October 15, 2014 - LAST CLASS 104 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. 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 ankles and then everyone had a chance to get up and move around the room some. 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) October 13, 2014 44 minutes Mr. McNulty was 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 10,500. 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) Student Technology Use Survey:  All students in this class participated in the annual NMS Student Technology Use Survey.  After the survey students had an opportunity to view the results from previous years.  All results going back to 2006 can be viewed here. Flyer Project:  Each student must pick an event from the list below and make a unique flyer for any school event using a flyer template in MS Publisher 2010. We'll finish and print this project next class.
October 9, 2014 91 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 October 7, 2014 Finish First Aid Posters:  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. 104 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) October 3, 2014 44 minutes Internet Moment:  Students explored Kerala, India on Google Earth today.  Students were reminded that while working on their collaboration project they should be using Google Earth to see the various destinations they have chosen and to explore the region of India that they will be visiting.  Students were shown how to change the layers settings to add information too Google Earth such as Wikipedia entries, local place names, parks, public buildings, religious building, public transportation and even 3D images of buildings.  Finish Online Collaboration Project:  Each group of students finished planning their travel itinerary today.  Students were reminded to use Google Earth to check out where they were going.  Using Google as a currency converter was also demonstrated and students were reminded to use the calculator on their computers to total their travel expenses.  Once finished all groups downloaded the itinerary they collaborated on as a Word Document and next class we will submit them using our network drives.  Click here to enlarge the project description.  (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.3.8.E, 15.3.8.M, 15.3.8.S, 15.3.8.U, 15.3.12.W, 15.3.8.X, 15.4.8.D) Technology Current Event Video: In the coming year we hope to introduce Microsoft Office 365 to all our students. In today's video some of the collaboration features in Office 365 were explained and demonstrated. October 1, 2014 44 minutes* Technology Current Event Video:  Unfortunately we ran out of time for a video today. *Class time was shorter today due to the half-day schedule September 29, 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 trifold a brochure.  Each student then had an opportunity to review a rough draft of their project with the teacher.  Everyone 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) Office Yoga Break: Students are always reminded to not spend too much time in front of computers and to take breaks every 30-40 minutes. Today we practiced a simple yoga stretch that helps prevent carpal tunnel syndrome.  Before the stretch the causes and symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome were explained to the class. After the stretch all students had an opportunity to take a short break and move around.  (PA-BCIT Standard:  15.4.5.D,) Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a short video about tourism in Kerala, India. September 23, 2014 94 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.  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.  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) September 19, 2014 91 minutes*   Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a short video from How Stuff Works about Tim Berners-Lee and the invention of the World Wide Web. *Network Issues:  Unfortunately, due to a district-wide network we were delayed in starting class today.  There were also recurring issues throughout the class which slowed down instruction. September 17, 2014 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. Students had a chance to explore Mr. Weskamp's website and learn a little about how software engineers work with design and computer coding. (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.2.5.B, 15.2.5.C, 15.2.8.E) Finish Font Guide: All students had time to finish and print the font guide project from last class. Click here to enlarge the project description. (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.3.8.E, 15.4.8.G, 15.4.2.K, 15.3.8.X)  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. 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 an animated video about the History of the Internet that was created by Melih Bilgil in Munich, Germany.  We only had time to watch the first 4 minutes of the video. September 15, 2014 44 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 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)  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 he became a graphic designer and how he used technology. He also did a presentation about content & form that demonstrated the use different of different fonts to convey meaning. Students were encouraged to watched the rest of the video on their own. (PA BCIT Standard: 15.4.8.A, 15.8.8.K, 15.9.8.A) September 11, 2014 91 minutes Internet Moment: We looked at zoom.it today which is a free screen zooming service that is owned by Microsoft.  Currently the website has been disabled but students were shown two other online examples of the screen zooming technology: The NMS MosaicProject and the Deep Zoom image of Yosemite National Park. Students had time to explore these websites. Favorite Links Project:  All students had time to finish the single file webpage in Word that we had started last class.  After everyone finished we did a gallery walk so students could share their work with each other. Click here to enlarge the project description.   (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.3.8.E, 15.4.5.G) Check Grades:  Students were asked to log into the Home Access Center and check their grades today.  Students were reminded that if they could not log in their parents had to create a student account for them by registering their email address on the HAC.    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)  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. 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": September 9, 2014 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 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. Finish MLA Paragraph: All students had time today to finish typing and then print their MLA Paragraphs.  Unfortunately some students were unable to print this project due to a district network issue.  (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 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: 38.8 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 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:  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 watched the first 7 minutes of the video in class.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.4.8.A) September 5, 2014 44 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)  Technology Current Event Video: Unfortunately we didn't have time for a video today. September 3, 2014 60 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. 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 number, letters and symbols together.  Student passwords must be at least 8 characters long and fit the following parameters:Â
 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:  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. This 2014 revision of the presentation was created by Jose Esteves, a professor of Information Systems at the IE Business School in Spain.   * Class time was shorter today due to the First Day of School Schedule |
