Personal Learning Space

LAIT2 Assignment2 - Mash up Task

2011-11-28T22:35:00.000-08:00

This is a task for student to learn about Mash Up as part of their Mathematics task. Student will use document as the task is given, video to learn a new skills, using Spread Sheet to manipulate data and finally use Power point to present their findings.

Year 11 General Mathematics – Data Analysis

(Duration: 2 * 70 minutes periods)

The goal of this project is to use a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to analyse data about rainfall in Melbourne over the past month. This data can be retrieved from the Melbourne Water website and then analysed. After analysis, you must present your findings using Microsoft Powerpoint.
Rainfall data for the past month can be found on this Melbourne Water web page:
http://www.melbournewater.com.au/content/water_storages/water_report/rainfall_data.asp
This web page lists the monthly rainfall amounts for each area of Melbourne. Here is a video to help show you how to import the data into an Excel spreadsheet:

Excel has many built-in functions for doing data analysis. After you've imported the data for the past month, investigate these functions and find out how to to calculate the following from the data:

Melbourne's highest rainfall for the month
Melbourne’s lowest rainfall for the month
The total rainfall for the month
The mean, median and the mode for the overall rainfall
The inter-quartile range

You can learn more about Excel functions using the online help files, and by searching on the Internet.

Make a PowerPoint presentation containing your findings. While the PowerPoint presentation will show the results, you also need to give a five minute talk on the methods you used to find, analyse and present the information.

Extension:

Download rainfall data for the whole year.
Calculate the total rainfall in Melbourne for each month.
Calculate the total rainfall for each area over a year.
Plot a graph showing the month-by-month rainfall for Victoria over a year. Describe the rainfall pattern from the graph. Which area has the highest monthly rainfall?

Learning outcome:

Students learn to import and use data from the web. This skill allows student to manipulate data they find on the web. Students in Mathematics class can learn basic concepts and terms of statistics. In this task, students apply the knowledge they’ve learned from Mathematics and IT in a real life situation. The size of the data means that it cannot easily be calculated using pen and paper. Hence, students have to find a way to make Excel do it for them. This involves past experience with the Excel program and, also some research skills. For example, students need to do some research to be able to find the inter-quartile range because it is not a standard Excel function.
Student needs to present the data in Powerpoint. This means they have to find a way to show the Excel data in Powerpoint.

ICT resources

2011-11-27T18:51:00.000-08:00

Resource	Type	Year Levels	Audience	comment
"Sams teach yourself Adobe Flash CS4 professional in 24 hours"	Flash	Yr 9	Teacher	This is a resource for teachers. It is a comprehensive book, including basic introduction to action script and web applications.
Learn Flash CS 5 Tutorial	Flash	Yr 9	Teacher	This is a simple resource. Student can work through this easily. However, there are some that are fairly simple chapter that can be skip through. I particularly like the section on "The Flash Tools panel" because it is a good reference for students to find the meaning of tools quickly.
"Creating a Hello World iPhone Application Using Flash CS5"	Flash	Yr 9	Teacher	This is a simple application. Only display "Hello World" on iPhone. The most important part is that you need to get developer certificate to put this application on the iPhone. This is a good tutorial to get it all set up. Best to use this when student already know how to write application in Flash.
Derivative Plotter	Mathematics, Calculus	VCE	Students	This is a flash applet that student can explore the meaning of derivative. Student can use the example they gave. Or student can add their own example. As student progress through the years, they can try out different functions. It also allows students to change the domain and range of the graph.
Integer Additions using Geogebra	Mathematics,Number	Yr 7	Students	This is a nice application to helps students to understand adding negative numbers together. In my placements, I found students have difficulties understanding the meaning of adding a negative number. This give students a visual support.
GeoGebra Wiki	Mathematics	All	Teachers, Students	This wiki contain lots of resources to help students to understand different mathematical concept. They are not stand alone for student to use. It is hard for student to find what they need here. However, when teacher find the appropriate resource, student are able to explore the idea with these files.
"Khan Academy"	Mathematics, Science, and Humanity	All	Teachers	This website has a wide range of video in teacher science, humanity and mathematics. The convention of Mathematics notation could be a little different to what we use in Australia However, as long as student are aware of the differences, they are great video tutorial. And their mathematics exercises are excellent. It is interactive. If students have problem, they can ask for help and hints. The only disappointment was that they don't have the science and humanity exercises or resources for teachers.
"Game Learning"	Games	Yr 8	Teachers	You need to click on the resource page to get the resources. It contain a few different Game Maker project. It also contain resources for other game platform such as StageCast Creator 2 and Blitz Basic. Unfortunately, the lesson plan is not available. However, teacher can give the game for student to play and as them if they can duplicate or improve the game. Or teacher can use this idea and write his/her own lesson depending on how much scaffolding student might need. This could also lead to the idea of open source software and the advantage of the open source community.
"Schoolgamemaker"	Games	All	Teachers	This is an amazing website. I don't have time to explore all the resource there. It contain research paper for when you need to convince you school that's the path you want to go down. It contain different programming language such as Python, different game platforms, lesson plan and teacher forums. Some of the link require password or login. But some of it is free.
"XNA development"	Games	Yr 10 and VCE	Teachers	Game programming became very popular in the last couple of years. In my placement school, students as young as Yr 9 started learning to write program C# and XNA. They have lunch time programming game club once a week. This website help set up XNA environment and tutorial on how to write program for games. This is more complex then the GameMaker or Scratch environments. However, students can use what they learn to help with their VCE unit 3 and 4.

Comment on Richard Post

2011-11-19T16:16:00.000-08:00

Richard has posted his ICT in Classroom Assignment 1 (part 3). The way he describe how he learn IT is very similar with my own experience.

His explanation on Vygotsky’s social development theory also an important to me because I know when I was in that environment, I learn faster and deeper. It is always useful to learn from a more knowledgeable other. More importantly, when explaining an idea or concept to others really help your own understanding. I found it happen so often when I teach Mathematics. I can solve fraction questions. However, when I have to explain it to others, I found myself having to think deeper and explain in such a way that students could understand.

Appropriate use of technology in the classroom

2011-11-18T22:58:00.000-08:00

(ICT in secondary Eduction Assignment 1C)

Recently my son, who is in year 6, wrote a letter to the principal of his school about a prestigious award he’d received. I was shocked by the poor quality of his writing! As one example, he had not capitalised the “I” personal pronoun. When I questioned him about it, his response was “Microsoft Word automatically makes it capital for me. So I never bother using capitals”. Ok, it’s great for us that student learn how to type, as typed material is much easier for a teacher to decipher when marking. However at present, students are still required to sit for exams such as their VCE. How does 12 years of typing essays help you in an exam? When do students master the basic skills of English formatting and spelling? When do students master and continue to use legible handwriting?

The Victorian Government puts a lots of money into equipping our schools with computers, because they believe it is vital that all students should know how to use them. Recently, I read an article in The Age titled “Computers ok? Not in Silicon Valley”. It is particularly interesting that the parents who send their children to this kind of school are very often those who work in the information technology field. They are experts in this area, yet they believe that children acquire computer skills so easily that they will pick it up quickly when the need arises. Most of the software on the market is so user-friendly that it is hard for students to break the application. So as long as students can try things and learn from their mistakes and their curiosity, they will find learning new applications to be quite easy.

In the past, when students searched for information on a topic, it usually came from newspapers, encyclopedias in the library, or books they might have. With the availability of the web, students can find anything with the click of a button. As a teacher, the challenge of teaching in this modern environment is to manage how students use this powerful and yet dangerous world of technology. Careful consideration needs to be given to the outcome we want our students to achieve. How best to achieve this outcome? Is it ok to just copy and paste from an article? How do we know whether the student learned anything from copying and pasting?

At my placement school, all Year 7 students have iPads. As a result, students don’t have to buy text books. The school has also tried to reduce the amount of printing and paper used. As a result, teachers have a limit on how much they can print, and students are required to have their iPad or laptop ready for class. All students and staff have access to the school’s wireless network. The challenge for teachers is to find material for students to use, to deliver it to students in order for it to be ready when the class starts.

Over-reliance on technology can have a real cost. One day in a Year 7 class, my mentor teacher wanted the students to work through a particular worksheet. She assured me that the students already had it in their iPads because it had been downloaded at the beginning of the unit. When the time came to use this worksheet, student were not able to find it. They had so many notebooks in their iPad that they couldn’t locate the one they needed. This meant that many students claimed that they did not have it. Students were told to download a new copy from the “Drop Box” website, which was stored on a server outside of the school. This became a problem because the service that allowed student to access outside the school was down. After losing 10 minutes of class time, there were only three students in the whole class who had managed to find and open the document. I decided that there was no point waiting any longer and proceeded to write all the questions on the board for students to use.

In this particular instance, the iPad was performing the same function a text book. It did not increase student engagement. It did not allow students to explore concepts and ideas in a way they could not have with a text book, pen and paper. In fact, it caused more problems then having a text book. I now prepared 5 hard copies of the necessary material for every lesson I give, just in case of technology problems. In the end, I have used more paper than I would have in a classroom with text books.

Use of technology in secondary schools is not all bad. In my placement school, students and teachers use Wikispaces to share and archive work. Recently I attended a professional development session on gifted education at the school. To support the session, the teachers had made a wiki page with all the resources and useful information. Other staff members were encouraged to add information that they thought was useful to share. In Year 9 IT class, students had a page where they could show the work they did in Flash and Photoshop. Sharing the work they did provides students with ideas of what they can do in their own projects. Copying an idea from a classmate still requires the student to have an understanding of the skills required to create the same result. Since students are assessed on the skill they develop in Flash and Photoshop, rather than the story line, it is acceptable for them to exchange ideas. In fact, collaboration is very healthy as some students are strong in some skills and not in others.

In Mathematics, Prianyka and I also explored the idea of using GeoGebra to help student visualise the idea of angles in a circle for our assignment 2. GeoGebra is useful for visualising other Mathematics ideas such as gradients, y-intercepts, dilation, understanding where π comes from, the idea of parallel lines and parallelograms, and so forth. The list is endless.

Tools such as MS Word and Powerpoint are also very good tools for students to learn to explore. When student want to add a new feature but do not know how, it is a safe environment for them to try different things on the tool bar to see what works. It lets them build their knowledge without fear of being laughed at, and can give them confidence that they can problem-solve. These are all valuable skills to work on as part of their personal development. However, it must be used appropriately and in moderation just like many things in life.

Comment on ICT Assignment part 2

2011-11-11T15:34:00.000-08:00

Hi Eric,

I really like your articles on

ICT Assignment Part 2

That would definitely get student's attention. Did you gave a lesson with that idea? How did the student react? Did you have issue bringing student on task?

I tried something like that with my year 11 IT class. We talked about open software and the copy right issue. I ask them if they know any open software. And soon it was all about games. Great discussion but I found it hard to bring them back to the real issue which is copy right of software.

GameMaker

2011-10-08T19:41:00.000-07:00

Over the school holiday, I was exploring GameMaker with my son. It was part of the task I was doing for Learning Area IT 2.

Tim is in Year 6 at school. And he is 12.

We spend a bit more then an hour on this introductory tutorial for the game maker called Fruit Clicks. The game is the player trying to click on the fruit. For the one that move quickly, the score is higher. And the one that move slowly, the score is lower.

The instruction is clear. Tim is able to read by himself and follow instruction. He really enjoy testing it. In the process, we talked about saving files during work. We talked about why things don't work. The program simplify the difficulty of programming and allows students to focus on the design of the game rather. It is an excellent program. The problem is that Tim can't get enough and he is asking to spend more time on it!

FruitClick.exe
FruitClick.gm8

Assignment 1b: ICT provides a rich and flexible learner-centred environment in which students can experiment and take risks when developing new understanding.

2011-09-16T06:22:00.000-07:00

ICT provides a rich and flexible learner-centred environment in which students can experiment and take risks when developing their understanding.

There are many software packages in the learning area of Mathematics which allow students to explore Mathematics concepts.

During my placement, I observed a teacher using Geogebra to explain the relationships between angles and circles to a year 9 class, for example, “The measure of an inscribed angle of a circle is half of the measure of its intercepted arc”. The software package allows students to visualize, experience and explore moving the angle within a circle. Students can test the theory and explore the limits. It is much better than having a teacher draw diagram after diagram to prove their point. This software allows students to see that the theory works in practice, and it is easy for students to check different cases by themselves and actively reconstructing the knowledge.

Using Geogebra to demonstrate the inscribed angle theorem is shown in this Youtube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNwwrOnkqDA

The Geogebra website (http://www.geogebra.org/cms/en) has a lot of material for students and teachers to look at. Many of the theories and concepts of mathematics can be explained and explored with this application. Physics is another subject area where teachers could use Geogebra, to explain different ideas such as reflection and motion.

There are other programs that allows student to explore. In my Year 7 class, students have been working on Algebra. They are learning to understand rules and how to write them. The teachers in my placement had put together a list of activities that students can do on the FUSE website.

An example FUSE page - attribute trains

These activities allows students to use trial and error, and to work at their own pace. If students did not get the rule at the first attempt, they can try again. With visual prompting, students are able to try different things to find one that works.

The Learning resource ID on FUSE are ZPPGQ7, 9UEJA5 , 59L99F, BJU6UV, NNY4JA and many more. On each of these interactive pages, students are not only able to explore, they are able to practice and check their answers immediately. Students will know whether their choice is correct without waiting for the teacher to come and check. They are able to try again if it is not correct.

These are just a few of the things that I have seen. ICT allows students to take charge of their learning. They are able to check their own work to make sure they understand. Students are able to work more independently. If students are anxious about making mistake, they can work by themselves and not worry about their friends finding out about mistake. This encourages students, especially students with low confidence to be braver with their learning. The resource that available on line mean that students are able to explore a lot more by themselves. And they can explore a lot wider and deeper in a shorter period of time.

ICT week & Career Expo

2011-07-30T12:34:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday 27th, July, I went to the ICT week and career expo with a few of my fellow students. It was a very interesting experience. Due to our commitment at uni, we missed the opening address.

However, we went to a session on Developing Software for Mobile Devices by Rajesh Vasa, Swinburne University. Most of the participant are high school students. There are at least 3 different high school students. Rajesh Focus on the Design of the software. It is interesting to hear him said that only 20% of the development is focus on writing the program. Most of the time need to spend on analysis and design.

I also talked to a lovely lady from VITTA. She showed me the new government website for teacher and students called FUSE. It contain lots of information for teachers and students. Great resource to keep in our bag!!!!

Assignment 3 Unit Plan

2011-06-17T12:42:00.000-07:00

“Which Plumber to use”

Introduction:

Students will analysed which plumber they want to employ to do a job for them. They will represent the cost in linear graph. Compare two different plumbers cost. Product a report of which one will be better to use in different size job. Students will use Geogebra to compare the graph.

Duration: 5 lessons (50 minutes lessons)

Assessment:

Student will demonstrate elements of Level 6 standard in Mathematics and Information and Communications Technology.

Students will be assessed on:

Understand difference between pronumeral and variable

Understanding the meaning of gradient and constant in y = mx + c.

Understand function notation. Eg f(x) and g(x)

Able to express the cost of the plumbers in Linear equation form.

Graphic representation of the cost

Understand scaling

Represent graph using Geogebra

Label the graph clearly.

Present information in a report format

VELS – Victorian Essential Learning Standards

Domain	Dimension	Element of standard
Mathematics	Structure	They recognise and explain the roles of the relevant constants in the relationships f(x) = ax + c, with reference to gradient and y axis intercept, f(x) = a(x + b)2 + c and f(x) = cax. They solve equations of the form f(x) = k, where k is a real constant (for example, x(x + 5) = 100) and simultaneous linear equations in two variables (for example, {2x – 3y = – 4 and 5x + 6y = 27} using algebraic, numerical (systematic guess, check and refine or bisection) and graphical methods.
	Working Mathematically	Students choose, use and develop mathematical models and procedures to investigate and solve problems set in a wide range of practical, theoretical and historical contexts (for example, exact and approximate measurement formulas for the volumes of various three dimensional objects such as truncated pyramids). They generalise from one situation to another, and investigate it further by changing the initial constraints or other boundary conditions. They judge the reasonableness of their results based on the context under consideration. They select and use technology in various combinations to assist in mathematical inquiry, to manipulate and represent data, to analyse functions and carry out symbolic manipulation. They use geometry software or graphics calculators to create geometric objects and transform them, taking into account invariance under transformation
ICT	Focus	Students explore the distinction between legal and illegal uses of ICT and create information products that comply with ICT intellectual property law. This particularly relates to copyright.
	visualising thinking	Students use a range of ICT tools and data types to visualise their thinking strategies when solving problems and developing new understanding. They use visualising thinking tools and apply ICT techniques to support causal reasoning and to model and describe the dynamic relationship between variable and constant data values to test hypotheses. Students are efficient and effective in their use of appropriate ICT tools and editing techniques for assisting in visualising thinking. When solving problems, students discriminate between such tools and strategies based on their suitability for problem solving in new situations.
	Creating	Students apply a range of techniques, equipment and procedures that minimise the cost, effort and time of processing ICT solutions and maximise the accuracy, clarity and completeness of the information.

Teaching and assessment activities:

Lesson

Activities

Teacher explanation

Student outcome

VELS

Give a formula y = 3x + 2, draw up a table such as

x	Y
1
2
3

Plot each graph on Geogebra.

Create a line of best fit.

Can you read from graph what happen when x = 7?

Introduce Geogebra. Explain to student they can access it via internet. It is open source software.

After activities, teacher explain the meaning of variables.

Understand difference between pronumeral and variable

Able to express the cost of the plumbers in Linear equation form.

Create graph to visiulised thinking.

Maths:

Structure

ICT: visualising thinking, Copyright issue.

Instead of plotting each point, student use notation f(x) = 3x + 2. We see the graph the same as last lesson.

Explain the standard notation in Mathematics.

Understanding the meaning of gradient and constant in y = mx + c.

Understand function notation. Eg f(x) and g(x)

Create graph to visiulised thinking.

Student able to manage their files.

Maths:

Structure

ICT: visualising thinking. Creating

Students enter g(x) = 2x + 3. What can we see?

Teacher lead discussion on the function of m and c in the standard forms.

Students need to save their work to be used again next lesson,

Students able to retrieve the file they saved from last lesson.

Students able to retrieve files from last lesson.

Student understand the relation of zooming and scaling.

Maths:

Working mathematically

ICT: visualising thinking. Creating

Students explore the graphic view options. Students need to find answer to the following questions:

1. What happen when the ratio in x-axis and y-axis changes?

2. How can we zoon in to the intersection?

3. What happen to the ratio when we change the minimum and maximum of x-axis without changing y-axis?

4. What happen when we remove the number on the axes?

5. What happen if we change the minimum and maximum of x-axis to 3 and 10? Is there still intersection of the graph? If so, will it be on the right hand side or the left?

Teacher lead class discussion to ensure students have sound understand scaling and zooming.

4,5

Student will be given the problem solving task.

“You need a plumber to do a job. When you rang John and Chris, you got two different quote. John charge $150 for a call out fees and $80 for each hour. Chris charge $100 for a call out fees and $100 for each hour. When will John charge less then Chris? And when will Chris charge less then John? At which point in time, they will cost the same?”

Student present project in A3 size paper. Include a print out of their graph. Student could choose to present it in powerpoint format and submit electronically.

Able to express the cost of the plumbers in Linear equation form.

Able to produce graphically presentation of the cost.

Able to analysed and give answer.

Present graph in the appropriate scale, ie, display the intersection of two graphs.

Label graph clearly.

Maths:

Structure, Working mathematically

ICT: visualising thinking. Creating

Reference:

“Mitchelmore, M., & Cavanagh, M. (2000). Students' difficulties in operating a graphic calculator. Mathematics Educational Research Journal, 12(30), 254 – 268.”

Summary on Students' diffidulties in operating a graphic calculator

2011-06-15T20:36:00.000-07:00

“Mitchelmore, M., & Cavanagh, M. (2000). Students' difficulties in operating a graphic calculator. Mathematics Educational Research Journal, 12(30), 254 – 268.”

In this paper, the authors looked at the different students faces when operation a graphic calculator. He summarised into a few area. (In this blog, I will focus the technology side of the difficulties.)

1. Scale. In particular when the x-axis and the y-axis were not scaled equally. And often students confuse the difference between scale and zoom function. In Geogebra, the scale are number on the axes. But in some graphic calculator, they are not as clear.

2. Accuracy and Approximation. Students assume that they can trace the graph and find the accurate number. But sometimes (in the example shown by the authors), the number they are looking might not be rational or nice (such as whole number).

3.Representation by pixels. Students understand the jagged representation of graph being the approximation. However, Students' focus on reading the graph rather then using other means to find the intersection could be a problem.

In summary, students would benefit from teaching guide their attention to the there area that was mention before.

Assignment 3 Update

2011-06-15T19:48:00.000-07:00

“Mitchelmore, M., & Cavanagh, M. (2000). Students' difficulties in operating a graphic calculator. Mathematics Educational Research Journal, 12(30), 254 – 268.”

From reading this article, I really would like to plan a unit of work on for students to learn to use technology to enhance their learning of Mathematics. Since students are not required to purchase a graphic calculator in year 7 - 10, I decided to introduce them to Geogebra, which is a free software that is available to use on many platforms.

In a overview, I am thinking of fitting it into the visualizing thinking and creating. Student will start their work from series of questions that require them to explore the graphic representation of functions, the different representation of unit of the set of axis and their relationship. Toward the end of the unit, students will create graphic representation of a real life situation and make analysis on the different graph.

Because I am not teaching student to use standard software such as Word, Power Points and Excel, do you think it still part of ICT?

Useful link

2011-06-10T22:58:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the useful link I found over the Internet. Some might be useful, some might not.

The next two links are to some resource for teacher. Unfortunately, you need to pay to join the membership. However, if you are interested in the courses, you can still attend without being a member. It might just cost a little more.

ICT in Education Victoria

Australia council for computers in Education

ABC Tech Stream is a very interesting site. They raise different issue with technology in classroom. Could be useful for students to have a look for social issue in Yr 11. Unfortunately, they don't run this anymore. But the article there are very interesting.

Chris Betcher’s blog : He is a IT teacher for many years. There are different teaching issue. I found him interesting character. Not a good place to look for supporting article for what you need. But as a good to know referenced.

Next placement

2011-06-05T03:15:00.000-07:00

I am very excited about my next place. The school I will be going next have the laptop program. I believe all student have a laptop and year 7 have iPad either this year or next year. I am looking forward to find out more. Love to see how it is use for the year 7 to 10.

Reflection on Sem 1 Placement

2011-06-03T20:15:00.000-07:00

Semester 1 came to a closed. I had a really lovely time at my placement school. I mostly taught Maths. Maths students in Yr 11 and 12 are required to use Graphic Calculator. It was very interesting to see what they can achieve with this technology. I wish I had one of those when I was in Yr 11 and 12. Yr 9 students had a taste of the graphic calculator from the class set that the parents association bought.

I also team teach for yr 11 IT subject. I am amazed on how much theory they did. If I did that much theory in high school, I don't think I will ever choose computer as a subject in Uni. If I teach yr 11 IT in the future, I would like to develop student depth of the subject.

I was very lucky to observe a few different classes on their use of computer. Year 10 IT class wasn't very interesting either. Students were evaluating the legitimacy of the website and also research on some key people in the history of computer. Teacher told them not to use Google or Wikipedia, which I found very interesting. I feels that they are a good source of information and starting point. It is always advisable to check other places to make sure the information presented is accurate.

I really enjoyed my placement. The classes that I taught and observed did not use a lots of computers. I am really looking forward for my next placement. From what I found out on the school website, my next placement school uses a lots more computers. Yr 7 students all have iPad. Yr 9 and 10 have netbook. I would like to see how it is implemented. I would also like to see how technology enhance the learning for students in Yr 7 to 10.

Robot power forges school links with business

2011-06-01T11:30:00.000-07:00

From The Age newspaper:

http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/robot-power-forges-school-links-with-business-20110525-1f4e0.html

This is so exciting to see student in primary school can have the experience of learning about building robots. My son got Lego NXT for Christmas two years ago. What I like about this is that children not only built the robot, they also have to program it. The book give you steps by steps instruction on how to build a couple of different model and the programming part to. However, it doesn't always work the first time. It was very interesting to watch my son trying to work out what's wrong.

When I become teacher, I would like to run a lunch time club for students to build their robots. I think this have more meaning to them then the theory that the students have to learn in year 10. I know in their curriculum, they learn to do game maker. This just give student a different prospective of looking at IT differently.

Facebook gossip pages vilify students

2011-05-30T21:43:00.000-07:00

From The Age newspaper:

http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/facebook-gossip-pages-vilify-students-20110526-1f6kh.html

This new sosical media have advantages and disadvantages. In the old days, gossip was spread in word. Often it is hard to know where it come from. When teacher came to investagate, they have no proof.

With the teachnology such as Facebook, Twitter, My space and mobile phone, the gossip and rumour get spread very quickly to outside of school setting. I think that's where the problems are. For the person who started posting these items, it is possible to trace back to who said what. Approiate consequences can be dish out to the student who made the offence. I would like to see the media reporting on what happen to the student who started the gossip and rumour as an example for other student not to do it.

Assignment 3

2011-05-30T16:11:00.000-07:00

I am so undecided on what I want to do for this assignment. I have tow option:

1. Software Development cycle for year 11. This is an introduction to year 12 software development stream.

2. Using some software to help students have better understanding of Mathematics for year 7 to 10. This might link into VELS on using ICT for visualization.

Twitter lesson

2011-05-22T16:11:00.000-07:00

Found this on the internet. It is a very interesting way of using media to teach twitter. It make me dizzy but I am sure the young one like it. Enjoy....

http://prezi.com/nsu8izuq8jxs/mathematweets/

Would love to learn more over the holiday. This will make the dry lesson more interesting.

Setting restriction for individual post

2011-05-16T03:52:00.000-07:00

Do anyone know how to do restriction on individual post in Blogger? I found out how to restrict on your blog as a whole but not individual post.

http://nxwiki.blogspot.com/2010/09/how-to-restrict-blog-readers-in.html

I know it is possible to do it in WordPress. Wish I have used it earlier.

Social Issue - Opne Source Software Yr 11

2011-05-04T19:16:00.000-07:00

I spend about 20 minutes in Year 11 IT class talking about Open Source Software. It can be related back to copy right issue.

Start:
I started with getting student thinking about the game maker files. If you get an executable files and you like to change part of it, it is not possible. But if you have the Game Maker File, you can modify it.

Successful Example:
Firefox, Linux, Open Office and Doom

Advantages:
We talked about how people make money from it.
And how some people use it to improve their skill in order to get a better job.

Managing:
We look at how it can be manage. Also explain that other company use similar method to manage their project.

Reflection:
Overall, it is a good lesson. Student have some experience of using an Open Source Software. I feel that introducing this topic will expend their resource for the future. In short terms, I will be interested to see if they use the idea in their assignment. In Long Terms, I hope they remember this if they want to find some software to use.

Assignment 1 - Lesson plan

2011-04-12T17:30:00.000-07:00

Lesson Plan

Subject: Research and information collection

Topic: Research information on our community worker such as police, paramedic and fireman. Focus on the job requirement such as qualification, condition, award (salary, holiday, hours etc)

Class: Year 7

Length of Lesson: 70 mins

VELS ICT Year 5 – 8, “Later in this stage, students become more proficient in the use of Internet research tools to locate and download information from a range of sources, and they judge the quality of information, based on set criteria.”

Material and equipment needed: Access to Internet and computers. Teacher require projector screen to model some work for students.

Lesson Objectives:

Students will identified the need to have a good search skill
Students will identify the appropriate website to gather their information.

How reliable are the source?
How can we tell if the source is reliable?
What information do we get from this site?

Students will identify the useful information on the website in contrast of the ads.

Lesson Structure:

Time:	Lesson:	Reason/Justification
10 mins	Ask for student experience on searching information on the web for assignment. Discuss some of the problem they might face. Is it quickly to turn to book? Can we always use book or can we always us web? Discuss the different search engine they came across. Draw their attention on Google search.	This is the engagement state of the lesson. I want to draw students' attention to the different aspect of searching information on the web.
7 mins	Explain the task for students. Look at the handout. Teacher model searching “fireman” in Google and show student the search result. Teacher try “MBF” as second search.	This part of the lesson is to scaffold students' thinking regarding to using different search string. This help to build the knowledge for more efficient search skill.
10 mins	Students work in pairs to come up with some search string to use for their task	Peer support in drawing ideas.
3 mins	Ask student to take turn to write up their search string on board.	Allow students to have a look at other people's idea.
20 mins	Student set to work on searching the information and filling in the hand out sheet.	The hand out will allow students to record their finding.
5 mins	Warn student they need to wrap up their work before we going to have a discussion of what they learn.	Give students time to finish off what they do.
15 mins	Bring students back to the teacher. Quick look at what they find from the exercise. Discuss what a good search string is and how to identify a reliable source.	Re-enforce the lesson and give students a chance to present their work and reflect on what they did.

Hand out for student to work with.

Name: Date:

Topic: Searching career information on

Community career

Student chooses to find out about Fireman, Police or Paramedic information on:

· How often do they have to work?

· What kinds of shift (night? Day?) they have to take?

· Do they have a choice?

Think of 3 search string you would use.

Search String	Summary of result List first 3 website name and address. Is it useful?

How reliable are the source?

Name and address of website	Summary of website In point form, What information do you get from this website?	Reflection Do you think this information is relevant? What information does it have to support your thinking?

Print one of the screen and use paint identify the actual information relate to the topic and advertisement.

Press “Print Scrn” button on your keyboard
Open Paint.
Click on Edit, Paste
Choose a colour and identify useful information and advertisemen

Summit your file on line.

Welcome

2011-02-22T15:35:00.000-08:00

My name is Jenny. I am studying Master of Teaching at Melbourne University. I hope to use this to record my learning journey for this year.

Personal Learning Space

LAIT2 Assignment2 - Mash up Task

Year 11 General Mathematics – Data Analysis

Extension:

Learning outcome:

ICT resources

Resource

Type

Year Levels

Audience

comment

Comment on Richard Post

Appropriate use of technology in the classroom

(ICT in secondary Eduction Assignment 1C)

Comment on ICT Assignment part 2

ICT Assignment Part 2

GameMaker

Assignment 1b: ICT provides a rich and flexible learner-centred environment in which students can experiment and take risks when developing new understanding.

ICT week & Career Expo

Assignment 3 Unit Plan

Summary on Students' diffidulties in operating a graphic calculator

Assignment 3 Update

Useful link

Next placement

Reflection on Sem 1 Placement

Robot power forges school links with business

Facebook gossip pages vilify students

Assignment 3

Twitter lesson

Setting restriction for individual post

Social Issue - Opne Source Software Yr 11

Assignment 1 - Lesson plan

Welcome