Important

So this is what will happen:
1. I need your complete website structure (all pages, images, citations, movies, etc..) done on Friday. We must error check the index.
2. I will allow you to do any details and final touch-ups on Monday, however,---YOU CAN'T CHANGE ANY PAGE NAMES OR PATHS OR ADD OR SUBTRACT PAGES.

I will come to school on Saturday to do preliminary grading of the websites. Be sure to read the checklist that follows this entry....

Checklist

Final projects are due Friday, June 1. I hope you will all attend the SHS tech Fair on June 4 from 6-8pm to show off your work. Bring friends and family.

If you are a presenter I ask that you be here by 5:45pm.

Some items to think about as you finish:

1. Check the rubric. Have you done everything?
2. Citations!! Correct format!!
3. Does your page look like a final project for Web2 or Web1? Are you using modern design? Is it visual and interactive?
4. Please be sure there are NO typos or links errors. Double and triple check.
5. Have you shown evidence of engagement and collaboration? The next few days are an excellent opportunity for this.
6. Do you have a "future" section where you outline what EXPERTS think will be happening in your area (laws, trends, etc...).

And most important: Did you actually answer the question????

This has been a three week project. Plan accordingly to finish on time and demonstrate your best work.

Cool site

This Bobby McFerrin site is real cool. Have fun with making the music. Interactive/visual/informative. You might not have the skills to pull something like that together, but you can make your project interactive/visual/informative. The usability rating for this site is very, very high.

When you are home watch this youtube video. He is an absolute freak of nature. When he sings harmony (2 pitches at once) with himself I get a bit freaked out. He gave the absolute best concert I ever saw.

Technorati Tags: BobbyMcFerrin usability web_design k12 education Seymour

VOKI

This is a test of voki.com. I hope it works at school.



Get a Voki now!

Check out the best Flash Websites. Get some ideas?

We will start forming the index today. Please go to UDrive on network (WebSchneider-Web2-Final Projects). Create a folder with your first and last name in the appropriate subject. Save your "index" file in this folder. It doesn't matter if it is done, we just need a correctly named file to start the index and make the links.

If you made a movie in Windows Movie Maker you need to convert it using Flash. Go to Flash and use "Import to Library". Bring file in. Then open it from your library and save it as a Flash file. Then you can bring it into Dreamweaver. Of course, it might be easier to make the movie in Flash to begin with....

The New Yorker has an interesting article about Gordon Bell, the famous computer scientist, and his vision of the future. Its long, but a good read.

The blogmeister had an interesting post about the Arts and Sciences. The 2nd half of the entry is the relevant part. Are you quoting experts in your project (and citing them correctly)? I hope so....

If you haven't checked out the completed horizon project that we reviewed a few weeks ago I urge you to do so. Those students did an excellent job.

Technorati Tags: Warlick k12 hz07 GordonBell NewYorker

Charts

Somebody check this out. Let me now if it works. Flash Charts.

Update 5/25/07 OK. Steven A. got it to work fairly easily and is giving us instructions on his blog. It is a cool way to present data. Put it in your favorites and possibly use it for your project.

Technorati Tags: amcharts

Tuesday

I have received a few notes that people are watching how our weebly site develops. Work hard!

Interviews are not an optional part of the project. You do your interviews and research before you begin your design. Remember I am evaluating your work each day as you work with your classmates and your engagement in the project. The final product is only 10% of your score. Check the rubric!

Monday

The second blog question is due on 5/22. I would also like you to check the rubric. Score your project at this point. What do you need to work on the most?

I added Mr. Sirowich to the faculty list for the Zero-Impact House question. Mr. Sirowich used to be an environmental engineer and might make an excellent interview.

Timing is everything. The NY Times Magazine has several articles on "Eco-Tecture" or green building. I include the link but I also have the hard copy on my desk if some of you need to get some good research. It has some amazing information.

Mrs. Deming has answered several questions on students blogs. Be sure to check them out. If Mrs. Deming answered a question on your blog please leave a link on the blogmeister so it can be shared and you can show evidence of collaboration.

You probably want to make your movies in Flash instead of Movie Maker. Its much more powerful. I am not sure how well movie maker files will integrate into Dreamweaver.

If you are a tech fair presenter and you haven't created your weebly site please do so today. I would like you to add a blog so we can leave comments on your site. Be sure to leave links back to your blogs, the SHS Blogspot, and the class assignment.

Finally, don't get slammed because you didn't use citations properly. No, you can't just take pictures off google. I will check your sources!! Everything must be cited.

I will be out the second half of the day for the NVL track meet. I think I will be doing curriculum work on Wednesday.

Thursday

The weeks are going by real fast.....

The next few days will be crazy. Many of you have prom obligations, we have 8th grade orientation, track meets, and I have curriculum work on Wednesday. I won't see some of you for one week.

But the deadline still looms. Having other obligations is not a reason to produce shoddy work. I expect your best work.

I hope this is not blocked: weebly.com. Making a professional website is getting incredibly easy and free. Of course this impacts this class. If software is becoming online, free, and incredibly easy we may value the coding aspect of design less. The value of being a good writer and visual communicator will become more and more important. The value of being able to write in three dimensions is definitely becoming more important.

OK>>>>We have been playing with weebly all day. Our presenting group (web 2.0, video, etc..) will definitely use this. See me for questions.

Now a lot of programmers hate programs like this. It doesn't code completely correctly. There are trade-offs as the software becomes more user-friendly. Will this become the industry standard? I doubt it. Something even easier will debut before we teach this class again next September.

Don't fall behind. The world is moving VERY fast.

I did a quick flash thing from the VA tech victims and put it in UDrive. Use it if you want.

And finally, here is the link to Mrs. Deming's page about her breast cancer walk. Read this before you write up her questions. In addition she has been answering questions on students blogs (Christina, Jackie, etc..).

Technorati Tags: weebly k12 education

Speed

Where have all the phone booths gone? I bet some of you have never seen one outside of a movie.

We talk often about how fast technology is changing society. Only a few years ago what an iPod could do was shocking. Now you watch movies on it and its no big deal.

And now you can watch TV on your cell phone. What's next?

Here is a reminder about flash and what it can do and its effect on education. What type of flash component will you be adding to your website? Be sure to look at the flash templates and dreamweaver templates we have shown you. Don't make your website look like it was made in 2001.

One note about Project 9--we can't get the ActiveX to play correctly. So after you finish making the globe turn you can stop, don't worry about the state park page.

Links

A few links that were posted yesterday and might apply to your projects:

From the Blogmeister:
New Schools in the UK: Britain is committed to rebuilding all schools in their country by 2020.

From Will Richardson:
Summary of our new technology: Very similar to our "write to your grandma" assignment.

From NBC News:
2017: NBC Nightly News did a series this week on how life will be like in ten years. Great timing!

If you find links people might use please post them on your blog and comment on the people doing that assignment.

As we start the project a few reminders. First, try to follow the steps in order. Do your research first and THEN interview your expert. It will make you look much smarter. Use the interview to clarify some of your research. Because you spend the time to research first the interviewee will be much more likely to enjoy the interview. Doing research will allow you to be much more specific and thought provoking in your questions.

Second, use the time to collaborate with all other people doing your question. Together work on questions that will be probing and interesting. Lets not have fifteen people ask Mrs. Deming the same question. That's boring for her. What questions will add the most value to your website? You can only know after you do some research and you know what holes you need to fill.

Good luck!

Technorati Tags: Warlick WillRichardson future education k12

Monday

Today will be the final day in the Flash sandbox. Use the time to try something new in the tutorials (try zoom in if you haven't yet). I also want you to spend time reading Project 9 in the textbook as you will need to add Flash movies to your websites during your final project. Please take the time to view some of the examples of Flash Websites that are on the tutorial pages (there are links in the bottom right).

If you made a cool movie in Flash, save it to the UDrive so everyone can see it. I had Courtney P save her car movie there. Its pretty cool.

We will begin the final project tomorrow. You can read about it today, but be warned I have a few more items to add to the page. This will be a three week assignment and will require you to show competencies from Web1 and Web2. All of these projects will be displayed at the SHS Tech Fair on June 4.

We will split into two groups for the project. I will ask several of you to present at the Tech Fair on subjects such as Web 2.0, video, blogging, and such. The rest of you will work on one of the assigned tasks for the project.

Wednesday Assignment

In order to complete Wednesday's assignment you must complete the first two tutorials on shape and motion tween. You must complete this assignment and show the teacher by the end of the period. Work together so everyone gets it done.

Motion Tween:
Move a blue circle from the bottom left corner to the top right.

Shape Tween:
Convert a small blue circle to a large red square. Have the object move from the bottom left corner to the top right corner.

Save each file in WDrive.

If you finish the first two tutorials please try to move through the rest of the tutorials. I would like you to have a very basic idea of the available tools by the end of the week.

Flash

Here is the link to the Flash tutorial that I would like you to start when your quiz is done. These are some simple directions for learning the basics of Flash. You will notice some similarities to the project that we just completed (timeline, layers, etc...). Start with the top tutorial (motion tween) and go through the rest.

I am new to Flash as well. We will learn this together. I think you will pick it up very fast. I got most of the things to work very easily. But some things held me up. I am sure they are obvious things. A few things to note about Flash. First, you can do some cool stuff with it. Second, because you can do some cool stuff designers often load their pages with stuff that adds no value to the page, causing it to take forever to load. Worse in my eyes are those "flash intros" to pages that almost nobody likes to use.

So, as you use the Flash tutorials think about how you could use Flash to add value or increase usability on a page.

Please try to put your Yankees quiz in the UDrive today. Important notes about the quiz....please follow the directions!!! Some of you have turned in a quiz that does not include the correct link or explanation text. Please don't turn in a webpage that is titled "Untitled Document".

I hope to have the final project assignment ready by Thursday or Friday. Keep sending me your ideas.

Technorati Tags: Flash

Cool links

My mom sent me this link. Be sure to include sound. I really hope it plays for you.

Mobile phones in concept link.

June 4 is the SHS Tech Fair. Everyone of you will have your final projects displayed. I have asked several of you to present to the Board of Education. Keep sending my ideas for final projects.

I see eight presentations at the tech fair:

• Video, youtube, teachertube
• Web 2.0 and School 2.0, what can be happening NOW.
• Dreamweaver/HTML/Programming applications
• Wikis
• Blogging/Global Communications
• Educational Gaming
• Future, Web 3.0, School 3.0. What will happen in the FUTURE.
• All of your final projects

All of these topics involve information, the processing of information, and how the nature of communications is shifting (2D writing becomes 3D writing). Also, we should all speak about the importance and value of 1-to-1 computing. Imagine doing this (or any) class with 1 computer.

I'd also would like to have one movie (like the Did you Know movie we watched at the beginning of the semester) that highlights and summarizes everything.

Agree? Ideas? Suggestions?

Final Project

Teaching a class for the first time is not easy. The main issue is pacing. I don't really know how long a unit will take and how many extra items to add for understanding. I do feel that we are finishing the year much stronger than how we started. All of you have improved on our three objectives: synthesize, summarize, solve.

Almost all of you have grades above 95 now. You are doing the work and doing it well. About 10 of you are not getting your work done. This is not acceptable. You know who you are. See me today and we can try to fix this the easy way. Otherwise.....

So what do we have left to do? We need to spend some time on Flash and Fireworks. We need to do our final project (this will be fairly large). We need to review for the final and take the final.

If you have ideas for the final exam and final project please add them to your blog. I would be interested to read them. If you took Web1 with me you probably have an idea where I am heading.

Wednesday

I am in general very happy with the reviews that you did for the Horizon Project and the comments you made on the blogs. I think about 80% of you showed a real depth of understanding about design, writing, and the creative process. Many of the rest of you went through the motions. Always do your best.

Go to teachertube.com and check out the scores for the movies I posted. Kelly's movie is in the lead with over 1700 views! Related to the horizon project this is a social network and an emerging form of publication. You have a global audience! Have something to say.

Project 8 should be in progress at this point. The quiz is posted on the wiki. Have some fun with it.

Technorati Tags: hz07 teachertube

Tuesday

Things to do today:

1. Review and edit your horizon project exams.
2. Complete your Web 3.0 blog entry from before vacation.
3. Check teacherease for missing work. I have not gotten to all the P7 quizzes and some of the videos. You have not been graded if you did not turn in an evaluation.
4. Make 3-5 substantial comments on students blog entries about the horizon project.
5. Project 8 if you are ready.