January 22, 2016 - LAST CLASS 91 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. Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class with a short video from Fox 5 News in Washington DC about a school district in Maryland that's monitoring everything their students do online.  Unfortunately we ran out of time to watch the whole video. January 20, 2016 91 minutes  History of Computers Slide Show - Students continued working on their final PowerPoint project which is a 6-8 slide show that they will present to the class. Students worked in groups of 4-5 and used the internet for research.  In this project students were introduced to online collaboration using Google Drive. They were challenged to think about how they could use online collaboration tools like this to work with other students from all over the world in the future.  Click here to enlarge the project description.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.3.8.E, 15.3.8.G, 15.3.8.H, 15.3.8.M, 15.4.8.G, 15.4.8.K, 15.4.5.A, 15.4.8.D, 15.4.8.F, 15.3.8.S, 15.3.8.U, 15.3.12.W)  (ISTE Standards: 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 3b, 4b, 6b, 6d)      Technology Current Event Video: To finish our PowerPoint presentation activity we watched part of Don McMillan's famous presentation: Life after Death by PowerPoint.  (PA-BCIT Standard:  15.3.8.D) January 15, 2016 104 minutes   Day at School PowerPoint Shows: Students finished setting up their shows in a kiosk format and making hyperlinks to the internet.  We then added a quiz to the end of the show. Navigation buttons, hyperlinks, and sound quality was checked. All students then participated in a final peer evaluation activity so they can practice giving each other meaningful feedback and improve their own shows. Everyone then had some time to make any final changes. Students turned in their completed shows using the network drives.  Click here to enlarge the project description. (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.3.8.E, 15.2.5.L, 15.2.5.M, 15.3.5.H, 15.4.8.G, 15.3.8.S) (ISTE Standards: 1a, 2b, 3b, 3c, 4b, 6d) 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 hands and fingers. 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 the CRSD provided Google Accounts. Students were shown how to create and share a Google Presentation and how to collaborate and use the chat feature in Google Presentation. Students were challenged to think about how they could use online presentation software like this to collaborate on future projects at home or with partners elsewhere in the world.  Students will have more time to work on these shows next class before they present.  Click here to enlarge the project description.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.3.8.E, 15.3.8.G, 15.3.8.H, 15.3.8.M, 15.4.8.G, 15.4.8.K, 15.4.5.A, 15.4.8.D, 15.4.8.F, 15.3.8.S, 15.3.8.U, 15.3.12.W) Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today by watching a short tutorial video about how to collaborate on a slide show using Google Drive.  January 13, 2016 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 Kathryn with about 6659 points.  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 forearm. Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a short video about the Google Self Driving Car prototype.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.4.8.A) January 11, 2016 91 minutes  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 systems (circuit switching) and the internet system (packet switches) that has replaced it. The development of an emergency communication system within the United States (ARPANET) into today's worldwide internet was also described. We also discussed how webpages like this one are sent through the internet. We also discussed how webcams work the same way by sending 30 pictures per second through the internet. 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 back. Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a short video from Audio-Technica about doing voice recordings.  Students were reminded that getting professional level voice recordings does involve considerable technical knowledge, skill and practice.  (ISTE Standards:  6a, 6c) January 7, 2016 104 minutes  Day at School PowerPoint Shows: We continued to add features to our shows to make them "the greatest slides shows" our students have ever made. Students were reminded to only use license free images from the internet using advance searches in Google and Bing.  Students were shown how to turn images and words into hyperlinks to the internet so 6th graders could find more information on their own. Students were then shown how to access and use the Slide Master feature. In preparation to add recorded voice narration to our shows students added speaker notes to each slide. Next class we will be adding narration using the record audio option in Power Point, a free program called Audacity and the sound recorder in Windows 7.  We also added action buttons and a table of contents to the shows could be set-up in a kiosk format.  We also added video to the end of our shows.  Next class students will make a custom start button on the first slide using the edit points feature.  Click here to enlarge the project description.(PA-BCIT Standards: 15.3.8.E, 15.2.5.L, 15.2.5.M, 15.3.5.H, 15.4.8.G, 15.3.8.S) (ISTE Standards: 1a, 2b, 3b, 3c, 4b, 6d) 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 the deltoid muscles. Technology Current Event Video: We watched a video about M.O.O.C.'s or Massive Open Online Courses. (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.6.8.M, 15.4.8.A, 15.8.8.K) (ISTE Standards: 1d, 3b, 3c) January 5, 2016 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 Technology. 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 watched the very end of a physics lecture about work, energy, and gravitation. You can view the segment of the lecture that we watched 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) (ISTE Standards: 1d, 3a, 3b, 3c) A Day At School PowerPoint Presentation: Students were also shown how to find license free and public domain images from the internet using advance searches in Bing.com.  Accessing old yearbook photos on our school network was demonstrated.  Students were also shown how to drag and drop slides from another show. In preparation to add recorded voice narration to our shows students will be shown how to add speaker notes to each slide. Click here to enlarge the project description. (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.3.8.E, 15.2.5.L, 15.2.5.M, 15.3.5.H, 15.4.8.G, 15.3.8.S)(ISTE Standards: 1a, 2b, 3b, 3c, 4b, 6d)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, 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) (ISTE Standards: 1d, 3b, 3c)  Khan Academy: The future of education? December 23, 2015 10 minutes* * Class time was shorter today due to the building-wide Holiday Programs December 21, 2015 104 minutes    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 2013 and how to find additional backgrounds on the internet. Click here to enlarge the project description. (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.3.8.E, 15.2.5.L, 15.2.5.M, 15.3.5.H, 15.4.8.G, 15.3.8.S)(ISTE Standards: 1a, 2b, 3b, 3c, 4b, 6d)Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a short video from Pond5.com about how public domain works.  In the video the three ways content enters the public domain is explained (through government, through dedication and time) December 17, 2015 44 minutes Internet Moment: Today we explored some of the features in Google Maps. Students were shown how to find our school and view satellite and aerial photos of their neighborhoods. Students found directions by car, bike and walking from school to their house. We also used the street views and how the Google Maps cars work was explained. We then went to Munich, Germany and used the street view feature to explore the city.  It was explained to students that in Germany people can ask to have their residences removed from Google Maps. We also traveled to Tokyo, Japan and students were shown how to check live traffic data. Students then had some time to explore the world on their own. (PA-BCIT: 15.6.8.M, 15.4.8.A)  (ISTE Standards:  1a, 1c, 1d, 2c, 3b, 4c, 5a, 5b, 5c, 6a, 6b)  Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class with a video about how Google Street View technology was used to create a virtual version of the White House. December 15, 2015 91 minutes  We also discussed some of the advances that have taken place in the last 65 years:  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) December 11, 2015 104 minutes  Finish Thank You Emails: Everyone had time today to finish the Outlook email project we had started last class.  We reviewed the finished emails as a class.  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 sides.   Log on and Check Grades: All students were asked to log into the Home Access Center and check their grades. Since January 1st, 2015 all HAC  accounts have been updated so that students can accessed their grades using their regular district log in and password. All students should be able to log in and check their grades routinely. Students were also reminded to check out the free eSchoolPLUS Family app that's available from Google Play and the iTunes Store. Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a short video from The Verge about the development of Google Cardboard for virtual reality in education. (PA-BCIT Standard: 15.4.8.A)  December 9, 2015 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. Using Outlook Email in Office 365: All students logged into their Microsoft Office 365 accounts and had some time to explore it. Students then opened their Outlook email accounts.  As part of the set-up process we discussed how time zones work.  We  and practiced sending to emails other students in the room. We discussed what CC: means, what should go in the Subject line and students were reminded that their school email account was not private. Each student then finished the activity by sending an email to a teacher on their team.  The directions for this project can be viewed here. (PA-BCIT Standards 15.3.8.E, 15.3.8.M, 15.3.8.O, 15.3.8.Q, 15.3.8.R, 15.3.8.S, 15.3.8.U, 15.3.8.X, 15.4.8.D, 15.3.8.M, 15.4.8.F) Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a short video about a clear and flexible OLED display that is being developed by LG. (PA-BCIT Standard: 15.4.8.A) December 7, 2015 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. (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.3.8.G, 15.6.5.L) (ISTE Standards: 3b, 3c, 4c, 5c, 5b, 6a)  Assigned Seats: All students have an assigned seat/computer in the lab. 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. Everyone should use the same computer every time they come to the lab. Students were also reminded to adjust the keyboard, mouse, chair and monitor to meet their ergonomic needs when they come to class. (PA-BCIT Standard: 15.4.5.D, 15.4.2.B, 15.4.8.F, 15.2.8.I) (ISTE Standards: 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 6c) 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:  29.7 WPM  Click here for more information about typing speeds at Newtown Middle School.    Online Typing Activities: As a follow up to the typing test students were given some time to find some 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 finish projects.  Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a short video demonstrating smart phone keyboard technology. December 3, 2015 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. They were reminded that they also need to get used to helping each other with technology. (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. 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 fit the following parameters: 
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)  Break: Students are always reminded to not spend too much time working on computers and to take breaks every 30-40 minutes. For our break today we will be conducting a probability experiment about matching birthdays that you can read about here.  Everyone will be asked to get up and find the other person in the room who shares their birthday.  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:
Technology Current Event Video:  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, Mr. Karl Fisch. Here is a link to his blog:  THE FISCHBOWL for more information. This version of the video was created by Jose Esteves, a professor at the I.E. Business School in Madrid, Spain.  (PA-BCIT Standard: 15.4.8.A)  |
