Proj #4 - Activities for Fri, Sep 29

Project # 4—Wikis
This is a project that focuses on writing and the MYP Design Folder.

Find a topic about which you are knowledgeable. It needs to be an area about which there is relatively large audience of interest. Investigate various wikis, and find one to which you can add an entry. (There are many other possibilities besides Wikipedia.) Get an account for that wiki. Research your topic, write a draft of your entry and post your entry on the wiki. Learn how to format your entry properly. Track changes to your entry.

Document your work in your blog. Keep a design folder for this project in your blog. Each post should have “Project #4” and the section of the design folder in the title to make it easy to identify (e.g. Project #4 Investigate). Proper spelling and clear writing style are important. Your blog should have five posts for the design folder (one each for investigate, design, plan, create, and evaluate). Refer to the MYP descriptors to understand what is expected in each section. The project will be evaluated based on the MYP technology rubric.

The project is due on October 11.

1. Discuss the project.
2. The focus is on writing and the Design Folder
3. Group discussion to begin identifying a topic. Everyone should have two or three possibilities.
4. All students to research and find a wiki that is appropriate to the type of topic that they will write on.
5. Work on computer to begin the Design section of the DF.

HW: Pick your topic and make an entry in your blog describing it.

Proj #3 - Activities for Wed, Sep 27

Completing your project

1. Reread the project specifications to make sure that you have completed all parts of the project.
2. Complete all five sections of the MYP Design Folder. In your Evaluate section you should discuss the Areas of Interaction that are relevant to this project.
3. The project is due by midnight tonight.
   

Proj #3 - Activities for Mon, Sep 25

1. Discuss the contents of each section of the Design Folder. What is necessary?
2. Review the sites in CIC10 to show which are acceptable links and which aren’t.
3. For your Evaluate section examine ways in which del.icio.us would be useful for future research projects. How effective were you in setting up your del.icio.us account?

HW:

1. Continue working on the project.
2. Have at least five completed links on your del.icio.us account for Wednesday's class.

Proj #3 - Activities for Fri, Sep 22

1. Reviews terminology.
2. Discuss the project.
   
   • What are you supposed to do?
   • How many entries do you need? Duplicates don’t count. First come, first served.
   • Find websites related to Wikis.
3. Bookmark, note, tag.
4. What will be in each section of the Design Folder?
5. What are the Areas of Interaction in the project?
6. What is the social significance of social bookmarking?\
7. Everyone to continue working on del.icio.us and Design Folder in blog.

Proj #3 - Activities for Wed, Sep 20

1. Discuss social bookmarking and del.icio.us.
2. Create a del.icio.us account with the format of “cic10jimp”. Save the name and password.
3. Learn to add bookmarks to the toolbar.
4. Log on to your account and investigate what’s available.
5. Examine the “help” section.
6. Discuss in last 10 minutes of class.

HW:
Begin the "Investigate" post for the Design Folder for this project.

Proj #2 - Activities for Mon, Sep 18

1. Review grading
2. Discuss social and ethical issues of podcasts.
3. Everyone to subscribe to CIC Podcasts, download two podcasts, and listen to them.
4. Discuss in class

HW:
In preparation for Project #3, research “social bookmarking’ and “del.icio.us” and write a post (under a Project #3 title).

Proj #2 - Activities for Mon, Sep 11

1. Check to make sure that you have five posts for your Design Folder. Copy and paste anything from your other posts that can add to the Design Folder posts.
2. Delete all other posts. You should have just five posts now. One for each stage of the Design Folder.
3. Have someone else listen to your final MP3 version of your podcast to make sure it is good enough to publish on the CIC website.

HW:

1. Final version of your podcast should be completed by 5:00pm Monday, September 11.
2. Final version of your Design Folder should be completed by 5:00pm Tuesday, September 12.
   

Proj #2 - Activities for Fri, Sep 8

1. Edit your podcast
2. Refer to the project specifications to make sure that you are completing the project appropriately
3. Project extension - the podcast and all blog entries are due on Tuesday, September 12 at 5:00pm.
4. Refer to the guidelines for editing your podcast posted on my blog.
5. Note that you must convert your podcast to MP3 format and save it in your directory with the name "FinalYourname"; e.g. FinalCatherine.
   

HW:

1. Edit podcast
2. Continue with other posts

Proj #2 - Guidelines for editing your podcast

1. Make a "safety" copy as a backup.
2. As you edit, save regularly.
3. Cut out long stretches of silence unless they add to your podcast.
4. Cut out distracting noises, clicks, "ums".
5. Don't cut out something that would affect the integrity of your podcast.
6. Make sure your podcast meets the guidelines of the project.
7. Adjust the volume judiciously. Changes should not be abrupt.
   
8. If you add music to the introduction and/or conclusion, it must be legal. (just because you bought a song, doesn't give you rights to use it in your podcast).
9. When you think the editing is all finished, listen to the entire podcast as a final check.
10. Save your final version.
11. Export file as WAV.
12. Import into iTunes.
13. Convert to MP3 format as mono with a birtrate of 64kbps.
14. Export your final version and save it to your home directory with a name of "FinalYourname"; e.g., "FinalCatherine".

Proj #2 - Activities for Wed, Sep 6

1. Discuss problems with podcasts
2. Continue work on design folder posts
   
   • By the end of class everyone should have completed Design Folder entry for Investigate and Design stages
3. Work on editing podcast if recording is complete.

HW:

1. Record/edit podcast
2. Continue with other posts

Proj #2 - The Design Folder

For this project you need to complete a Design Folder. This is the MYPs term for an organized set of writing on each of the five steps in the Design Cycle. You will need to have one post for each of the five steps (Investigate, Design, Plan, Create, Evaluate) Each entry needs to be several paragraphs longs. They must be original writing, not material taken from others sources.

Here is what the MYP says about the Design Folder:

"Once a project is complete, students are required to compile their evidence for each stage of the design cycle in a more formalized manner by producing a design folder. Students take important entries made in their process journal and add value to them by way of discussion, critical evaluation and commentary. For example, experimentation with colour may be briefly mentioned in the process journal, but here students would be expected to discuss why they chose a particular colour over another.

Despite personally preferring a subtle blue as the background for my web site, my research has indicated that a significant proportion of successful sites on the Internet use “white space” to provide the contrast needed for important content. I therefore decided to go with this convention in my final design.

The design folder needs to be clearly separated into its constituent parts according to the technology assessment criteria, even though, very often, entries made in the process journal will not follow the same pattern. Thus the design folder will begin with a report on the student’s investigation and end with the evaluation."
Process journal and design folder, September 1, 2006, http://occ.ibo.org/ibis/occ/tsm/tech/content/public/index.cfm?HierarchyID=514

Proj #2 - Activities for Mon, Sep 4

1. Review schedule of interviews
2. Hand in interview questions
3. Demonstrate recording using laptop and microphone.
4. Discuss in more detail the design folder. Show an example of a design folder entry.
5. Begin work on the Investigate section of the design folder.
6. Complete other posts.

HW:

1. Record podcast
2. Continue with other posts

Proj #2 - Activities for Fri, Sep 1

1. Discuss each of the steps in creating a podcast episode.
2. Begin writing your interview questions.
3. Try recording a short interview with the person sitting next to you. What problems do you encounter? How will you solve them when you record your interview?
4. Discuss recording resolution.
5. Research on the web and find out the appropriate settings for your podcast.
6. Learn how to make these settings in Audacity and try recording.
7. Discuss Murphy’s law.

HW:

1. Schedule a time for your interview.
2. Write your interview questions. These are due, to hand in, at the beginning of class on Monday.
   

Proj #2 - Activities for Wed, Aug 30

1. Discuss the MYP Design Folder: “A compilation of evidence that accompanies the final product for a unit of work. Students formally organize the results of their investigations, their various designs, plans and evidence for creation, their reflections during the creation stage and their evaluations of the final product/solution.
2. Demonstrate the Audacity software
3. Show basic controls for recording and editing.
4. Try out Audacity
   
   • Make a short recording of yourself
   • Play back
   • Make some edits
   • Play back again
   • Save in your folder (not on the C drive)
5. Research interviewing and interview techniques. How will you conduct your interview?
6. Begin writing your interview questions.
7. Begin work on the “Investigate” entry of your design folder.

HW: Complete your interview questions

Proj #2 - Activites for Mon, Aug 28

Project #2 - Create a podcast episode

Create an episode for CIC Podcasts in which you interview one teacher for 3-5 minutes. Write a script of questions. Clear, correct pronunciation is important, so rehearse in advance of recording. Edit your recording to minimize distracting artifacts while preserving the integrity of the content. Adjust the volume as needed. You must give the teacher whom you interviewed the opportunity to review the final recording before posting the episode on CIC Podcasts.

Document your work in your blog. Keep a design folder for this project in your blog. Each post should have “Project #2” in the title to make it easy to identify. Proper spelling and clear writing style are important. Your blog should have five posts for the design folder (one each for investigate, design, plan, create, and evaluate) plus at least five posts in which you discuss daily activities. In one of the posts you should discuss each of the steps involved in creating an episode for a podcast from start to finish. The project will be evaluated based on the MYP technology rubric.

The project is due on September 11.

Class activities

1. Define podcast: “a method of publishing audio programs via the Internet, allowing users to subscribe to a feed of new files (usually MP3s).” Wikipedia
2. Define terms
   
   • Podcast
   • Episode
   • Player
   • Feed
   • Subscribe
   • File format
3. Go to the CIC website and follow the instructions on subscribing to CIC podcasts
4. Set up your blog for this project and make your first post.
5. Answer the question: How does a podcast differ from an audio file?

HW: Complete your blog post

Proj #1 - Activities for Fri, Aug 25

Review the following questions to complete Project #1.

1. Check the project definition compared to what you have done.
2. Have you completed all of the requirements?
3. What areas of interaction were involved in this project?
4. Reflect on your work. What could you have done better? What problems, both expected and unexpected, did you encounter?
5. What would you do differently next time?
6. Which types of projects and activities are suitable for blogs? Which aren’t?
7. Using the MYP technology rubric, evaluate your work on this project.
   

Proj #1 - Activities for Wed, Aug 23

1. Give Gmail IDs to me
2. Discuss blogs
3. What problems are you experiencing?
   
4. What stage in the design cycle are you in today?
5. Discuss features of Blogger.
6. How to get the time to show properly?
7. What is a template?
8. How does the template affect the content?
9. What other aspects of your blog can you change with the settings?
10. What is the difference between a template and a profile?
11. What information is OK to put in your profile and what shouldn’t you put in? Why?

HW:
Finish your post.

Proj #1 - Activities for Mon, Aug 21

Create a blog.

Create a series of posts in which you discuss the MYP design cycle and the technology rubric. Follow the design cycle as you do this project. You will have to do some research on the design cycle. You should discuss each of the stages of the Design Cycle. In your posts discuss which stage you are in and what activities you are doing. What Areas of Interaction are relevant for this project? Use the various features of Blogger to make your posts readable and easy to understand. Also, discuss the MYP approaches to learning. Which ones apply to this project? In addition, post a comment to the blog of at least one student in the class.

Each post should have “Project #1” in the title to make it easy to identify. Proper spelling and clear writing style are important. You blog should have at least three posts.
The project will be evaluated based on the MYP technology rubric.

The project is due on August 25.

Proj #1 - Activities for Fri, Aug 18

1. Review course description
2. What is a blog?
3. Important terminology

• Blog account
• Blog
• Post
• Blog host

4. Set up blog account using Blogger.
5. Create accounts with the naming convention “CIC10jimp”.
6. Call the blog “Grade 10 Technology”.
HW: Make your first post and comment on someone else’s blog.