June 17, 2013 - LAST CLASS 44 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) Make-up Time: Since this is our last class all students had 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 87 minutes* Internet Moment:  Today we explored Google Earth and discussed how a 3 dimensional virtual environment can be used to augment human memory.  We talked about how the most popular video games that students play are so engaging because of the 3 dimensional visual imagery that is used in them.  Students were introduced to the memory palace or method of loci as an effective way to use 3 dimensional visual imagery to help you remember large amounts of information.  Students then opened Google Earth and we began a tour of the earth, the sky, Mars and the moon. The whole class followed a specific list of locations.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.4.8.A, 15.6.8.M)  Google Earth Tour Quiz:  As a follow-up to our previous tour on Google Earth students were challenged to list everywhere they had gone and what they had seen on their tour of the 3 dimensional visual imagery in Google Earth. This activity helped to demonstrate the effectiveness of using 3D spatial references, such as the virtual environment of Google Earth, to augment memory.    QUIZ:  Where I went on Google Earth Today  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.4.8.A, 15.6.8.M) Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a short video about the Memory Palace technique and a second video about a virtual memory palace program. *Class time was shorter today due to the circle schedule June 11, 2013 104 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) 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.  Office Yoga Break:  Today we practiced a simple yoga stretch for your back and shoulders.  Students are always reminded to not spend too much time sitting in front of computers and that they should take breaks every 30-40 minutes.  After the stretch everyone had a chance to get up and move around the room.  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 94 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.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.3.8.G, 15.3.8.E, 15.3.8.T, 15.3.8.I) Full page Ad Project: Today students started a classic graphic design project to help them continue to develop their own sense of design and their skills in MS Publisher. Each student  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.  As a demonstration of how this works all students went online and shopped for Uggs boots for a few minutes.  Shortly after that we sent to a website in the U.K. and noticed that that site was showing all of us Uggs ads based on what we were just shopping for.  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, 15.5.8.J, 15.9.8.L, 15.9.8.M) Technology Current Event Video: We finished class with a TechnoBuffalo.com video about the products introduced by Samsung at the 2013.  June 5, 2013 91 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)  Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today by watching a short video about the development of the internet. June 3, 2013 104 minutes 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. Finish Brochure Project:  All students had time to finish, print and turn-in their brochure project today.  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.  Technology Current Event Video: After the description and demonstration of how to use Google Drive we watched a short video from GCFLearnFree.org about collaborating online using Google Drive. 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. Technology Current Event Video:  As a followup to the online collaboration project we did today we watched a 2010 TED Presentation by Jane McGonigal.  In this video she shared her ideas about Online Computer Gaming and the importance of online collaboration skills.  We only watched the first 12 minutes of the video in class. May 30, 2013 44 minutes   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 91 minutes Participating in an International Video Conference:  Our class participated in a Google Hangout with Mr. Sherman of Living Maths in South Africa.  Four of our students volunteered to participate and represent our class on camera.  There were other participants from the U.S., India and South Africa.  Mr. Sherman asked brain teasers that the group tried to solve.  This fun mathematics activity was a great example of online video conferencing.  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. We checked our local weather and spent a few minutes checking the satellite images and Doppler radar for the whole United States. Students were also shown how to access the hourly weather graphs for our area to get precipitation predictions.  Technology Current Event Video:  To finish class today we watched part of Mr. Sherman's presentation at the TEDx event in Capetown, South Africa in 2012.  In the presentation he talks about the development of a new "global classroom" and he discusses some of his specific experiences with it in South Africa and elsewhere in the world. May 23, 2013 0 minutes* * Class was cancelled today due to the 8th Grade Class Trip to Great Adventure. May 21, 2013 22 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. Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a video news report from WTHR, channel 13 in Indianapolis about Child Identity Theft and some practical things that parents and kids can do to protect themselves. *Class time was shorter today due to the half-day schedule May 17, 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. 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. 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. 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. Video Chat:   Using a Google Hangout Mrs. Hallowes at Cotswold Preparatory School in Port Elizabeth, South Africa was able to talk to our students about the project and let them know that her students were enjoying it. She also said that they would be making some Excel pictures for us to try. May 15, 2013 104 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.  Publisher Logo Project: We started with an introduction to MS Publisher 2012 and a description 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 everyone had an opportunity to share their work with the rest of the class.   Click here to enlarge the project description. Start Publisher Font Guide Project: After a presentation  Fonts and Design Video:  After our break 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 (4:00 to 7:20). May 13, 2013 44 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.  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 87 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:
 Computers/Seats Assigned:  All students are assigned a specific computer to use during class.  This is done for attendance purposes, especially if there is a substitute teacher. Students are also reminded of their responsibility to help maintain the computers in the lab by reporting any problems with the computer they have been assigned.  In this way everyone participates in caring for our hardware.  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: 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. * Class time was shorter today due to the circles schedule 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.  Technology Current Event Video:  At then end of most computer classes we watch a current event video about an emerging technology or trend.  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. |
