December 2, 2013 - LAST CLASS 94 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.  Students were reminded that they have to be very skeptical of what they find online and to always independently verify the facts themselves. Online Survey for German Students:  Our class participated in an online survey about favorite foods that was being conducted my Herr Marx's 7th Grade Science Class at the Stadtische Realschule Sundern in Sundern, Westfalia, Germany.  You can participate in the survey here.   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. Technology Current Event Video:  For our last current event this year we watched a TED Presentation by Gary Kovacs, the CEO of Mozilla, about how internet users are tracked.  He demonstrated how many companies were following him and his daughter when they were online during a typical day.  During the presentation he demonstrated how a free download for Firefox called Collusion can be used to find out who is tracking you online.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.4.8.A, 15.5.8.J, 15.9.8.L, 15.9.8.M) November 25, 2013 44 minutes* Student Presentations: After some time to prepare and practice each group presented their slide shows to the class.  We also broadcast the presentations to several other teachers elsewhere in the world using ustream.tv.  We were fortunate that Mr. Shanker's ICT class at Audenshaw School in Manchester, England was able to watch our presentations and give our students feedback using an online form.  Our own Mr. McCarthy also watched our students present online and gave them some feedback also. During the presentations our students also completed the same online survey to give the presenters immediate feedback about their performance.  Feedback appeared as bar charts at the bottom of this webpage.  In the images below you can see a screen shots of the groups as they presented online.   Notice the difference that high contrast and a large font makes for an online audience.   (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.3.8.B, 15.3.8.E, 15.3.8.G, 15.3.8.H, 15.3.8.S, 15.3.8.U, 15.3.12.W, 15.3.8.X, 15.4.8.A, 15.4.8.D, 15.4.8.G, 15.4.8.K)     After the presentations we reviewed the results and all students were reminded that this will probably not be the last time they broadcast a school presentation that they have made for an online audience. November 21, 2013 104 minutes    Start History of Computers Slide Show - Students started their final PowerPoint project which is a 6-8 slide show that they will present to the class. Students work in groups of 4-5 and used the internet for research.   In this project students were introduced to online collaboration using Google Drive.  Students were shown how to create and share a Google Presentation and how to collaborate and use the chat feature in Google Presentation to communicate.  Students were shown the 12-12-12 Project that was created by over 30 teachers from all over the world using Google Drive and they were  Office Yoga Break:  For our break today everyone had a chance to get up and move around the room and review each other's work.  Then, before getting back to work, we practiced a simple yoga stretch for your neck.  Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a short tutorial video from GCFLearnFree.org in North Carolina about getting started with Google Drive and Docs.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.3.8.E, 15.4.8.D, 15.4.8.G) November 19, 2013 44 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.  We also discussed how this program will be used by students in their 7th Grade Technology Education Manufacturing Unit to develop and market a product for mass production. 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 Standards:  15.6.8.M, 15.8.8.K, 15.8.8.S, 15.9.8.F)  Technology Current Event Video:  To finish class today we watched a short video from the Today Show concerning some good things that are being communicated on the internet. November 15, 2013 91 minutes Internet Moment:  Our students watched a presentation about how VOIP and webcams are combined to make video chatting possible. Streaming video from the internet was demonstrated and we watched live video from Cocoa Beach in Florida. The increased use of security cameras was discussed and we also discussed privacy rights and exactly where people should not be video recorded. We also visited EarthCam.com to view some online webcams from all around the world. (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.3.8.U) Description of How the Internet Works: The example of phone conversations using VOIP was used to describe the differences between the old dedicated line communication system (circuit switching) and the internet system (packet switches) that has replaced it.  The development of an emergency communication system within the United States (ARPANET) to today's worldwide internet network was also described.  We also discussed how webcams work by sending 30 pictures per second through the internet.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.4.8.F)  Formal Interviewing Using Skype: Our students practiced formal interviewing techniques by Skyping with Mr. McCutcheon and his 2nd grade class at Archie Stouffer Elementary School in Minden, Ontario, Canada. We learned about their weather, favorite foods, his school, and his students.  We were surprised to learn about their Balanced Day Lunches program which gave them two short lunch breaks during the school day.  We were also surprised to learn that their school only had 1 snow day in the last 12 years but they sometimes cancel bus service because of snow.  We also asked about places to visit in Canada and we learned that the movie Camp Rock was filmed near their town. Mr. McCutcheon's students then asked us some questions about our community and the wild animals in our area.  We learned that moose and bears and common in their area.  Before the interview we talked about the differences between web chatting with friends and participating in a formal video conference. As a group we also prepared our questions in advance so we could learn more about Mr. McCutcheon and his school. After the interview we reviewed what went well and what we could improve next time.  (PA-BCIT: 15.2.8.H, 15.3.8.K, 15.3.8.M, 15.7.8.I, 15.7.8.J) Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a short video about how to participate in an online job interview using skype.  (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.2.8.H, 15.3.8.M, 15.6.8.M, 15.4.8.A, 15.8.8.M) November 13, 2013 104 minutes Internet Moment:  As a followup to our last Technology Current Event Video students had an opportunity to explore KhanAcademy.org and view some of Salamon Khan's video lectures. Technology Current Event Video:  To finish class today we watched a 2007 TED presentation by Blaise Aguera y Arcas who is one of the Microsoft project managers who involved in the technology that was demonstrated in our internet moment today.  In the video he demonstrated Photosynth. November 11, 2013 44 minutes Internet Moment: Today students were introduced to the idea of online education by exploring the Open Course Ware that is available from the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology. Students were shown a presentation about college that included vocabulary terms such as major, syllabus, and different higher education degrees (associates, bachelors, masters and doctorate). We then went to ocw.mit.edu and students selected a program to explore from the courses by department. As an example of a college level lecture we visited Physics I: Classical Mechanics by Professor Walter Lewin. We tried a sample exam and watched part of Lecture 11: Work, Energy, and Gravitation. You can view the last segment of the lecture that we watched in the video above. Each student  then had some time to explore the website on their own and they were encouraged to check it out at home also.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.2.5.B, 15.2.5.J, 15.2.5.L, 15.2.8.E, 15.2.8.F, 15.8.8.K) Technology Current Event Video:  As a followup to today's internet moment about online education and Open Course Ware from M.I.T. we watched a 60 Minutes video about Salman Khan and his creation of Khan Academy.  Students were also reminded that while they are making their slide shows about their day at school for the 6th graders they are participating in online education as an instructor.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.6.8.M, 15.4.8.A, 15.8.8.K) November 7, 2013 91 minutes Check Grades:  Since we are at the halfway point in this class students were asked to log into the Home Access Center and check their computer class grades.  Students were also reminded that if they could not log in their parents had to go to the Newtown Middle School website and follow the directions at the bottom of the webpage to create a student account.  All students were shown how to access the directions online. 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 Work on Day PowerPoint Shows:  All students had time to work on the slide shows that we started last class.  Students were shown how to use Google Images to find free images that they could even use for commercial purposes.  Searching for animated GIF images was also demonstrated.  After making the first 4-6 slides students were shown how to add the NMS master schedule to their show by dragging & dropping the slide from another PowerPoint. Students were also shown how to access and use the Slide Master and how to turn words and images into hyperlinks to the internet so 6th graders could find more information on their own. Click here to enlarge the project description.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.2.5.M, 15.2.5.L, 15.3.8.A, 15.3.8.E, 15.3.8.G, 15.3.8.H, 15.4.8.G, 15.4.8.K, 15.3.8.X, 15.3.8.S, 15.3.8.U)  Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a promotional video from the Corning Corporation about some possible uses for their products in the future.  (PA-BCIT Standard: 15.4.8.A, 15.5.8.J) November 4, 2013 104 minutes Mr. McNulty was out today, the class did the following activities: Internet Moment:  All students went to maps.google.com and explore it by doing each of the following activities (approximately 15 minutes total). Â
Video:  The class watched a video about the creation of computers.  While watching the video all students used the link below to answer questions about the video (approximately 50 minutes). Break:  As usual, students were reminded to not spend too much time sitting in front of computers.  There was a 5 minute break after the video. Flyer Project:  All students used a pre-made template in Microsoft Word to create a flyer for an upcoming event at our school (approximately 20 minutes).  The directions are listed below.
Technology Current Event Video:  At the end of class today all students watched this TED presentation by Keller Rinaudo about mini robots powered by smart phones. October 31, 2013 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 the games were:  Phishing Scams,Invasion of the Wireless Hackers, Cyber Criminal & Invest Quest.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.4.8.A, 15.6.5.M, 15.6.8.M, 15.9.8.L) PowerPoint Introduction: Almost all students identified that they had suffered through some bad PowerPoint presentations in the past. As a catharsis activity we made a list of all the bad & ugly things our students have seen in PowerPoint. We then prepared a short list of good things to do in PowerPoint. View a sample T-chart here.   A Day At School PowerPoint Presentation: Students started a 6-9 slide show about a topic that they are all experts at, being 7th graders at Newtown Middle School. These shows are made for 6th graders who will be transitioning to our school next September.  Students were shown how to access the background templates in MS PowerPoint 2010, how to find backgrounds at office.com and how to find additional backgrounds on the internet. We just started this project today before we ran out of time.  Click here to enlarge the project description.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.2.5.M, 15.2.5.L, 15.3.8.A, 15.3.8.E, 15.3.8.G, 15.3.8.H, 15.4.8.G, 15.4.8.K, 15.3.8.X, 15.3.8.S, 15.3.8.U)Technology Current Event Video:  At the end of class today we watched a video from OnGuardOnline.gov.  Sharing Information:  A Day in Your Life details how much information about us and our use of technology can be collected and sold in just one average day.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.4.8.A, 15.6.5.M, 15.6.8.M, 15.9.8.L) October 29, 2013 91 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.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.5.8.K, 15.7.8.K, 15.9.8.M, 15.8.8.C)  Technology Current Event Video:  As a follow-up to today's internet moment about Google Books and copyright law we watched a news video from the BBC from 2009 about the controversy and the details of the evolution of the settlement between Google and book publishers.  This video also highlighted some of the differences between how this issue was handled in Europe as apposed to North America.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.4.8.A, 15.5.8.F, 15.5.8.H, 15.5.8.K, 15.8.8.C, 15.7.8.L, 15.9.8.L, 15.9.8.M) October 25, 2013 104 minutes Internet Moment:  Students explored PhotoSynth.net today which is an online service from Microsoft that allows you to "knit" digital photos together to make large 360 degree images that you can pan and zoom into.    Computer Vocabulary Quiz:  After our break today students had an opportunity to study Computer Vocabulary Lists 1 before taking the online quiz.  These quizzes give many of our students credit for the computer knowledge that they already know. Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a video from the Wall Street Journal about some new developments in computer keyboards.  This video was a follow-up to the work we did last class with typing speeds.  (PA-BCIT Standard: 15.4.8.A) October 23, 2013 94 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.    Office Yoga Break:  During long classes like this one students are always reminded to take breaks and get exercise. Students shouldn't spend more than 30-40 minutes in front of a computer without taking a break. For our break today we practiced a simple office yoga stretch.   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.  In the video the work of an MIT graduate student, Pranav Mistry, to create a wearable computer was explained.  (PA-BCIT Standard: 15.4.8.A) October 21, 2013 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.  Accessing Google News from different countries was also demonstrated.  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.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.3.8.G, 15.6.5.L) Logging Onto Your H: Drive From Home:  We reviewed how student can access their H: drives from home by logging on through Citrix.  All students then had an opportunity to try logging on once.  How this online access works was reviewed.  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.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.1.5.B, 15.2.5.M, 15.3.8.T, 15.8.5.C) Middle School Technology Use Video: Information about the Council Rock School District Acceptable Use Policy, and a quick review of the Facebook Privacy Policy.  (PA-BCIT Standard:  15.1.5.B, 15.3.8.T, 15.4.8.A, 15.4.8.B, 15.8.5.C) 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.  Students were also reminded to adjust the keyboard, mouse, chair and monitor to meet their ergonomic needs.  (PA-BCIT Standard:  15.4.5.D, 15.4.2.B, 15.4.8.F) 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:  34.4 WPM  Click here for more information about typing speeds at Newtown Middle School.  We will review past typing speeds and talk about ways to improve your speed next class. Technology Current Event Video:  Unfortunately we ran out of time for a video today. October 17, 2013 - FIRST CLASS 104 minutes 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. (PA-BCIT Standard 15.2.5.L, 15.3.8.C, 15.3.8.D, 15.3.5.M, 15.8.5.C) Log On & Explore: All students were given time to explore the start menu and the various programs available to them at school. 
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. (PA BCIT Standard: 15.4.8.F)  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. Introduction to Computer Class Presentation:  This presentation was a follow up to the survey and covered basic computer concepts everyone should be familiar with.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.4.8.A, 15.4.8.B, 15.4.8.E, 15.3.8.T, 15.3.5.V) 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.  (PA-BCIT Standard: 15.4.8.A, 15.5.8.J) |
