December 2, 2014 - LAST CLASS 104 minutes44 minutes
Make-up Time & Checking Grades: Since this is our last full 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.  All students were asked to log into the HAC and check their grades for this class. The few students who could not log in to check their grades were reminded, one more time, that they have to talk to their parents about getting their email address registered in the system. 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) 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 (now called Lightbeam) 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, 2014 44 minutes*  Business Classes at the High School, WebQuest Project:  All students researched the computer class opportunities at our high school by completing an online webquest activity.  Follow this link to view the questions.  Students in grades 7 to 12 can register for their own HAC Account.  Parents, add your child's email address (registration page, demographic tab) and then have them click the registration link below:   Click Here to Register for the HAC Technology Current Event Video:  After finishing the full page ad project we watched an 11 minute whiteboard video about the universal principles of persuasion to introduce students to some basic marketing concepts. (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.9.8.A, 15.9.8.E) November 21, 2014 Mr. McNulty is Absent Today:  Students were directed to do the following activities: Internet Moment:  Students were shown GeoGuessr.com today and allowed to spend 5 minutes playing the game at the beginning class.  The highest score in our class today was Jessie with 11,330 points. 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 last class. 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) The Universal Arts of Graphic Design:  As a review of the projects our students have done in Publisher we watched a short video from PBSoffbook about what graphic arts is and what a graphic designer does.  Finish First Aid Posters:  All students had time today to finish this project and print a rough draft in black and white.  Next class each student will have a chance to review their rough draft with the teacher before printing their final draft in full color.  The slide show with the project directions and the list of first aid emergencies is posted below.  Click here to enlarge the project description.  (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.3.8.A, 15.3.8.B, 15.3.8.E, 15.3.8.H, 15.3.8.S, 15.3.8.X, 15.4.8.B) Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today by watching a 4 minute speed design video by Jeff Clairmont of Drive Home Design in Canada.  Though the video was time lapsed it does demonstrate exactly the kind of detailed work that goes into good graphic design for a poster. November 19, 2014 94 minutes  Internet Moment: Today we explored Google Earth and discussed how a 3 dimensional virtual environment can be used to augment human memory. We started by discussing what spatial memory is and how it is used to make modern video games so engaging. Students were then introduced to the memory palace or method of loci as an effective way to use 3 dimensional visual imagery to help a person remember large amounts of information. We then went to Google Earth and began a tour of   Work on Full Page Ads:  All students had time today to work on this project and print a rough draft in black and white.  Each student had a chance to review their rough draft with the teacher before printing their final draft in full color.  Some students finished today but all students will have some time to finish and print next class.  Click here to enlarge the project description.  Almost everyone finished today.  (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.3.8.A, 15.3.8.B, 15.3.8.E, 15.3.8.H, 15.3.8.S, 15.3.8.X, 15.4.8.B)  Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a short video from "Stuff to Blow Your Mind" about Constructing a Memory Palace. November 17, 2014 91 minutes   Technology Current Event Video: As a followup to the Think Before You Post slide show we watched a story from Fox 47 News in Madison, Wisconsin about employers who use social media searches to investigate job applicants. (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) November 13, 2014 104 minutes   Brochure Project: Students had time to finish the copyright brochure project in MS Publisher today.   Students were also shown how to print on both sides of a sheet of paper and how to tri-fold a brochure.  Each student then had an opportunity to review a rough draft of their project with the teacher.  Students were also reminded to not use any copyrighted material from the internet to make this project. Most students turned in this project today.  Click here to enlarge the project description. (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.1.5.B, 15.3.5.A, 15.3.8.B, 15.3.5.D, 15.3.8.D, 15.3.8.E, 15.4.8.G, 15.3.8.U, 15.6.8.L)  Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a short video that explained how a M.O.O.C. works.  44 minutes Internet Moment:  In recognition of Veterans Day our students went to the AARP's website and took the Veterans Day Quiz.  After the quiz we reviewed the answers and talked about the history of the holiday. Technology Current Event Video: We finished class today with a short video about a the various features of a new robot called NAO.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.4.8.A) November 7, 2014 91 minutes   Visit From Kerala, India:  While our students were taking the technology use survey we use Skype to visit with some of Mr Panakal's students in Kerela, India.  The students we met were 15 years old and working as volunteers for a "School in the Cloud" project.  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.  As part of our break today we practiced a simple office yoga stretch for your shoulders and back.  After the break everyone had a chance to get up and walk around. Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a short video about a design challenge from General Motors to develop an interactive window for car passengers.  The concept featured in the video was developed by graduate students at the Bezalel Academy in Israel. November 5, 2014 104 minutes  Hour of Code: Today our class participated in the Hour of Code. We started by viewing the source code for this webpage. 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. 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. Introduction to Scratch:  After all students had time to complete the Blockly Maze Tutorial the class was shown Scratch which is a free online code editor that was developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  Students who enjoyed using Blockly, were told that Scratch would be the next step for them to try.  All students had about 10 minutes to experiment with Scratch and to view some featured student projects.  Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a short video from 24G.com that explained what HTML is. October 31, 2014 44 minutes   Technology Current Event Video: To finish class today we watched a video from Code.org about the importance of learning to program computers.  Next class we will begin a series of short lessons about computer coding using online resources, HTML & JavaScript. October 29, 2014 91 minutes Internet Moment: Today we looked at two online resources for fonts. DaFont.com offers over 25,000 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  Font Presentation:  In this presentation the development of the two basic font families (serif & sans serif) as well as the best uses for each was discussed.  Online Collaboration Project:  Today we did an online collaboration project with Mrs. Palupi's English language students in Pekalongan, Indonesia.  One of her students, Atika, prepared an essay in English and asked our students to edit it for grammar and spelling.  Four of our students volunteered to be editors and they made changes to the shared Google  (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": October 27, 2014 104 minutes Check Blog Comments:  We started class today by checking the comments our students sent to  Mrs. Chernaya's English Language students.  Students were also reminded that simply typing their comments into a reliable word processor such as Microsoft Word before posting them online was a good way to check their spelling and grammar. Internet Moment: We looked at a Microsoft Web Application for creating zoomable high resolution photos.   Students were also shown two other examples of zoomable photos that were created using the web application:  the NMS Mosaic Project and the Deep Zoom image of Yosemite National Park. Students had time to explore these websites. 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: 36.4 WPM.  Click here for more information about typing speeds at Newtown Middle School. We also reviewed the graph below:   Online Typing Activities: As a follow up to the typing test we took last class students were 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. Publisher Logo Project: We started with an introduction to MS Publisher 2012 today. Publisher was described as a graphic design program which is used to express your ideas visually. The field of graphic design was also explained. Students were reminded that learning basic graphic design skills will help them to communicate their ideas effectively. Students then became familiar with Publisher 2010 by making a simple logo. We saved this project and shared them with the class. Click here to enlarge the project description. (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.3.8.S, 15.4.5.G, 15.6.5.M, 15.3.8.X, 15.9.8.A, 15.9.5.L) Technology Current Event Video: Unfortunately we were unable to watch a video today due to a projector problem. October 23, 2014 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 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.  tudents were shown how to print the finished document two-sided. All students should be able to set-up their Word Documents in the MLA Format. (PA-B.C.I.T. Standards: 15.3.5.A, 15.3.8.A) 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 Standards:  15.4.5.D, 15.4.2.B, 15.4.8.F) Student Blogging Activity:  Our students prepared a one paragraph response to a blog entry of their choice from a student at the City of Moscow Secondary School with Advanced Study of Foreign Languages, Number 1302.  Mrs. Chernaya's English Language students are practicing their writing skills by blogging and our students are demonstrating appropriate internet communication skills and paragraph writing skills by commenting on their blog entries.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.3.8.G, 15.3.8.M, 15.4.5.A, 15.4.8.B) Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a short video about a new flexible TV screen. October 21, 2014 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. Students were also shown how they can change the top news stories to other countries. (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.3.8.G, 15.6.5.L) Finish Presentation: We finished the Introduction to Computer Class presentation about basic computer knowledge.  Today we reviewed:
 Technology Current Event Videos:  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.  We also started watching a Fox 5 DC News story about a school district in Maryland that was using a 3rd party company (Social Sentinel) to follow what their students were doing online. (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) October 17, 2014 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 were reminded that it's important to also 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)  Setting up Student Passwords: All students were given some suggestions to help them develop good passwords.  Some suggested good password practices were:  Come up with a collection of passwords to rotate through instead of just one, make a pass phrase instead of a password, mix numbers, letters and symbols together.  Student passwords must fit the following parameters: (PA-BCIT Standard:  15.4.8.F)
 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. 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 a presentation about basic computer knowledge.  Introduction to Computer Class Presentation: This presentation was a follow up to the survey and covered basic computer concepts everyone should be familiar with such as:
We will finish this presentation next class. |
