CEDU 581 Computer Architecture Week 6

It seems this couse is close to ending, but it was fun. All of the projects we did in this course were helpful (I'm listing them for my own future reference):

Under the Hood - what's inside a computer
Boot Process
Computer Component (Very helpful - I would like to keep all of the presentations for future reference!)
Ultimate Computer
Distaster Recovery - Very applicable to me since my computer did experience a disaster
recently.
Malware - I hadn't heard of keyloggers before. I also now know about some good anti-spyware
software as well.

I am glad that we did these projects and the order and organization of the course was very good.

Live long and prosper!

CEDU 581 Computer Architecture Week 5

This week we worked on a "Build Your Perfect Computer" project. I looked around at a few websites, such as Dell and HP. I ended up creating a really wicked HP gaming computer. I'm pretty happy with my current computer, a Dell Studio laptop, but if I were to buy a different computer, I think this HP machine would be very nice. The only reason to buy a new computer at this time would be if I wanted gaming or graphic design features. I'm not as into gaming as I used to be, though, so I doubt that I would seriously consider purchasing a new computer at this time. As usual, this was a beneficial assingment for us. If we didn't already, we know know how to buy a computer and what to look for. I'm certainly learning things in this class that will help me in the future in my job and personally.

CEDU 581 Computer Architecture Week 3-4

How does a computer work?

There are various essential components of the computer that are necessary for it to function.

The CPU is the brain of the computer. It carries out preprogrammed orders. After watching Bill Kunst's presentation on this, I would say that it is very important to get the right CPU for your computer needs.

The CPU (Central Processing Unit) is located on the motherboard, which connects all of the guts of the computer, as well as the periphery devices. The motherboard allows all of the computer's components to connect with each other and work in conjunction.

The hard drive stores large amounts of data. The data is permanently stored, unless the user wipes the hard drive or uses a program to write over it. The hard drive allows the user to recall files and information during each use. Data on the hard drive is nonvolatile, meaning it can store the data when the power is not on.

RAM (Random Access Memory) is also very important for running programs on the computer. The data stored in RAM is volatile, meaning it cannot be stored when the computer is not on.

The BIOS helps the computer start up properly and makes sure that the computer is where it is supposed to be when it is powered up. To me it seems kind of like a parent that makes sure their kids wake up on time, eat breakfast and get to school on time every day.

All of these components, along with others, work in concert to do what the programmers, builders, software writers and users want their computers to do.

CEDU 581 Computer Architecture Week 2b

Watching the movie "Pirates of Silicon Valley" was a hoot. I like how it jumped around in time, at least at the beginning. I tend to like stories (movies, books, etc.) that involved flashbacks and show the main characters at different ages. This one started in 1984, went ahead to 1997 and then jumped back to when Jobs and Gates were young adults (early 20s?).

In the flashback to the riots at UC Berkeley it was interesting to note that these people were not so interested in the political goings on of the time, but were embarking on a separate but equally (or even more) revolutionary path.

The parts of the film that involved the early IBM PC and Apple Lisa were fun to watch. I also liked some of the film's music, with some 80s rock and funky 70s stuff.

Different subject:

Last week my computer was attacked and pretty much taken out of commission by a virus. I did reinstall the OP (Vista) but it is still having problems. The Geek Squad says the problem could be one of two possibilities. Either the OP was not installed properly or there is a problem with the hard drive. To have the Geeks run diagnostic tests would cost $70 so I am going to try reinstallation again and this time I am going to wipe the hard dive first. If I still have problems, I will take it back to the Geeks. Even though I was not able to install a new patch or service pack this week, I think this trouble should earn me one point toward the OS assignment. I have learned things from this problem.

CEDU 581 Computer Architecture Week 2a

Windows 7

The next operating system I will use will likely be Windows 7, so I decided to explore it. I was able to do some looking around on a computer that uses this operating system (actually two - I went to Best Buy and tested some of their computers). I am considering buying a new computer because there are some online games I want to play and I want a mean machine that has more than enough of the recommended features, so all of these assignments we are doing definitely have real world application for me.

The feature that really stands apart from other versions of Windows is Windows 7's taskbar. Nicknamed the Superbar, it allows for some interesting new capabilities. One capability, which the Best Buy salesperson called "Aero Peek", allows the user to minimize all windows at once to get a quick peek at the desktop. This is useful if you want to open something else on the desktop. Now you don't have to minimize the windows. Also, the "Aero Snap" feature will automatically maximize a window when dragged to the edge of the screen. The Best Buy person noted that there are usually few problems with upgrading from Vista to Windows 7, even less than from XP to Vista. This was in response to my question about the ease or lack thereof of upgrading to a different operating system.

I did check out Windows 7 on a friend's machine and it seemed to boot up and shut down a little faster than my machine, which uses Vista. My machine is not more than a few months older, so it is a good comparison. Features such as Movie Maker, Photo Gallery and Windows Calendar were available in Vista. These features are still present in some form in Windows 7 as part of the Windows Live Essentials. Other very important features that were cut from Vista are now available again in Windows 7, such as internet spades, backgammon and checkers.

My current machine certainly has the minimum requirements for an upgrade to Windows 7. they are 1 GHz 32, 1 GB of RAM, DirectX 9 graphics processor with WDDM driver model 1.0, 16 GB of available disk space and a DVD drive.

CEDU 581 Computer Architecture Week 1

I didn't have a whole lot of previous knowledge about computer history. It's not something that has been touched on very much in my education, probably because it is a relatively recent development and has happened so fast. You could really call people like Gates and Jobs pioneers. It's possible that they share some of the same traits as people such as Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell.

I have looked inside a computer before, but did not pay too much attention to what I was looking at. Now I know a little better what to look for when I want to find specific parts. I think our projects will force us to really become familiar with the ins and outs of our specific computer part.

Questions:

If we wanted to find a manual or more information about a particular computer model, is there a good place to look?

In a different class you showed us several technology journals / newsletters that you read and it sounded like there was one in particular that you thought was really good. Which one was it?

Link to Ning

Here is the address for my school ning:

http://librarylions.ning.com/

CEDU 534 Digital Media Week 5

During week five we used tokbox and our ning / wiki. I really like tokbox. As with so many of these web 2.0 tools, it is easy and quick to use. The fact that it's free is also nice. How would I use tokbox (www.tokbox.com)? Well, it could be used to send messages to school staff or students about school events. It could be used in a more individualized manner to let students know how they did on a test or quiz. A teacher could let them know right after correcting the tests so that the students don't have to wait until the next day to see the score. The teacher could also provide explanation of the score and not just a grade and some written notes. Tokbox could be used to let students know what was discussed in class and what the assignment is if they are absent.

The ning could be used in the libraries as a hub for students to discuss books and technology. Information, in the form of blogs, pod / screencasts, images and videos could be brought in from the web for students to peruse. Students could then comment and form their own opinions about books and technology.

CEDU 534 Digital Media Week 4

Week four focused on microblogging, podcasting / screencasting and nings / wikis. Twitter was our choice of microblogging and I think it could be useful in various ways, both personal and professional. I liked the example in the book about relatives getting updates through "tweets" and I think Twitter could be very useful for updates at events and gatherings. Twitter might be a good tool for helping students with homework. If a student is having trouble they could tweet and give a brief description of their question. This would take some organization on the part of the teacher and I think there would have to be firm guidelines so that the volume of tweets would not become unmanageable, but it is just one way that Twitter could possibly be adapted to classroom use. I think Twitter, as well as many of the other tools we are learning about, each add a new dimension to our ability to communicate and collaborate.

We also created podcasts and screencasts this week. While podcasts can be useful in many ways, I was really excited about the idea of screencasting. I created a screencast in "screencast-o-matic" that demonstrated how to access and use our school library website from home. This tool could be used to software training with staff and archives of screencasts could be created so that staff can revisit any that they need. I see this more as a staff training tool, but there might be uses for it with students as well. Students could create instructional presentations in order to show what they have learned or created. In fact, students might have their own ideas about incorporating screencasts into the classroom.

We also started to create a Ning / Wiki that we could use in our classroom. Many of my cohorts already use PBWorks and I am very familiar with it, so I chose to start a Ning. So far, it looks like it may have some promising attributes that could be useful in the libraries that I work in. I do think it is very similar to Facebook in some ways, just more slanted toward professional use.

CEDU 534 Digital Media Week 3

What can I apply from this week's learning? Well, I definitely think that RSS Feeds are a great idea for educators and anyone who searches for information and wants to save time. Google Reader is easy to start with and works well, especially if you already have a Blogger page.

The "Education 2050" video was interesting and gave us some idea about what form education will take in the future.

I set up a Flickr account. Photo sharing sites could be useful in the classroom in various ways. Presentations, stories. The slideshow or photostream features in some of the photo sharing sites could be very useful. They offer a clear way of showing pictures. These sites are generally easy to use.

We are still Twittering and this could be a useful way to update a large group of people on what is happening at a given time. It's sort of like text messaging, but useful if trying to announce brief information to any and all interested.

CEDU 534 Digital Media Week 2

There were several things from this week's work that could be applied to what I do as a library media specialist. Listening to the podcast about the use of blogs in the classroom was very interesting and I might pursue that sometime. I was surprised to hear that the teacher was using blogs with 3rd and 4th graders, but it sounds like they really had their t's crossed and i's dotted before they started using them. Blogs are a forum in which students who would rather not voice ideas in class or ask questions in a group setting might be more comfortable communicating.

Elgg sounds like it might be a good blog site for education. One of the articles we read was about Elgg. There seem to be a gazillion blog sites out there and plenty that are meant specifically for educational settings. I think it is just a matter of finding the one that best suits the school or class.

Cedu 534 Digital Media Week 1

We read some good articles during week one. I read one article about RSS feeds that was particularly interesting and I didn't know that an aggregator could be set up. This aggregator can be used to receive the RSS feeds from many sites so that a person only has to check one website instead of twenty.

The paper (assessment 1) about the various educational blog sites was a good exercise. Assignments like this force me to look at and research several websites or resources that I might otherwise ignore. It's good to know what's out there and what might be useful in the classroom.

The readings for week one were enjoyable, as the chapters were not excessively dry or long. Some good concise information about Web 2.0 and blogs. This book is current, which is important for this type of class.

Cedu 527 Technology Leadership Week 6 Exit Blog

I thought the information or preview we saw of "2 Million Minutes" was very interesting. Also interesting is the way that the relationship between the U.S., China and India will play out in the coming years. We have very different ways of doing things. It's East meets West, clearly. I think the U.S. would be wise to take some lessons from India and China and likewise those countries from us.

We talked in class about the imminent firings of a whole staff in Rhode Island or New York. More details are becoming known, but as Connie said, they sort of "threw the baby out with the bathwater". Most interesting to me was the revelation that this is one of the poorest areas in the state. Hello? That makes a huge difference in the level of student achievement.

One student mentioned that her kindergarten students must learn to read by the end of the school year. That's a pretty lofty goal for kindergarten and to me it seems a little precocious. Putting pressure on young children to perform academically is one way in which I don't think we should emulate countries like China and India.

We did a data comparison between various school districts this past week using WKCE scores. It gave us a good overview of some aspects of those districts and gave us some insight into how school leaders are making decisions.

Cedu 527 Technology Leadership Week 5

I enjoyed the simulation last week and thought it was a good learning experience. The burrito was pretty good, too. More than anything, I think it gives us an idea of how the administrators, especially those at the very top, think. Not that every administrator is the same, but I'm sure some of the successes and obstacles that we saw in the game are also encountered in real school districts. When trying to reach a goal or implement a new system of some type, I'm sure administrators find personalities that run the gamut, form those who are very enthusiastic to those who want nothing to do with any type of newfangled change. Administrators have to decide who they are going to pick to lead certain committees and initiatives and how they will spend the district's funds. For instance, will they use a chunk of their money to train a select few and hope that their enthusiasm and expertise rub off on others, or will they try to train everyone at the same time. Should they try to encourage resistors like Irene and Will, or should they just give up on them?

There were many good points in chapter 6 of Gabriel's book. On page 129 he discusses first year teachers and how they are sometimes overwhelmed and lack a strong curriculum to teach from. He writes "imagine if you had been handed a curriculum map" when you started. This is a great idea I think. I know some teachers think this infringes on their freedom, but for many beginning teachers it is important to have some structure as to how they are going to deliver the content. I think a new teacher has so much to deal with that offering them a sort of curricular guide with accompanying activities would be very helpful.

Later in the chapter he writes about "making work meaningful." This is very important, I think. Work that students do in school needs to have relevance to the real world, when possible. Sometimes it may not be possible, but I think teachers should always try to show how students' learning is relevant to their lives.

Cedu 527 Week 4

Our last class was at Go To Meeting again (online). I like that format. We talked about the cheese and how it was moved. We were able to control the screen remotely when discussing the characteristics of the various characters. I had a difficult time keeping all the names straight in that story.

In chapter five of Gabriel's book he talks about professional climate. This is something an administrator mentioned at one of our professional growth meetings today. We were discussing PLCs (Professional Growth Communities) and some aspects of them. In PLCs, groups often create a list of "shared expectations" that each member follow so that unprofessional behavior does not crop up and so that the shared goals of the group are always kept in view. I am on a PLC team at one of the schools I work at and helped to create some of our group's "shared expectations". One expectation is that nontask, personal conversation be avoided. Also, each member of the group must be ready to start the meeting on time. I a member is late, then they assume the role of minute keeper. I was late one day and had to keep the minutes, which I don't really mind.

In chapter five, Gabriel writes about "emphasizing staff development". It just so happens that our district's official "Professional Growth Day" was today. I offered a technology session to staff and was able to learn some new things in various other sessions. As Gabriel states on page 113, "professional development does not always need to be formal". Offering a quick tutorial and question and answer lesson on a particular resource or technology before or after school could also be considered professional growth.

Cedu 527 Technology Leadership Week 3

In the first slideshow one of the slides says that caterpillars are a "yellow, gooey, sticky mess" before they become butterflies. This can certainly be applied to change, whether it be personal or institutional. Change often involves discomfort and some degree of uncertainty. It can be very difficult to change, especially when it involves trying to change habits or procedures that have been in place for a long time. The current health care debate among national leaders is an example of a possible drastic change and I am not endorsing or criticizing any of the schools of thought by mentioning it.

In the cheese slide one of the characters states that "fear that you let build up is worse than the situation that actually exists." I think this is true. Is it possible that our primeval fear instincts sometimes create situations in our minds that are not reflective of reality? I believe so. Or maybe it is not so much our fear but our mind's ability to imagine that can sometimes terrify us.

Another of the cheese slides says that we need to anticipate and monitor change. This is much easier said than done, since change is constant and sometimes difficult to predict. It seems to me that the organizations that best anticipate and deal with change are often the most successful. Examples of successful corporations are Intel, Microsoft, Honda and Google. An example of an organization that has not anticipated nor monitored change well is General Motors.

In one of the systems videos the narrator says "something that an organization does in one era to be wildly successful may be necessary to just get by in another era." I certainly think this can be related to educators, as we have much more "on our plate" than teachers from bygone eras did. Teachers today have more curricular, pedagogical and managerial issues to deal with than ever before. There is no doubt that in order to do my job as a library media specialist much, much more is expected of me than even the people (there used to be three people doing my job) who were here a year before I was hired.

Cedu 527 Technology Leadership Week 2

I enjoyed the class for week 2. I thought the format (go to meeting, or whatever it is called) was a nice change. Although Connie commented jokingly at the end of class that people might be sleeping, I thought it was necessary to be even more attentive than usual. It is possible to zone out in class for a while and still know what's going on. Believe me, I know. However, with "go to meeting" you really have to keep up with the lecture and discusssion responses or you will be lost.

I found some of the reading material for this week interesting (Gabriel ch. 2 and 3), but was a little put off by the first sentence of chapter 2. It says "[w]ith the dearth of quality teachers available because of teacher turnover and the profession's meager pay, building a successful team can take an extraordinary amount of time and effort." In my experience teaching and working as a librarian in more than one school district I can say that I know of very few teachers who are not of high quality. The author might be referring more to the schools that he has taught at, however.

I liked some of the suggestions for interviewing prospective teachers in chapter 2 and guiding new ones. I think the PWSSD does a good job of mentoring new teachers, and believe me, not all school districts do.

Cedu 527 Technology Leadership Week 1

We saw a good video in class about an African (I do not remember which country he was from). He talked about corruption and the need for good leadership.

We are using the moodle again. It seems to me that the moodle has all of the features of a wiki and a management system all in one program. It would be like somehow combining PB wiki with Powerschool or Blackboard. Am I right, or does moodle have other capabilities as well?

Chapter one in Gabriel's book was interesting. It discussed leadership qualities and various types of leadership roles. I think that the qualities mentioned in chapter one would apply to any school leader and leaders in other walks of life as well. I think this book provides some useful information on leadership, but I also think that there are intangible qualities that allow people to be effective leaders. These qualities are not as easily analyzed.

Cedu 533 Week 5

Kristine talked to us about common mistakes people made on the midterm. For the most part, most mistakes had to do with sticking too many tags into the code.

One student used www.voki.com to create a class website. It consisted of a snowman moving his mouth and the teacher's voice. This would be a cool tool to use at school. The dictation can also be translated to other languages.

One student put a youtube video called "One Semester of Spanish" on her website. Having been a Spanish teacher, I found this very amusing. I'll have to show it to other Spanish teachers.

We spent some time in class working on our Stritch GoogleDocs portfolios, which are due near the end of the program coursework.

Kristine presented information about web 2.0, which differs from web 1.0 in several ways. It seems to me that kids and teenagers are very familiar with web 2.0 and we should keep this in mind as educators.

When creating class and school websites we need to make sure they are accessible to a wide range of platforms and browsers. There's nothing more frustrating than not being able to access a web page or information on the web.

Some of the Web 2.0 tools that were introduced during class in week 5 were really neat. The comic creator website, www.makebeliefscomix.com, looked like fun. I run a comic book club in one of my schools and I think this could really be useful.

Cedu 533 Week 4

This week we applied our new knowledge of CSS and Javascript to create a web page. I had some trouble adding the Javascript and am still working on it. The basic HTML assignment was much easier and this one took me by surprise. I can see why some people think this is so difficult. Sometimes, it is. I like learning about it, though. It's good to have some experience working with HTML, CSS, etc.

We completed our report on Content Management Systems. Our small group discussed and wrote about many interesting aspects of 3 different systems that our school district uses.

I'm looking forward to working on the assignment for the 14th, which is to create our own website with some sort of service already available. I think I might use one called "teacherweb". This assignment will really benefit me, as well as the students, teachers and parents in my schools. I am glad we are doing this.

Cedu 533 Week 3

I week 3 we learned about Cascading Style Sheets, Javascript and various other things. The links and material about e portfolios were interesting. Portfolios and alternate assessment and evaluation are becoming more common in all levels and areas of education, as well as business.

The GoogleSites are very nice and easy to use. I am considering using those to create my school web page.

We started to discuss the CMS reports in our small group meeting.