriculum as many students had trouble logging into their accounts. September 4, 2012 Introduction to Basic Computer Skills Class:Basic rules and classroom procedures were explained. Students were specifically reminded that because technology is constantly changing they should get into the habit of helping each other out and demonstrating the ability to learn new computer skills through experimentation. All students reported that they had helped an adult with computer skills but they also need to get used to helping each other. Setting up Student Passwords: Each student had to create a new password today and they were reminded of some good password practices. Student passwords must fit the following parameters:
 CRSD Acceptable Use Policy: Students were shown how to access the CRSD Acceptable Use Policy and they were reminded that they are in a network environment where their actions on the computer can be easily tracked. Computer Class Survey: All students take a computer class survey. The results of this survey are used to guide the instruction for the class. You can view the survey to the right. Click to enlarge. We then used the survey as the outline for the following presentation. * Due to the shortened class period we did not finish this presentation today. Technology Current Event: Most classes end with a current event video. Today's video was inspired by an original presentation created by a high school teacher in Colorado, Karl Fisch. Here is a link to his blog: THE FISCHBOWL for more information. |
