March 11, 2016 - LAST CLASS 44 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. 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 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. 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.  Once finished all groups 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)  FIRST AID PROJECT DIRECTIONS:  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 stretch for you neck.Technology Current Event Video:  At the end of our class today we were able to participate in a Google Hangout with Mrs. Altman's 3rd grade students at the New Market Elementary School Computer Lab in North Carolina. They were broadcasting their presentations about Martin Luther King and we were able to view them live and give the students some feedback.  (PA-BCIT: 15.2.8.H, 15.3.8.K, 15.3.8.M, 15.7.8.I, 15.7.8.J) March 7, 2016 44 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)  We finished class today with a short video featuring skiing in Austria. March 3, 2016 91 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) 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 also had some time to experiment with adding JavaScript from DynamicDrive.com. Click here to enlarge the project description.(PA-BCIT Standards: 15.3.8.S, 15.4.8.H) 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 calve muscles.  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. March 1, 2016 104 minutes Internet Moment: Students had an opportunity to experiment with VirtualPiano.net today. Online instruments like this give anyone an opportunity to learn to play some music. Scratch Projects:  Due to a special assembly last class many students were absent. Today everyone had a chance to experiment with Scratch from MIT.  Students had a chance to share what they had created with each other.   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 26, 2016 Internet Moment: Students were shown GeoGuessr.com today and we spent about 5 minutes playing this geography game at the beginning class today. The highest score in our class today was Connor with over 13,600 points. Samples:  Today we explored 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.  Technology Current Event Video:  As a followup to scratch and the online games that we attempted to make 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.  (PA-BCIT Standards:  15.4.8.A) February 24, 2016 91 minutes   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. 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.  Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a video from Code.org about why schools should teach coding. February 22, 2016 104 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)  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.  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 44 minutes  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*   Finish Font Guide: Students had time to finish the project we started last class. Everyone printed the completed project.(PA-BCIT Standards: 15.3.8.E, 15.4.8.G, 15.4.2.K, 15.3.8.X) Google Drive Experiment:  In class we experimented with accessing our Google Drives which have recently been supplied to all student in the Council Rock School District. All but two students could log into their Google Drives and everyone had a chance to create and share a Google Slide show. 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 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) * Class time was shorter today due to the 2 hour delay schedule February 10, 2016 104 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)  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.  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 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 examples of 360 degree streaming video on Youtube like this one of surfing in Tahiti.  (PA BCIT Standards: 15.6.8.M)  Favorite Links Project: Students started 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) Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with Austin Evans' review of the best gadgets on display at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, NV. February 4, 2016 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.   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. 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: 39.6 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. Online Collaboration Activity:  Students were asked to collaborate on a shared Word Online document.  In preparation for an activity with Ms. Tarasevich's in Russia our students were asked to list a favorite book that they have read and give a three sentence summary of the book.  The finished list will be shared with English language students in rural Siberia. 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 104 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)  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.        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 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. 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)  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) |
