January 29, 2014 - LAST CLASS 44 minutes 91 minutesGoogle 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) 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 (DHMO Awareness, Bureau of Sasquatch Affairs, Tree Octopus) 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 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.  Students were also reminded that this was their only required computer class here at Council Rock and that should they wish to learn more about computer technology they should look carefully at the High School Program Planning Guide for the many elective classes that incorporate computer skills.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.6.8.M, 15.2.8.E) January 27, 2013 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.  Next class there will be a quiz to see how much of the tour everyone retained.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.4.8.A, 15.6.8.M)  Finish and Turn in Websites: We used MS Expression Web 3.0, to open and then edit the index.html page which we had previously created using HTML code in notepad. Today we used MS Expression to edit our HTML. Students added a table and hyperlinks to all their projects so that this page became the homepage of their Computer Class Portfolio. The finished websites were then turned in using our district network drive. Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a short video from "Stuff to Blow Your Mind" about Constructing a Memory Palace. January 23, 2014 104 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 Japan over the last 200 years.  Students then had time to explore the website on their own.  Office Yoga Break: Students are always reminded to take breaks from the computer and their gaming systems and to get exercise. Today we practiced a simple yoga stretch, a seated twist, and students got up and moved around some afterwards.   Technology Current Event Video: We finished class by watching a TED presentation by Hans Rosling, the creator of the GapMinder.org website we had looked at earlier.  In the video he personalized his statistical research by talking about the effects of washing machines on human societies.  January 21, 2014 - SNOW DAY - NO SCHOOL 0 minutes 91 minutes Internet Moment:  Our class started today by exploring some of the new features in Google Maps.  We explored satellite photos of school and the Newtown area.  We visited San Paulo, Brazil and then Oslo, Norway.  Students had a chance to explore the fjords along the coast of Norway in 3D.  We also watched a short video about wingsuit base jumping. Finally, our students were told to find the Cathedral School if St. Raymond in Joliet, Illinois which is where the class we were about to meet was located.   Mrs. Allen's students collaborating on the Venn Diagrams with our students  Sample project from this activity  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 by watching the first part of a tutorial by Anson Alexander, of ansonalex.com, about how to collaborate online using Google Drive.  Next class we will start an online collaboration project. January 14, 2014 104 minutes  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:  We finished class today by watching a 3 minute long accelerated video of a professional graphic designer making a poster using Adobe Photoshop. January 10, 2014 94 minutes  Full Page Ad Project: All students had time to work on their full page ad project today. Student had an opportunity to print a rough draft on scrap paper that they could review with the teacher. Final drafts were printed in full color and turned in today.  Click here to enlarge the project description.  (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) Office Yoga Break:  Students are always reminded to not spend too much time sitting in front of computers.  Breaks should be taken at least every 30-40 minutes.  For our break today we practiced a simple yoga stretch for your neck and then everyone had a chance to get up and move around the room some.  Technology Current Event Video: We finished class by watching the rest of a YouTube video filmed at the SAV School. January 8, 2014 91 minutes   Technology Current Event Video:  To finish class today we watched the first part of a TED presentation by Rory Sutherland about the importance of small details in advertising. In the talk he gave several examples of good marketing and behavioral economics.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.9.8.A, 15.9.8.E) January 6, 2014 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. 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  Finish Basic HTML:  Students finished creating a basic webpage in HTML code today. We made  adjustments to this page that included adding a background color, font color, font style, and inserting images and adding a hyperlink. Students were also shown how to insert free Javascript from DynamicDrive.com and how a video could be inserted into a webpage using embed code.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.3.8.S, 15.4.8.H)  Technology Current Event Video:  To finish class today we watched a short video from BlueHost.com about how the internet works and where webpages are stored. January 2, 2014 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. Introduction to a Web Conferencing:  Students were introduced to what a webinar or web conference is and what online education could look like for them in the future.  AnyMeeting.com was used to project presentations from the teacher's desktop to the student's screen and the use of webcams in a webinar was also demonstrated.     Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today by watching a short video from EuroNews about Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of HTML code and the world wide web.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.4.8.A) December 19, 2013 91 minutes Internet Moment:  Today we looked at two online resources for fonts. DaFont.com offers over 20,000 fonts that are either freeware, shareware, demo versions or in the public domain.  These fonts can be downloaded and installed but students were also shown how they can use the Snipping Tool to get images of the fonts they might like.  Students were also shown how they could make their own font using a website like YourFonts.com.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.3.8.E, 15.6.5.M, 15.4.5.A) Hour of Code:  Today our class participated in the Hour of Code. We started by going to the Favorite Links webpage that we had previously made in Word and viewing the source code.  Students were told that this code, a mixture of HTML and JavaScript, was the list of specific instructions that tell your web browser how to display the webpage. When students saved their Word document as a "single file webpage" Microsoft Word wrote this code for them.  We then watched the tutorial video below to introduce the online coding activity.  Students then went to the online Blockly Maze Tutorial to write JavaScript.   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  Coding with Scratch:  Students were introduced to Scratch.MIT.edu today and they all had some time to explore this visual programming environment that was created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  The video to the right displays several student created projects and demonstrates the basic use of Scratch.  Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a video from code.org about what most schools don't teach - computer coding.  This video featured many famous and not so famous people talking about how they learned to code. December 17, 2013 104 minutes Internet Moment:  Today we explored NewsMap.jp which is a graphical interpretation of the top news stories on Google News that was created by Marcos Weskamp, a self described software architect.  He is was also part of the team that founded Flipboard which seeks to bring the design experience of magazines to web and tablet technology.  Font Presentation:  In this presentation the development of the two basic font families (serif & sans serif) as well as the best uses for each of them was covered. Students were also shown how they read primarily through identifying sight words and why it's so hard to spell and grammar check your own work.  (serif & san serif) and the best uses for each category students proceeded to make a Font Guide in MS Publisher. The final student project should look just like the original. We also discussed the concept of WYSIWYG in graphic design on computers.  Click here to enlarge the project description. We will finish this project next class.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.3.8.E, 15.4.8.G, 15.4.2.K, 15.3.8.X)  Font Conference Video:  As a follow-up to the Font Presentation we watched a short video from College Humor about a fictitious "Font Conference": December 13, 2013 44 minutes   Technology Current Event Video:  We watched a TED presentation by Keller Rinaudo about a smart phone powered mini robot and some of the things it could do. (PA BCIT Standards:  15.4.5.A, 15.4.8.A) December 11, 2013 91 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 now mobile phone based apps like Instagram.  This website is the blog or web log 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. Online Survey About Natural Disasters:  We visited the class blog for the students at Winners Education, an English language school near Athens in Greece, and participated in their online survey about Natural Disaster Readiness.  Hopefully the Greek students will share the data they collected with us later.  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 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:  44.5 WPM  Click here for more information about typing speeds at Newtown Middle School.  We also discussed this graph:   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 Newtown Middle School 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.  (PA-BCIT Standard:  15.6.2.L)Technology Current Event Video:  To finish class today we watched a short video from CNET about the Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Desktop Keyboard.  (PA-BCIT Standard:  15.4.8.C) December 9, 2013 87 minutes* Internet Moment:  Students were asked to compare three popular news aggregator websites:  Google News, Bing News and Yahoo.  We looked at their home pages, their features and their overall appearance.  Though the results were split, a plurality of our students said they preferred Google News when looking for current events online.  (PA BCIT Standards:  15.3.8.E, 15.6.5.L)  Basic Computer Knowledge Presentation:  Today students were shown a presentation based on the student computer knowledge survey that they had taken.  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 also discussed the importance of being careful about what you post online.  Students were reminded that last year 30% of college admission officers reported finding content online that caused them to reject a student's application.   Students were reminded that employers are using many of the same techniques to select candidates for job openings.  All students then had some time to check their current online presence by searching for themselves, their friends and their family members.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.1.5.B, 15.3.5.V, 15.3.8.T, 15.4.5.B, 15.6.8.M, 15.5.8.J, 15.4.5.A, 15.4.5.B, 15.3.5.T)  Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a video from 8nownews.com in Las Vegas, Nevada about the use of social media searches by colleges and universities.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.2.5.M, 15.2.8.K, 15.8.8.M, 15.5.8.J, 15.4.5.A, 15.4.5.B)  December 5, 2013 44 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.  Pixlr.com Project: Students were shown how to use the online photo editor 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.  We also discussed professional digital photo editing with Adobe PhotoShop. (PA BCIT Standards: 15.4.8.F, 15.4.5.G) Technology Current Event Video:  Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to finish class with a video today. |
