June 17, 2013 - 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 to prove whether or not this website was bogus or real. After doing some research we learned that though it is a legitimate website (according to snopes.com) another website called the Daily Cow claimed that FreeRice.com does not donate exactly 10 grains of rice for every correct answer. We then looked at a website about the 1993 Velcro Crop Failure in California. This bogus website and others like it serve as a good reminder to students that they have to be very skeptical of what they find online and to always independently verify the facts themselves.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.3.8.I, 15.4.8.A, 15.6.8.L) Finish First Aid Posters:  All students had time to finish the project we started last class. Student printed a black and white draft that they could review with the teacher before printing their final draft in full color.  All students had time to finish this project today.  Click here to enlarge the project description. 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. Closure to Computer Class: Students were reminded that computers are constantly changing and that they have 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. June 13, 2013 44 minutes Finish Full Page Ad Project:  All students had time to finish this project today.  Everyone printed a rough draft in black & white and reviewed it with the teacher.  Final drafts were then printed in full color.  Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a short video about OLED technology and flexible video screens that were on display at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, NV. June 11, 2013 91 minutes Internet Moment: Today we explored Google Sketchup which is a great example of a free CAD program.  CAD, or computer aided design/drafting, has become very common across many fields and students should have some knowledge of what 3D designing looks and feels like on a computer. Though it is available at school, Google Sketchup is a free download that students can download at home so they can continue to learn more about this important skill on their own.  (PA-BCIT Standard:  15.9.8.F)  Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a trip to the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, NV to see some of the "hot stuff" technology that was on display.  (PA-BCIT Standard:  15.4.8.A) June 7, 2013 104 minutes Internet Moment:  Today we discussed what a wiki is and visited the largest wiki in the internet: Wikipedia. Students were shown how easily a wikipedia article can be edited and we discussed some of the reason it can't be used in academic work.  However, students were shown what parts of a wikipedia article they could use to help them when they are doing research for school projects.  We also looked at an edited version of Wikipedia that is intended to be used by students.  The Wikipedia Selection for Schools which was created by the SOS Children's Villages which is a not for profit group in the United Kingdom.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.3.8.G, 15.3.8.E, 15.3.8.T, 15.3.8.I)  How Online Behavioral Tracking Works:  Students were reminded that when they are online many private companies from all over the world are carefully tracking everywhere they go and what they do.  These companies then develop a "digital profile" of who they are that they can use for marketing purposes.  Mr. McNulty demonstrated how it works by shopping online for Uggs boots and then showing the class that Uggs ads continued to show up on his screen as he traveled to other websites.  We also reviewed the recent revelations from The Guardian in the U.K. about tech companies in the U.S. (including Google, Yahoo, Facebook and Apple) who were secretly sharing their user's data with the government since 2007.  We finished with a TED Presentation by Gary Kovacs about free software that Firefox is offering called Collusion that enables you to see who is tracking you while you are on the internet. (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.4.8.A, 15.9.8.L, 15.9.8.M) June 5, 2013 94 minutes Internet Moment: Today our students were introduced to the "joy of statistics" by viewing GapMinder.org which is a free online resource where statistics from all around the world are presented in an easy to understand visual format. We looked at the "Wealth & Health of Nations" chart. As a demonstration of how the website works we tracked the life expectancy and income changes in the USA and China over the last 200 years.  We also looked at how 8th grade math scores and changing in Japan and the United States.  Students then had time to explore the website on their own.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.4.8.A, 15.6.8.M, 15.7.8.A, 15.7.8.F, 15.7.8.H, 15.7.8.L) Student Technology Use Survey:  This class was selected to participate in the annual survey of what technology students have access to and use routinely.  After the survey students were shown the results of the previous Student Technology Use Surveys going back to 2006.  The top 10 trends in technology use were also discussed.  (PA-BCIT Standard:  15.4.8.A) Finish Brochure Project:  All students had time to finish, print and turn in the Brochure Project today.  Click here to enlarge the project description. Network Outage:  Unfortunately we unexpectedly lost power in our building for about 5 minutes and when it came back up the school district computer network stopped working.  Eventually we were able to get limited access to some software back to all the student computers but we were unable to access the internet or the printers. Publisher Flyer Project:  Since we did have access to Microsoft Publisher all students used a pre-made template in that program to create a simple flyer to advertise a school event.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.3.8.A, 15.3.8.B, 15.3.8.E, 15.4.8.D, 15.4.8.G, 15.9.8.A) 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 them today.  A sample from the video is posted below: June 3, 2013 91 minutes   (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.3.8.E, 15.3.8.M, 15.3.8.S, 15.3.8.T, 15.3.8.U, 15.3.12.W, 15.3.8.X, 15.4.8.D, 15.4.8.F) Internet Moments:  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.  Students were also shown what a book scanner looks like.  Using Google Drive to Collaborate:  To make this Venn diagram our students used an online Google Drawing that was set-up by their teacher in advance.  Students were shown how they can easily make their own online Google Presentations (if they have a Gmail account and access to Google Drive).  Sharing presentations with others was also demonstrated.  As an example of how online collaboration works we looked at the 121212-1212 Project which was organized by a teacher in Denmark and involved 30 teachers from around the world. Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a short video from GCFLearnFree.org about collaborating online using Google Drive. May 30, 2013 104 minutes  Technology Current Event Video:   We watched part of a TED Presentation by John Maeda, the President of the Rhode Island School of Design.  In the video he talked about how different font choices can be used to convey meaning (to about 7:20).  Students were encouraged to watched the rest of the video on their own. Font Conference Video:  As a follow-up to our last activity (the Font Guide Project) we watched a short video from College Humor about a fictitious "Font Conference": May 28, 2013 44 minutes Internet Moment:  Students were shown Weather.gov (the National Weather Service) as an example of a huge online database that's full of real-time and archived information.    Finish Font Guide Project:  All students had time today to finish the font guide that we started last class.  Students printed their completed font guides and turned them in today.  Click here to enlarge the project description.  Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a video from the NBC Nightly News about cell phone thieves. Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy May 23, 2013 0 minutes* * Class was cancelled today due to the 8th Grade Class Trip to Great Adventure. 44 minutes* Internet Moment:  We looked at zoom.it today which is a free screen zooming service that is owned by Microsoft.  Students were then shown two other online examples of the screen zooming technology:  The NMS Mosaic Project and the Deep Zoom image of Yosemite National Park.  Students had time to explore these websites. Technology Current Event Video:  Unfortunately we ran out of time for a video today. *Class was shorter today due to the half-day schedule May 17, 2013 104 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 the games were:  Phishing Scams, Invasion of the Wireless Hackers, Cyber Criminal & Invest Quest.  Publisher Logo Project: We started with an introduction to MS Publisher 2012 and adescription of why learning basic graphic design skills is important in communicating your ideas effectively. Students then became familiar with Publisher 2010 by making a simple logo. We saved this project and will share them next class.   Click here to enlarge the project description. 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. Middle School Technology Use Video: Information about the Council Rock School District Acceptable Use Policy, and a quick review of the Facebook Privacy Policy. Direct link to the Technology Use at the Middle School Video Technology Current Event Video:  We watched a video from OnguardOnline.gov about how your personal information is gathered, shared and used during a typical day. May 15, 2013 91 minutes Computer Class Relocated: Due to the Keystone Test for 8th grade Algebra students our class was relocated from the Computer Lab in Room 118 to the Tech Computer Lab in Room 2. Many students were also absent from computer class because they had to take the Keystone Test. Excel Picture Project: Today our class made pictures in Excel for the 2nd Graders at Cotswold Preparatory School in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Each of our students opened up Excel and made a picture in Excel that was 10x10 cells by changing the colors in the cells. You can view some sample excel drawings here. The specific directions for the project can be viewed here. The directions to make the actual drawings were then shared with the students in South Africa using a Google Document so they could try making the pictures on their own. Technology Current Event Video: We did not have have an opportunity to do a video today.Internet Moment: Using Google Maps we traveled to Port Elizabeth, South Africa to find the location of the Cotswold Preparatory School. Once there our students had a chance to use the Google Street View images to explore the city of Port Elizabeth. May 13, 2013 104 minutes Class Blog:  Students were shown TodayInComputerClass.com and told that they can check here anytime to review what work was done in class.  We also discussed what a web log or blog was, how blogs developed into microblogs like Twitter and how this website is a blog for our class.  Students were also told that their parents will be sent an email with a link to this website so they can also review what we are doing in computer class each day.  Typing Test: All students took a typing test using 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:  37.4 WPM  Click here for more information about typing speeds at Newtown Middle School.  Online Typing Activities: As a follow up to the typing test we looked at the typing speeds for the whole 8th grade in Excel and looked at graphs of past speeds for NMS students.  Students were then given some time to find at least 3 online typing activities (tutorials or games) that they enjoyed. They were to then add these typing activities to their favorites or bookmarks list so they could go back and practice their typing skills in class when they finished their projects.   Technology Current Event Video:  To finish class today we watched an NBC Nightly News piece about a recent bank heist that involved thousands of ATM withdraws. Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy May 9, 2013 44 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.  We also explored the news aggregator from Bing. Students were also shown how to access the Google News Archives and we did a search to find out about a major snow storm in 1964 that resulted in 250 students being snowed in at our school overnight. Setting up Student Passwords: Each student was reminded about how to create a new password today and we discussed some good password practices. Student passwords must fit the following parameters:
Technology Current Event Video: Today we watched a video that was a follow-up to a TED Video shown to most 7th grade classes last year about 6th Sense Technology. In this new video the ideas of MIT Media Lab student Pranav Mistry are developed further. May 7, 2013 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.  Pixlr.com Project: Students were shown how to use the online photo editor http://www.pixlr.com to edit a photograph. Students then shared their modified photos using various district network resources and demonstrated basic skills such as drag & drop. The best use of the H:, S: & X: drives was also explained. Basic Computer Knowledge Presentation:  Today we started the first part of a presentation based on the student computer knowledge survey. This introductory lecture covers basic background information that every student should know about computers such as the development of desktop computers (Apple, IBM & Microsoft), different computer operating systems, internet connection options, developing computer devices (like smart phones and tablet computers) and protecting yourself online.  We will finish this presentation next class. Technology Current Event Video:  At then end of most computer classes we watch a current event video about emerging trends in technology.  Today's video was inspired by a presentation that was created by a high school teacher in Colorado, Mr. Karl Fisch. Here is a link to his blog:  THE FISCHBOWL for more information. |
