Have you ever wondered how they build computers? Well this is something I am curious about, how can one small machine complete so many varied and complicated tasks. My dad always builds my computers for me so I thought I would do a little research and find out what materials you need to build a computer and what their functions are. I found this information on a you tube video which I will post at the bottom of this blog. I got my definitions from a variety of sources which I have mentioned down below.
-Hard disk: A disk drive that reads data stored on hard disks.(www.dictionary.com)
-Memmory CPU: Memmory is used to hold portions of the operating system, application programs and data that are currently being used by the CPU(Central Processing Unit) (www.linfo.org/memory.html)-Graphics Card: is an item of personal computer hardware whose function is to generate and output images to a display. (www.wikipedia.com)-DVD-ROM drive: uses laser light or electromagnetic waves near the light spectrum as part of the process of reading and writing data. (www.wikipedia.com)-DVD Writer: specifies rewritable DVD-RAM media and the appropriate DVD writers. (www.wikipedia.com)-Case fan: any fan inside a computer case used for cooling purposes, and may refer to fans that draw cooler air into the case from the outside, expel warm air from inside, or move air across a heatsink to cool a particular component. (www.wikipedia.com)-CPU cooler: dissipates heat, fans to speed up the exchange of air heated by the computer parts for cooler ambient air, and in some cases softcooling, the throttling of computer parts in order to decrease heat generation.(www.wikipedia.com)-Thermal Conducive Paste: a substance that increases thermal conductivity between the surfaces of two or more objects. In electronics, it is often used to aid a component’s thermal dissipation via a heat sink. (www.wikipedia.com)-Power Supply: A device or system that supplies electrical or other types of energy to an output load or group of loads is called a power supply unit or PSU.(www.wikipedia.com)It is kind of interesting to know what a computer is made up of. Any way down below I have pasted a you tube video where a guy teaches you how to build a computer. This kind of information might be useful to you some day, if you come across a computer problem and you want to know what went wrong.
When you went to school did you ever compete in a speeling bee? Were you better at spelling words after? Was this a fun experience for you? Well I personally have never been in a spelling bee ,but when I become a teacher I would love to have spelling bees for my students. I think that spelling bees can really encourage students to learn how to spell words properly. As we all know spelling words properly is very important, especially when you get to University or College and have a really nit picky proffessor. I think we should motivate kids at a young age to get interested and enthusiastic when it comes to grammar. I know that some students do not like competing ,but it really is not about who wins it is about trial and error and just trying your best. In Canada there is a spelling bee called the Can Spell national spelling bee that takes place in Ottawa. Top student spellers from across Canada compete in regional spelling bee’s, the winner of that wins $5,000 and they get to move on to the Can Spell competition. You can check out the Can Spell website for more information about the contest. Plus you can also learn how to co-ordinate a spelling bee in your own school! I encourage everyone to organize a spelling bee for your students!! Below I have posted a you tube video. It is a clip from the Jimmy Kimmel show about this girl from the USA who won a national spelling bee. Any way it is a pretty funny clip, I like the guy in the bee suit. Check it out!!
Tonight I decided that I would like to check out some examples of digital story telling. I found quite a few interesting videos on you tube. One used animation and photos to tell a story about baseball. Others like Franz Josef’s simply used pictures and a few effects. I thought Franz’s digital story about a glacier was very well done. It has a really nice script, and the pictures are interesting and dynamic. He also used complete blackout’s a couple times throughout his presentation to regain the viewers attention. This is one of the techniques Dean mentioned in class. I can definitly tell the difference between a digital story that was planned out and one that was not. The digital stories that are not pre-planned tend to be confusing and unorganized. The preplanned digital stories tend to have a clearer focus throughout. Any way you should check out Franz’s video, I have posted it down below. Do you think this video is a good example of digital story telling?
I was reading Brianne Pister’s blog and I came across this site called Voki. It is a really neat site where you can create a character and customize their appearance and surroundings. Then you can add voice to your character either by typing in words and having a range of computer voices with different accents and languages read them or use your microphone or upload a file. I have been playing around with the typing feature and different characters voices. What’s neat about this program is that it is free and once you are finished customizing your characters and what they are going to say you can publish it online. Then other people like your friends can watch it. I think this would be a neat addition for a student to have if they had to create their own website. It not only keeps their identity private ,but it allows them to be creative and express themselves in a unique way. There are also a lot of political characters you can choose from. I know I had fun playing around with this program and I urge you to try it out! This you tube video is about George Bush and the creator decided to mix news clips of the real George Bush with a Voki Bush to make a debate. It’s not a great video ,but it gives you an idea of how you could creatively use voki in your classroom.
Last week when we had our online session we were talking about how watching theater online instead of being in the audience is just not the same. I found a school called the Elsber school of theater and dance. It is located in the UK. They put a lot of their shows on you tube so that people can watch. Some of these videos are filmed in great resolution and others are not. I found one called “Think” and I think this is about as good as it gets when watching theater online. I urge you to check out some of the other video’s as well it looks like this school has a very high caliber of performance. I would love to teach at this school one day, that would be my dream. Of course any theater and art related school would be great. I still think theater is much better live because of the ambiance and the sounds and smells. It is just over all a better aesthetic experience. I have performed in 12 musicals slash plays and I have watched a lot of theater so I know what it is like for both the actor and the audience member. I think it is fine to watch theater online I just don’t think you can call it theater, because it is not. Theater is live and always will be! So check out this you tube video of “Think” I think it is pretty good.
I will start out this blog by saying, I am not a math person. I never have been good at math no matter how hard I have tried. I found this program called enVision math that elementary schools are using now to help teach their students math. It is an online environment where students can practice math by playing fun interactive games and learn at the same time. The teacher will be emailed a list of her or his students progress in the enVision math program so they can keep track of their students success. This program can be accessed any time by teachers, parents, and students in and outside of school. Teachers can also use this enVision program on a smart board and have their students come up and answer questions. It is pretty neat, perhaps if this program was around when I was in elementary school I would have been more successful with math. I think this enVision program gets students interested in math because it is interactive and it helps students to practice their math skills in a fun environment.
http://www.digitalpath.pearsonsuccessnet.com/snpapp/learn/premium_login.jsp. On this website there is a step by step procedure for how to set up an enVision math program for your students. If anyone finds or knows of a more direct link to this program please let me know. So check out the video I have posted!
This week I thought I would write about the racism stop it national video competition. This is a competition put on by the Canadian heritage association. Any one from the age of 12 to 18 living in Canada can compete and make a film for the contest. Students are to create a one minute video on eliminating racism. The top ten videos are selected and they are shown on national television. I believe it is usually MTV that airs them. When I was in high school I made a couple of videos and submitted them to the contest. Many people from my high school in Yellowknife North West territories made videos and submitted them. Many of these videos have won and been aired on national television. I think this is a great contest to get students interested and motivated in eliminating racism. It allows them to work together and collaborate and share ideas about what racism is and how to stop it. I think it would be great for all teachers to motivate their students to make videos for this competition. Digital media is a very powerful medium. Even if they do not win they will all get participation certificates in the mail. Also the video can be made in any language. The link for the official website with all the rules and regulations is http://www.pch.gc.ca/march-21-mars/contest/index_e.cfm. Below is a film a student submitted for the contest, I hope you enjoy!
Have you ever thought of robots as educational tools? Well I definitely have not until I discovered Robo Panda. Robo Panda is a robot created by the WowWee company. It is fairly new technology. This panda is able to tell stories, play games, you can teach him tricks, etc. If you teach the panda tricks he will remember them and show you them again if you request to see them. This robot bear is very responsive to touch and has sensors all over it’s body so it can tell you what part of it’s body you are touching. This robot can also walk around and do sit ups. It is pretty neat. I don’t know if I would use this in my classroom, but it is just an example of a an educational tool that is out in the market. There are many different educational games and toys out on the market now, and I think it’s really neat that some kids get this kind of educational interaction out of school. I have put the video about robo panda on my blog for you to check out. If this concept interests you I also urge you to check out another Wow wee video where this guy actually commands his robot over the internet using skype. You can watch as the robot travels around and interacts with other robots. The link for this Wow Wee video is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK_qg6a29qM. This kind of technology really interests me ,but it also scares me at the same time. There seems to have been a lot of advancements with robots since the furby came out. I wonder if robots will ever play a role in education?
Today I watched a K to 12 presentation entitled “Design Matters” by Dean Shareski. This presentation focused on creating things that are meaningful and beautiful in a classroom environment. Dean had 3 guest speakers talk about their views on design in a teaching and learning environment. The first speaker, Christian Long talked about how the focus on design has to be on learning. He talked about how a teacher integrated walking into their students lesson plan so that they got to experience an aesthetic learning environment outside of their school. I think this is a great innovative idea because students sometimes need to get out and explore to be inspired to write. I know when I went to school not all of the classrooms were conducive to learning, some didn’t even have windows. I am starting to see how different spaces change the way a student learns. The second speaker was Clarence Fisher and he talked about how he changed his classroom spaces into studios. He said he likes the studio feel because it is a much more open environment, it has lot’s of things going on, and the teachers role changes to the master of a profession who guides their learners. One of Clarence’s most important points was that when you change a space in a classroom, you open up new possibilities for learning. I think this is true, when I was in elementary school one of my teachers had us turn our classroom into a camp ground. This new environment was an inviting and and exciting new place to learn in. The third speaker talked about similar things like how design is beautiful, powerful and exciting in a classroom setting. Dean then started talking about planning when it comes to technology. He said that it is a necessity to pre-plan with technology. One example he gave of pre-planning was storyboarding for a short video. Planning allows the students to come up with a clear purpose for their work. Dean said without adequate preparation the project will fail, it is a teachers job to help the students with their planning process so that that they can help frame the students ideas and what they want to accomplish with the tools. I can relate to this whole idea of planning ahead, last year I was a film student and it was critical that I planned all of my short films ahead of time. The more planning I did the better my final product was. I believe planning ahead is critical even after you are out of school, it helps you to form your objective and come up with a clear path to achieving your goals. The next topic Dean focused on in his presentation was imagery. Dean believes that all students should learn photography and video technology because these skills will allow them to create high quality images and films which will convey powerful ideas all on their own. He also talked about how images support and enhance ideas, especially when it comes power point presentations. As a future art teacher I would have to say that I agree, images can carry a lot of intrepid meaning in them. Also anyone who can see can interpret visual information, they don’t have to speak the same language or live in the same country to understand the meaning of a picture. I am going to refer back to an old statement to cement my point, a picture carries a thousand words. The next topic Dean talked about was white space and transitions. He talked about how students tend to over use effects especially when it comes to power point. It is a teachers job to teach students how to position key elements to give emphasis to a specific topic. Dean says the thing to remember is that less is more. The next topic Dean talked about was constraints. Teachers need to put constraints on projects they assign their students because this helps the students to focus their ides. I only wish they did this more in university! I find it very hard to narrow down broad topics into useful and coherent bits of information. I will quote Dean in saying “good writing is like good design it is about eliminating”. I have never really thought to much about this idea before. I think I am starting to see the benefits of these constraints. The last thing Dean talked about in his presentation was some ides of Dan Pink. Two tips are to avoid templates when creating multi-media because it offsets creativity and look at advanced features of software to see how this will add significance. The overall moral of Dean’s presentation seemed to be that “branding matters”. One of the main things I will take away from this presentation as a teacher in training is that design matters and it is critical to the learning and teaching environment.
