January 20, 2017 - LAST CLASS 22 minutes* Video Conference:  For our internet moment today we visited parent orientation night at the Stadtischen Realschule Sundern (a middle school in Germany) using a Google Hangout.  We could see the presentations that Mr. Marx was making to the groups and they could see our class.  We searched for their school on Google Maps and checked out their school webpage.  We also talked about the differences in the middle school to high school transition that our students are experiencing right now.  Mrs. Heun from Middle Township Middle School in Cape May Courthouse, NJ also joined us.  We also communicated with them directly using Padlet and Google Translate.  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. 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) Inauguration Online:  Students had a chance to view live streaming video of the 2017 Presidential Inauguration on Youtube. * Class time was shorter today due to the half day schedule January 18, 2017 91 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)   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 calves. Experiment with Brackets:  We finished working with basic HTML and JavaScript by using a free code editor called Brackets.  Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a TED presentation by Tanvee Patankar, a student at Stevenson High School in Illinois.  In the video she described the importance of teaching financial literacy at the high school level. Students were reminded that we do offer a Personal Finance & Investing class at our high school as an elective class.  (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.2.8.E, 15.2.8.J, 15.6.8.G) January 13, 2017 104 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)  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 shoulders and back.  Technology Current Event Video:  We watched a 2010 TED Presentation by Jane McGonigal about her ideas about Online Computer Gaming and it's potential for the future.  We only watched the first 7 minutes of the video in class.  (PA-BCIT Standard:  15.4.8.A, 15.6.8.M) January 11, 2017 44 minutes Asynchronous Online Collaboration Project: Our students had some time to check the Venn diagram project we started last class. So far our partners from Mrs Gershman's class at Holland Middle School have finished their part of the project.   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. AnyMeetingwas used to project the presentation from the teacher's desktop to each student's screen. The use of webcams and desktop sharing was also demonstrated. (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.3.5.J, 15.3.5.K, 15.6.8.M, 15.3.8.X, 15.4.8.A) Technology Current Event Video: We finished class today with a short video from BlueHost about how websites work. January 9, 2017 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. 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.  For this project our students are planning a 7 day trip to Cape Town, South Africa 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.  Click 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. 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 Moana 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. We also watched a short video by the MIT Scratch Team about some of their latest developments.Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a 2011 TED presentation by Eric Whitacre about his virtual choir project.  This was an example of asynchronous online collaboration.  (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.4.8.A, 15.3.12.W, 15.6.8.M) January 5, 2017 104 minutes Internet Moment:  Students were shown GeoGuessr.com today and we spent about 5 minutes playing the game at the beginning class today.  The highest score in our class today was Anna with over 15,000 points.  A sample 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 forearm. 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 4-5 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 Cape Town, South Africa 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 about tourism & vacations in Capetown, South Africa. January 3, 2017 12 minutes*  * Class time was shorter today due to the High School Arts Presentations rotation schedule December 22, 2016 91 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. 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. Unfortunately there were some technical problems with the color printer. 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: 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.  English Dialect Activity: To help our students understand cultural diversity on the internet we investigated what our own accents sound like and compared them to others in our own country. All students took the NY Times Dialect Quiz. Students then had an opportunity to compare the dialect heat maps from all the students in our class using a shared Google Doc.  (PA-BCIT Standard: 15.3.8.J, 15.3.8.K, 15.3.8.X, 15.4.8.D) Language Differences Video: As a follow-up to the dialect activity we watched a short video from The Atlantic about the various dialects in the United States. December 20, 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 the design process.  We also discussed what working in careers that involve technology might be like.  (CRETS:  4a, 4c, 6c, 6d, 7c) (PA BCIT Standards: 15.2.8.B, 15.2.8.C, 15.2.8.D, 15.2.8.E) 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. Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a short video from PBS OffBook about graphic design.  December 16, 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. December 14, 2016 91 minutes Holidays Around the World Presentations:  At the beginning of class we were able to participate in the very end of an international video conference about Holidays Around the World.  The Google Hangout was organized by Mr. Reinhard Marx, a middle school science teacher at Stadtische RealSchule Sundern in Westphalia, Germany. Schools from Hungary, Russia, Germany, Martinique, Trinidad and the U.S. participated by sharing their holiday traditions and singing some songs.  (CRETS:  7a)   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 TED presentation by Margaret Stewart about how copyright issues are handled by YouTube.  (CRETS:  2b, 2c, 2e, 6a, 6b, 6c) December 12, 2016 104 minutes Internet Moment: Today we looked at two online resources for fonts. DaFont.com offers over 31,000 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.   (CRETS:  1e, 1f, 2b, 2c, 2e, 2f, 3a, 4a, 4b, 6a, 6b, 6d) (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.3.8.E, 15.6.5.M, 15.4.5.A) Finish Favorite Links Project:  All students had time to finish this project in class today.  Once completed students used Google Classroom and shared Google Doc to turn in their work.  Click here to enlarge the project description.   (CRETS: 1d, 1e, 2b, 3a, 3c, 4d, 6a, 6b, 6d, 7b) (PA-BCIT Standards: 15.3.8.E, 15.4.5.G)  Office Yoga Break:  Students are always reminded to not spend too much time sitting in front of computers.  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.  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. (CRETS:  1d, 1e, 1f, 4b, 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d) Font Conference Video:  As a follow-up to the Font Presentation we watched a short video from College Humor about a fictitious "Font Conference". December 8, 2016 32 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. (CRETS: 1d, 1e, 3a)   Technology Current Event Video:  We finished class today with a video from Android Authority about a new flexible smart phone and tablet concept.  (PA BCIT Standards: 15.6.8.M) * Class time was shorter today due to a scheduled fire drill 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. Students were also asked to explore their own digital footprint by searching for themselves on various news sites. (CRETS:  1a, 2a, 3a, 3b, 3d, 7d) (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 Google Docs (which is the format used at Council Rock and most colleges). Click here to enlarge the project description. All students have to demonstrated that they are 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 a Word doc from our network drive to Google Drive.  We also practiced downloading a Google Doc as a Word Doc.  Everyone then had time to print out and turn in this project.  Click here to enlarge the project description. (CRETS:  1d, 2b, 2c, 2e, 2f, 6a) (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.  (CRETS:  3d) (PA-BCIT Standard: 15.2.8.I, 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:  42.3 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 students were given some time to find at least 3 online typing activities (tutorials or games) that they enjoyed. They were shown how to add these typing activities to their favorites or bookmarks list so they can go back and practice their typing skills in class when they finished their projects. (CRETS:  1a, 1c, 1d, 2e) December 2, 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.  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. (PA BCIT Standards: 15.4.8.F, 15.4.5.G) Unfortunately we ran out of time to complete this project.  Students 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 will also be explained. Click here to enlarge the project description.  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. 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:Â
 Technology Current Event Video:We finished class today with a short video about email etiquette tips for college students from Dr. Tracy Brown at California State University in San Marcos. (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) |
