2015-16 8-B.4

March 11, 2016 - LAST CLASS

22 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 Program. 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 it is a legitimate website (according to snopes.com). We then looked at several bogus websites such as this one about the 1993 Velcro Crop Failure in California, DHMO Awareness, the Bureau of Sasquatch Affairs, and the endangered Tree Octopus. We also watched videos about Google Nose and West Jet Airline converting to metric time. These websites and videos serve as a good that we all need to be skeptical of what we find online and to always independently verify the facts. (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.3.8.I, 15.4.8.A, 15.6.8.L)

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.

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)

* Class time was shorter today due to the half day schedule

March 9, 2016
91 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.

First Aid Posters: This is the final 8th grade project in MS Publisher. Students will use all the skills they have learned in Publisher to create a series of three first aid posters that share a unique graphical theme that they created. Students can use information and pictures from the internet but all resources need to be correctly cited on each poster using the correct MLA Works Cited Format. Students were reminded to use Noodle Tools (available to CRSD students) or a free online citation tool like CiteFast.com to make the works cited. This is a cross-curricular project and students can submit their finished first aid posters to their Health Teachers for extra credit. 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)

FIRST AID PROJECT DIRECTIONS:

March 7, 2016
104 minutes

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 (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.4.8.A, 15.6.8.M)

http://www.todayincomputerclass.com/images/onlinecollaboration01.jpg

Finish Online Collaboration Project: Each group of students finished planning their travel itinerary today. Click here for the project directions and here for the project rubric. 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 printed and turned in their finished slide shows using Google Classroom. Click here to enlarge the project description. Click here for the project directions and here for the project rubric. (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)(ISTE Standards: 1c, 2a, 2b, 2d, 3b, 3c, 3d, 4a, 4b, 4c, 6a, 6b, 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. For our break today we practiced a simple office yoga stretch for your sides.

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. They used the Council Rock High School - North web site to find the answers.

Technology Current Event Video: We finished class today with a short video that highlights some of the features that are available to our students in Google Drive. (PA-BCIT Standard: 15.4.8.A)

March 3, 2016

44 minutes

Internet Moment: Today we explored Google Earth and discussed how a three 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 the earth, the sky, Mars and the moon. The whole class followed a specific list of locations. Next class all students will take a quiz to see how much of the Google Earth tour they can recall. (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.4.8.A, 15.6.8.M)

Student Google Accounts: Students were shown how to access their CRSD Google Accounts today and they had a chance to explore some of the online apps that are available in their Google Drives. Uploading files to Google Drive was also demonstrated. As an example of online Collaboration Mr. McNulty shared the 12-12-12 Project which was developed by Stefan Nielsen, a teacher at Vonsild Skole in Denmark.

Online Collaboration Project: Today we started a group project in which students will use online collaboration tools to plan a travel itinerary. Students will work in groups of 3-4 and they will use a shared Google Doc to create a travel itinerary. For this project our students will be planning a 7 day trip to Austria where they will participate in some tourism activities of their choice. Click here for the project directions and here for the project rubric. 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. 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: We finished class today with a short video featuring skiing in Austria.

March 1, 2016

91 minutes

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 Hudson with about 10,000 points.

International Online Collaboration Project: Today we did an online collaboration project with Ms. Papakalousi's advanced English language students at the Winners Education English Language School in Athens, Greece. Her students prepared persuasive essays in English using a shared Google Doc last week. We then asked our students to work in small groups and edit the essays for grammar, style, readability and spelling. While our students were working here in Newtown, the students in Greece were able to watch the editing in real time in their classroom on their personal cell phones. We also had a Skype connection between our classrooms so the students could interact with one another directly. Each of our students had an opportunity to meet and greet the student in Greece that they were working with. This was a great opportunity to introduce our students to international online collaboration using free resources such as Google Drive and Skype. It also gave us an opportunity to discuss cultural and language differences. Below you can see a sample of what the editing process looked like as well as the video chat. Click here to view the edited documents. (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.3.8.U, 15.3.8.Q, 15.3.8.M, 15.3.12.W, 15.3.8.X, 15.4.8.A, 15.4.8.B, 15.4.8.D, 15.3.12.W) (ISTE Standards: 1c, 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 5b, 5c, 5d, 6a, 6d)

Finish Basic HTML: Last class we started a computer coding activity by creating a website in basic HTML (Hypertext Markup Language). We finished typing the HTML into Notepad to create a simple webpage. All students will also have some time to experiment with adding JavaScript from Dynamic Drive.com. Click here to enlarge the project description.(PA-BCIT Standards: 15.3.8.S, 15.4.8.H)

Technology Current Event Video: Unfortunately we ran out of time for a video today.

February 26, 2016
104 minutes

Internet Moment: Today we started class by exploring some games that Richboro Middle School Computer Class students had created using Scratch from MIT: Tennis, Maze Flapper, Supernatural Game, Cat Jump & Bird-Catching Basket-Cat.

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 Star Wars Tutorial to write JavaScript.

Introduction to Scratch: As a follow-up to 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. Students were also encouraged to check out the Scratch Tutorial Videos page on their own and consider joining Scratch.

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,)

Introduction to Webinars: Today 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 the pre-sentation from the teacher's desktop to each student's screen. The use of webcams and desktop sharing was also demonstrated. During our webinar today we were lucky to have a visit from Mr. Sherman, the director of LivingMaths.com and a 2012 TEDx presenter in Capetown, South Africa. He was able to give our class a quick lesson in binary numbers. (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.3.5.J, 15.3.5.K, 15.6.8.M, 15.3.8.X, 15.4.8.A)

http://www.todayincomputerclass.com/8th/BasicHTML.JPG

Started Basic HTML: Students learned about computer coding by creating a website in basic HTML (Hypertext Markup Language). Students typed the HTML into Notepad to create a simple webpage. Next class students will be shown how to change the background color, change the font color, the font style, inserting images and adding a hyperlink. Next class all students will have some time to experiment with adding Java-Script to their homepages. Click here to enlarge the project description.(PA-BCIT Standards: 15.3.8.S, 15.4.8.H)

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.

February 24, 2016
44 minutes

Internet Moment: To start our class today Mr. McNulty demonstrated how Google and other companies use GPS data from cell phones to track the locations of individuals. In the demonstration Mr. McNulty showed the class a detailed map prepared by Google of exactly where he and his family were in August of 2014. Using location history (now known as timeline) students could see that he was riding Dumbo the Flying Elephant at precisely 1:08 on August 10, 2014. Everyone then had a chance to open their own Google Accounts and check their location history. Students were also shown how to access location history on an iPhone.

Student Blogging Activity: Our students prepared a one paragraph blog post reply for Ms. Chernaya's English language students 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 they will be reading our students' comments and replying to them. You can view the comments here. In this activity our students are demonstrating appropriate internet communication skills and paragraph writing skills by commenting on their blog entries. Students were shown how to open their Microsoft Office 365 accounts and we used the online version of MS Word as a resource to help with spelling and grammar. Students were reminded that whenever they post anything online they should make an effort to make sure it will reflect positively on them. We will finish this activity next class. (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 TED presentation by Dave Troy who uses Twitter and other resources to build social maps of cities.

February 22, 2016
91 minutes

Internet Moment: Today we explored NewsMap.jp which is a graphical interpretation of the top news stories on Google News. It was created by Marcos Weskamp, a self described software architect. He was also part of the team that founded Flipboard which seeks to bring the design experience of magazines to web and tablet technology. As part of this activity we discussed the important relationship between internet technology and design. (PA BCIT Standards: 15.2.8.B, 15.2.8.C, 15.2.8.D, 15.2.8.E)

Full Page Ads: All students had time to finish this project today. Completed projects were printed in full color using the color printer in the back of the room. Students wrote their names on the back of their projects before turning them in. Everyone had time to finish and print their projects in class 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 back and then everyone had a chance to get up and move around the room some.

Technology Current Event Video: We finished class today with a logo design video from Przemyslaw Jakub Wolosaczonek, a graphic designer in London, England.

February 18, 2016
104 minutes

Internet Moment: Today our students were introduced to the "joy of statistics" by viewing Gap Minder.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. We also looked at how 8th grade math scores had changing in Japan, Canada and the United States. Students then had time to explore the website on their own. (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.4.8.A, 15.7.8.A, 15.7.8.F, 15.7.8.H, 15.7.8.L, 15.8.8.A, 15.9.8.J)

Finish Brochure Project: All students had time to finish this project today. Students were shown how to print on both sides of a sheet of paper and how to tri-fold a brochure. 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 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.

http://www.todayincomputerclass.com/8th/FullPageAd.JPG

Full page Ad Project: Today students started a classic graphic design project to help them continue to develop their own sense of design and their skills in MS Publisher. Each student selected a full page, full color magazine advertisement to recreate in MS Publisher. The student version of the ad must advertise something different than the original but it should look very similar to the original. Students were also shown how to copy and paste images into either MS Word or PowerPoint and use that program to remove the background in a picture. Click here to enlarge the project description. We will finish this project next class. (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)

Technology Current Event Video: We finished class today with a video from the BBC in which Hans Rosling describes how Gapminder.org can be used to identify trends and misconceptions by looking at the data. (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.7.8.A, 15.7.8.F, 15.7.8.H, 15.7.8.L)

February 16, 2016
40 minutes*

Internet Moment: Today we looked at three online resources for free ebooks and audio books. We started with the Gutenberg Project (Gutenberg.org) which offers free access to 50,000 ebooks and over 100,000 additional free ebooks from other resources. We then looked at Lit2Go which is a free online collection of audio books in MP3 format that is available from the University of South Florida. Finally we visited Google Books (books.google.com) and discussed how to access and search the text of the free ebooks available there. We also discussed copyright laws and how these books came to be available online or in the public domain. Students were also reminded to search for free ebook reader apps at Google Play and the iTunes Store. (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.1.5.B, 15.2.5.L, 15.3.8.E, 15.4.8.B)

Finish Brochure Project: All students had time to work on this project today. Unfortunately we ran out of time to finish 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 TED presentation by Margaret Stewart about how copyright laws are handled on YouTube. (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.1.5.B, 15.3.8.D, 15.3.8.E, 15.3.8.X, 15.4.8.A, 15.4.8.B, 15.6.8.M )

* Class time was shorter today due to the two hour delay schedule

February 10, 2016

91 minutes

Internet Moment: Today we looked at two online resources for fonts. DaFont.com offers over 29,000 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)

Finish Font Guide Project: Changing the line spacing was demonstrated and all students had time to finish and print this project today. Click here to view the project description. (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.3.8.E, 15.4.8.G, 15.4.2.K, 15.3.8.X)

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 thigh.

Start Copyright Brochure Project: Students take an existing brochure and recreate it in Publisher 2013 using a template as a starting point. The original brochure they were given was about copyright laws. Students were shown how to use Google Images and Bing Images to find free images that they could even use for commercial purposes. Students also practiced their typing today by re-typing the text of the original brochure. We will finish this project next class. Click here to enlarge the project description. (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.9.5.L, 15.3.8.E, 15.3.5.H, 15.4.5.K, 15.4.8.B, 15.3.8.U)

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)

February 8, 2016
104 minutes

Internet Moment: Students explored PhotoSynth.net today which is an online service from Microsoft that used their Silverlight technology. It allows you to "knit" digital photos together to make large 360 degree images that you can pan and zoom into. We also looked at the NMS Mosaic Project as an example of this technology from (PA BCIT Standards: 15.6.8.M)

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: 41.4 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 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.

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.

Publisher Logo Project: We started with an introduction to MS Publisher 2013 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 during a gallery walk activity. 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 check and grammar check your own work.

Publisher Font Guide Project: After a presentation about the origins of fonts, the two main categories for fonts (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. Everyone will have time to 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".

February 4, 2016
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.

Favorite Links Project: Students finished this project today. Each student used Word Online to make a list of six favorite websites. They then turned the names of the websites into hyperlinks. They hyperlinks were then laid out on a table and we talked about using and formatting tables. We also discussed appropriate websites for school. Everyone had time to finish and turn in this project today using a shared Word Online document. Click here to enlarge the project description. (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.3.8.E, 15.4.5.G)

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 HACaccounts 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 2015 DARPA Robotics Challenge. (PA-BCIT Standard: 15.4.8.A)

February 2, 2016
91 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)

MLA Paragraph: All 8th grade students must demonstrate the ability to use the MLA format in MS Word and Office 365 (which is the format used at Council Rock and most colleges). Click here to enlarge the project description. All students demonstrated that they were able to set-up their Word Documents in the MLA Format. This project involves several skills including: double spacing, changing fonts and sizes, changing indentation settings and accessing the header. As part of this project we practiced uploading and downloading from Word Online to Word on an individual computer and we discussed some of the differences. Everyone had a chance to print out and turn in this project today. Click here to enlarge the project description. (PA-B.C.I.T. Standards: 15.3.5.A, 15.3.8.A) Click here to enlarge the project description. (PA-B.C.I.T. Standards: 15.3.5.A, 15.3.8.A)

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. We then visited the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) website and searched for their recommendations concerning computer use. We also discussed employment laws in the workplace. (PA-BCIT Standard: 15.2.8.I, 15.4.5.D, 15.4.2.B, 15.4.8.F)

Using OneDrive in Office 365: Students started organizing their OneDrive by creating folders for all their subjects. They were also shown how to upload and download files from their OneDrive. (PA-BCIT Standards 15.3.8.E, 15.4.8.A, 15.4.8.D, 15.4.8.F)

Office 365 Mobile Apps: Students were reminded that they could download mobile versions of the Microsoft Office 365 Apps for their phones and tablet computers.

https://play.google.com/store/search?q=microsoft%20apps

https://itunes.apple.com/us/developer/microsoft-corporation/id298856275

http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/how-to/wp7/office/get-started-with-office-mobile

Start Favorite Links Project: Students started this project today. Each student used a table in Word Online to layout 6 favorite websites with hyperlinks. As part of this project we talked about using and formatting tables and websites that were appropriate for school. Everyone will have time to finish this project next class. Click here to enlarge the project description. (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.3.8.E, 15.4.5.G)

Technology Current Event Video: We finished class today with a short video about what life might be like in the year 2020. (PA-BCIT Standard: 15.4.8.A)

January 29, 2016

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.

Log On & Explore: All students were given time to explore the start menu and the various programs available to them at school.

Pixlr.com Project: Students were shown how to use the online photo editor pixlr.com to edit a photograph. We also discussed professional digital photo editing with Adobe PhotoShop. All students had time to create a unique image and we used various network resources to share their modifies photos. Basic skills such as drag & drop were demonstrated and the best use of the H:, S: & X: drives was also explained. (PA BCIT Standards: 15.4.8.F, 15.4.5.G)

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 conducted a probability experiment about matching birthdays. You can read about it here. Everyone was asked to get up and find the other person in the room who shares their birthday.

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 then practiced sending emails to other students in the room. We discussed what CC: means (carbon copy), 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: 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. (PA-BCIT Standard: 15.4.8.A)

2011-2012

Computer Class

Links

2015-16 8-B.4