Saturday, October 10, 2009
GREAT SUGGESTION
Every time we (ITA collective) start a new project/work time/activity, have the students immediately SAVE and NAME IT WELL.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
What Blog Reflections Should Include...
Hello Bloggers...
As you reflect every Saturday after a session, you should always include the following:
Hopefully using this list, reflections will be easier to write, more useful, and maybe even more fun!
As you reflect every Saturday after a session, you should always include the following:
- Goals for the day.
- Reflections/Assessments of those Goals.
- Problems that arose with lesson, students, lab, etc.
- What went really well -- better than you thought -- with response from students, lesson, lab, something new that you learned, etc.
- Solutions to any problems future, past, present... also, suggestions or "warnings" for future teachers.
- Recommended: some sort of image to represent the reflection for the day.
Hopefully using this list, reflections will be easier to write, more useful, and maybe even more fun!
Thursday, September 4, 2008
The XHTML/CSS Learning Experiences part 3
Application: End of ITA freshman Summer
After learnign Dreamweaver making my basic webpage was easier. I never had to type in my barebones, the programe always did it for me. Making my layout was much easier too, all I have to do is click on layout choose expand into tables mode and then I can click and drag to make my table cells for my text and pictures.
to be continued...
After learnign Dreamweaver making my basic webpage was easier. I never had to type in my barebones, the programe always did it for me. Making my layout was much easier too, all I have to do is click on layout choose expand into tables mode and then I can click and drag to make my table cells for my text and pictures.
to be continued...
The XHTML/CSS Learning Experiences part 2
Comprehension: ITA freshman summer part 2
It's the second week of ITA summer, and we just finished learning Macromedia Fireworks, and Macromedia Dreamweave 4.0. Bob and Greg told us we are learning Macromedia Flash today, they said we are going to make personal websites and use Flash to animate our names and use it as banners.
Flash was cool, once we finally got everything done. My animation was my name breaking apart and turnning into a cirlce and then back again into my name. It's a personal website, so it only makes sence to have the name of the person's personal site at the top.
Whats a website without a navigation bar? Maybe ill use a regular image with cool text. Hm... Maybe ill make a rollover button that Greg showed us in Fireworks, it'll look cool if the text gets bigger when the mouse goes over the button.
It's the second week of ITA summer, and we just finished learning Macromedia Fireworks, and Macromedia Dreamweave 4.0. Bob and Greg told us we are learning Macromedia Flash today, they said we are going to make personal websites and use Flash to animate our names and use it as banners.
Flash was cool, once we finally got everything done. My animation was my name breaking apart and turnning into a cirlce and then back again into my name. It's a personal website, so it only makes sence to have the name of the person's personal site at the top.
Whats a website without a navigation bar? Maybe ill use a regular image with cool text. Hm... Maybe ill make a rollover button that Greg showed us in Fireworks, it'll look cool if the text gets bigger when the mouse goes over the button.
The XHTML/CSS Learning Experiences
Knowledge: Freshman ITA Summer
Make a website about my hero? Who is my hero? Being asked to make a website is hard enough, and yet picking out a historical hero... all i want to do is play games in lab. Heck I don't even know what this Information Technology Academy is all about. 7 hours in front of this computer, surfing the internet and searching for games... this was my ITA days.
My hero... Bruce Lee. "Bruce Lee is my hero, because he kicks butt and I like his movies." That was my historical reason for why Bruce Lee is my hero. Yeah, when I showed it to Bob, one of three ITA instructors, Maddy and Greg are the other two, he gave me the look and said "how about choosing someone else." I responded "I don't know? I don't know who to pick," this translating to 'I don't wanna work, tell me what I need to do.' I ended up sticking with Bruce Lee but changed it to "Bruce Lee is my hero, because he was the first chinese martical artest to expand their teachings to people ouside of their culture."
HTML, the most basic web language, is what we use to make websites. I don't know, something about using opening and cloesing tags to display text. All I understand is making my Bruce Lee picture in Fireworks and setting that to be the banner of my page to show what this website is all about. A layout? the banner on top, navigations bar to the left and all my other information in the middle of the page, thats what Bob told us to make.
All this website stuff is too much work, too much typing... I still hunt and pluck at the key board. Maybe ill start working again, right after this game of tribes.
Make a website about my hero? Who is my hero? Being asked to make a website is hard enough, and yet picking out a historical hero... all i want to do is play games in lab. Heck I don't even know what this Information Technology Academy is all about. 7 hours in front of this computer, surfing the internet and searching for games... this was my ITA days.
My hero... Bruce Lee. "Bruce Lee is my hero, because he kicks butt and I like his movies." That was my historical reason for why Bruce Lee is my hero. Yeah, when I showed it to Bob, one of three ITA instructors, Maddy and Greg are the other two, he gave me the look and said "how about choosing someone else." I responded "I don't know? I don't know who to pick," this translating to 'I don't wanna work, tell me what I need to do.' I ended up sticking with Bruce Lee but changed it to "Bruce Lee is my hero, because he was the first chinese martical artest to expand their teachings to people ouside of their culture."
HTML, the most basic web language, is what we use to make websites. I don't know, something about using opening and cloesing tags to display text. All I understand is making my Bruce Lee picture in Fireworks and setting that to be the banner of my page to show what this website is all about. A layout? the banner on top, navigations bar to the left and all my other information in the middle of the page, thats what Bob told us to make.
All this website stuff is too much work, too much typing... I still hunt and pluck at the key board. Maybe ill start working again, right after this game of tribes.
ITA Intro Videos: Wearing the Amateur Director's Hat
"What the heck is all this talk about the 'first hour' I keep hearing from AJ ?" Gordy demanded of the cold walls of the computer science building. Gordy, an imaginary ITA employee, was invented solely for the purpose of introducing this blog posting.
Though Gordy may not exist, his question has been alive and well in the minds of many living/breathing ITA instructors. The first hour is a vital and fragile moment of any ITA session (read more about the first hour on the Wiki). To help us avoid the "okay, so, today I'm going to teach _____ " type of unit introductions, we have INTRO VIDEOS.
Well, certain intro videos are complete, namely Computer Hardware Camp and Vegas Video Camp. I am also tackling videos for the Digital Audio unit, the Many Uses of Computers Camp and the ITA Portfolio system.
Allow me to take a step back and explain exactly what these intro videos entail. In a nutshell, the intro videos should be brief, engaging and SUPER exciting first looks at the unit a class is about to begin. The Sony Vegas trailer a fast-paced series of clips from student created films, all embedded within a humorous scenario so as to contextualize the content.
Of course, creating these types of videos requires a vision, a focus, footage and probably some actors (Will and Lance are the big stars around the office).
I believe that any aspiring directors here at ITA may choose to adopt a unit and create an intro video for that unit. If you're interested, give AJ a holler. Tell him Gordy sent you.
Though Gordy may not exist, his question has been alive and well in the minds of many living/breathing ITA instructors. The first hour is a vital and fragile moment of any ITA session (read more about the first hour on the Wiki). To help us avoid the "okay, so, today I'm going to teach _____ " type of unit introductions, we have INTRO VIDEOS.
Well, certain intro videos are complete, namely Computer Hardware Camp and Vegas Video Camp. I am also tackling videos for the Digital Audio unit, the Many Uses of Computers Camp and the ITA Portfolio system.
Allow me to take a step back and explain exactly what these intro videos entail. In a nutshell, the intro videos should be brief, engaging and SUPER exciting first looks at the unit a class is about to begin. The Sony Vegas trailer a fast-paced series of clips from student created films, all embedded within a humorous scenario so as to contextualize the content.
Of course, creating these types of videos requires a vision, a focus, footage and probably some actors (Will and Lance are the big stars around the office).
I believe that any aspiring directors here at ITA may choose to adopt a unit and create an intro video for that unit. If you're interested, give AJ a holler. Tell him Gordy sent you.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Slap Bracelets Redux
Slap bracelets are an amazing advance in accessory fashion. Or at least... they were 15 years ago.
But they're back!
At least in concept form. It's only a blog post, so I won't say more here...
Except for the idea of e-paper. This fairly new technology aims to replicate paper (feel, consistency, reflection), but on a digital level. Think about writing on a piece of paper, but erasing actually puts the paper back to a pristine state. Wikipedia has more info!
But they're back!
At least in concept form. It's only a blog post, so I won't say more here...
Except for the idea of e-paper. This fairly new technology aims to replicate paper (feel, consistency, reflection), but on a digital level. Think about writing on a piece of paper, but erasing actually puts the paper back to a pristine state. Wikipedia has more info!
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Using an ITA Blog
To use a blog means to me that you are creating articles that other people might find interesting, helpful, informative, and possibly thought-provoking. Hopefully the article sparks discussion and leads to deeper understanding.
It add to the blog, just log-in. This is attached to your gmail account, so it's pretty easy to do. You'll want to include pictures, explanations, all that!!
It's actually easier to add to than the wikITA!!
Yeah, let's go!
Everyone ------ I challenge you to make at least one useful post to this blog by April 10th, 2008!
It add to the blog, just log-in. This is attached to your gmail account, so it's pretty easy to do. You'll want to include pictures, explanations, all that!!
It's actually easier to add to than the wikITA!!
Yeah, let's go!
Everyone ------ I challenge you to make at least one useful post to this blog by April 10th, 2008!
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Browser Security
Linux.com posted an article called "Ten Firefox extensions to keep your browsing private and secure" yesterday. It's a decent collection of Firefox extensions, but it's incomplete, as far as I can tell. From my experience with Windows PCs, the biggest cause of slow-downs and infections is cookies placed by ads on websites. The most successful solution to this problem I've found is by using an extension called Permit Cookies (mozilla addon version). This extension allows you to set your browser's default to reject all cookies. Then, you can white-list sites that require cookies to function properly (e-mail providers, for example). The extension puts a little C icon on your browser toolbar which turns green when cookies are allowed.
The NoScript extension (mentioned in the Linux.com article) uses the same strategy for blocking scripts. It block all scripts, then you can allow the ones you want. This extension updates VERY FREQUENTLY, which is a pain.
As long as you're configuring extensions in Firefox, you might as well make sure you never see ads on websites. I use the original Adblock, but Adblock Plus is also available, and it allows you to use other users' blacklisted ad images, ad scripts, and other annoyances.
Finally, even with this kind of preemptive protection, you're going to have to clean off the bugs some times. Spybot's Search and Destroy is great, as is AdAware, and Ashampoo's WinOptimizer 4. As with any other bug-scanning program, make sure you update the definitions for these programs before you scan your computer, or they'll be completely useless.
The NoScript extension (mentioned in the Linux.com article) uses the same strategy for blocking scripts. It block all scripts, then you can allow the ones you want. This extension updates VERY FREQUENTLY, which is a pain.
As long as you're configuring extensions in Firefox, you might as well make sure you never see ads on websites. I use the original Adblock, but Adblock Plus is also available, and it allows you to use other users' blacklisted ad images, ad scripts, and other annoyances.
Finally, even with this kind of preemptive protection, you're going to have to clean off the bugs some times. Spybot's Search and Destroy is great, as is AdAware, and Ashampoo's WinOptimizer 4. As with any other bug-scanning program, make sure you update the definitions for these programs before you scan your computer, or they'll be completely useless.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Finally, a laptop worthy of spoiled ITA instructors!
Gizmodo just published pictures of what they're calling a "semi-portable" laptop that unfolds to reveal three screens. They're calling it obscene, but I just think it's practical, don't you?
Friday, September 28, 2007
Fusion's iodrive
This new device (pics), a "PCI Express card with a controller and NAND flash chips," uses a PCI connection to attain super-fast transfer speeds (800 megabytes per second read and 600 MB/sec write) to a solid state (no moving parts )stroage medium. They're introducing it at 80GB, but will scale to 320 and 640 GB next year. I want one!
Virtual Slide Rule
This could be a fun little teaching tool for PC Service Camp, a virtual slide rule. it's just like the real thing, only digital!
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