Lego Robots

   What's going on in Honors Physics class these days? I found out by wandering into Larry Bostian's class to check up on some recently installed laptops. Not surprisingly, the laptops are being put to good use; they are being used to program the robots students are building with Legos.

 

Prepping the laptop for coding work.

    After spending fifteen minutes in the class observing and talking to students, I now have a deeper appreciation of the range of uses for Legos.  In this class, students were given kits that include a wide variety of Lego pieces as well as some other components of motorized robots: wheels, gears, motors, sensors, wiring, etc.  

Students begin robot assembly using pieces from the Lego kit.

  Teams of students had two tasks. They needed to construct a robot using the pieces in the kit and they had to program the robot to accomplish some set tasks.  I wandered into a busy and engaged classroom, with small groups of students gathered around kits of pieces and open laptops. Conversations were quiet but animated as these students worked through the challenges of construction and coding.

  

A perfect example of STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) education.

      Two other groups working through the activity:

   A terrific addition to this lesson plan was a writing component. Students established blogs and were able to write about the project, including reflections on their approaches to problem solving.  These blogs are posted online so students can read each others' blogs and thereby deepen their understanding of robot building and coding. If you're interested in reading the students' blogs, links are below.

Blog #1

Blog #2

Blog #3

Blog #4

Blog #5

Blog #6

The words Lego and Legos are used above to indicate a specific trademarked brand: The LEGO® Brand. You know it as well by it's graphic logo.

 

Hour of Code II

   I saw this infographic on the Classroom Aid: Connecting Dots of Digital Learning web site. It seemed like a nice follow up to the previous post about the Hour of Code program.  
   That said, I don't want to leave readers with the view that the Hour of Code program, or computer science instruction in general, is about career planning.  Learning computer science is about learning, and in that respect, it fits comfortably with disciplines like science, literature, history, mathematics, world language study, etc. When students are intellectually challenged to develop new skills, acquire a broader base of factual information and be encouraged to learn more about a given subject, sound education is an inevitable outcome. As with older, more traditional academic disciplines, computer science can facilitate genuine, long-lasting learning. That, in my mind, is the main reason to promote the Hour of Code. It will help students to see yet another learning possibility.
 

Hour of Code

   There's a nationwide movement underfoot and it's been titled "Hour of Code." The idea behind it is simple: our nation is not educating enough students in computer science fields, and the shortfall will limit our nation's economic growth.  The video below, just a few minutes in length, offers a clear explanation of the Hour of Code.

   The Hour of Code program is seeking 10,000,000 students, K-12, to participate in a coding activity that would last about one hour. The hope is that during the week of December 9, 2013, schools across the country will introduce students to the power of computing and create an interest in computer science.  The long range goal is to inspire greater numbers of students to consider computer science as a field of study as they move forward in their educational careers and begin to think about professional career goals.
   It's interesting to note the absence of computer science as a required field of study in most school systems, public or private.  There are, of course, historic reasons for this omission.  Our current requirement framework dates back about 100 years when the credit system built around studies in English, math, science, social science, world language, art and physical education was formulated. Computers were the stuff of science fiction. And over the last couple of decades, as computer science has comfortably become part of the academic world, it's been difficult to create space in secondary curricula for additional required subjects.  In schools lucky enough to have the resources to support computer labs for younger children, the GSB model has been popular. Students, in a weekly schedule, spend time in the lab learning age-appropriate computing skills.  But when these same students get to high school, their curricula is largely built around requirements, and elective choices compete for students' attention in a free market. This happens at GSB and at most schools. The result is that a great many students study very little computer science during their high school years and not surprisingly gravitate towards other academic majors in college. As the video above reminds us, the result of this system will be 1,000,000 unfilled jobs in a few short years.
   The Hour of Code program is the first concerted effort to address this challenge, and a great many luminaries from business, government, etc. are interested in promoting the program. They know the issue is important. But exactly how, in one hour, do you get students interested in computer science? The answer this program provides is that you show students the power of their computer through computer coding tutorials.
   All tutorials are age appropriate, K-12. Coding tutorials are also offered in what's called object-oriented language.  Basically, this means students will move objects on a screen to create coding instructions, as opposed to typing characters.  It's easier to learn and far more intuitive to first-time coders.  
   At GSB, we're in the middle of planning Hour of Coding sessions.  Lower and Middle School students will do activities during their weekly lab visits during the week of December 9.  In the Upper School, all students in computer science classes will use class time for the activity. In addition, our ninth graders will utilize Physics class time to work through the tutorials. And I would invite any other teacher of students 10 - 12 to contact me for more information if you'd like to make the activity part of your class during the Hour of Code week.
   Two web sites have been developed with information about the program. The Hour of Code web site has information designed to offer background information as well as publicity-oriented materials. The Computer Science Education Week site has more specific information about signing up a class to participate. Tutorials are also housed on this site and can be reviewed by teachers now.
   As always with a program like this, it's hard to predict long-range effects.  Will greater interest in computer science develop because students spend an hour in December learning about coding? It's iimpossible to know as of this writing. What's clear, however, is that this program draws attention to a serious educational challenge facing our country, and that continued emphasis on the importance of computer science is critical.  
   It's worth noting that as a nation, we're not alone in recognizing the challenge of improved computer literacy. In England, for example, requirements are changing. There, computer science is joining more traditional disciplines in the academic core making England the first country to require computer science of all primary and secondary students. This Telegraph article explains the changes: Teaching Our Children to Code: A Quiet Revolution.

Infographic - Online Learning

Some information to consider......This infographic is embedded from 

Lori Johnston's blog, My Education.

Passwords

   Passwords are getting to be a challenge.  I have about 100 password-protected accounts now, and probably more to come.  No, I'm not exaggerating. In addition to my personal accounts, I am counting the various school network log-ins and school-based web sites.  One example: we have YouTube accounts set up for the Lower School, Middle School and Upper School. Each has its own user name and password.  And I have a personal YouTube account as well. So that's four passwords just for YouTube.  
   I said Passwords are getting to be a challenge. Let me re-phrase that; passwords are getting crazy.  Is this model of ever increasing password-protected accounts sustainable? Probably not, but for now and into the near future, many of us need to keep track of multiple accounts, each with unique password protocols.
   On top of this, I'll simply repeat what we've all heard. Passwords need to be somewhat complex to be effective. In other words, if it's easy to remember, it's probably easy to hack. That's why a mix of random symbols together with numbers and letters creates a strong password. Here's an example: 4fijT&%;4m9. A great password, sure, but who could possible remember it?
   Google the ten most popular passwords. Here's Gizmodo's list from 2012:

1. password

2. 123456

3. 12345678

4. abc123

5. qwerty

6. monkey

7. letmein

8. dragon

9. 111111

10. baseball 

   Yes, they are easy to remember, but just as easy to hack.  As passwords, they simply won't do.  So what's the solution? How can you create reasonably complicated passwords, keep track of them and hopefully have different passwords for each account?

   One solution is to create a spreadsheet of your accounts with user name and password information and any other additional account information that might be needed.  Upload the document to a password protected cloud storage account (like box.net, dropbox, iCloud, etc.) with the additional protection of a password to open the document.  I've done this. It works, and I feel comfortable with sensitive passwords housed in cloud storage.  In other words, if I want to log into my Google account and cannot remember my credentials, I would first go to dropbox and log in.  Then I would select the spreadsheet containing my account information and open it.  Before it actually opens, however, I will be required to put in an additional password. So I feel my account information is secure, but I do need to remember my dropbox information and the password that allows access to the spreadsheet.

   There is software that can do some of this work for you. Just recently, the NY Times posted a video as part of its Technology/App Smart section reviewing apps that assist with password management.  Though I've never used these apps personally, they look to be useful.  Here's the video: 

Data 101: An Introduction to Data Usage at GSB

   "Data" is a very current technology buzzword.  It has to do with the increasing use of computers and related technologies to track and record behaviors and activities of almost anything, from weather trends to an individual's shopping patterns. When large data sets are aggregated and analyzed, the term "Big Data" comes into play. And in a more pedestrian way, data is the archival record of information that is accessible in a variety of ways to users.  
   At GSB, we've made a giant leap into data management over the last several years in ways that are not especially apparent to most of our community.  That's why I thought I 'd use this post to discuss data use at GSB.
   Any discussion of data use at GSB should begin with Blackbaud.  Blackbaud is our school's database.  It is actually composed of several interconnected parts: Education Edge, Financial Edge, Raiser's Edge and Admission Edge. Each component part serves particular functions.  Education Edge houses the academic records of our students. When middle and upper school faculty use FAWeb to enter grades for students, ultimately that course grade information finds its way to EE as a grade record for students. Transcripts are generated from EE.  
   In like ways, Financial Edge, Raiser's Edge and Admission Edge are utilized by the Business Office, the Development Office and the Admission Office.  Biographical family information is shared across platforms, but each platform has unique data fields to serve users.
    KnightSite is built upon another data set and serves as a database as well.  It is also a perfect illustration of how data moves from database to database.  Data managers talk about migrating data.  This is the science (and in no small way, the art) of culling data from one source and moving it to another database.  When KnightSite classes are annually populated with the classes and rosters for the current school year, that information must first be queried from Education Edge, put into a proper file format and then imported into Whipple Hill's KnightSite.
    Destiny is our library's database of its inventory. It's a fully searchable database by GSB users to see what's in our collection. Destiny can be used to reserve or take out materials.
     Middle School readers are very familiar with AR, Accelerated Reader.  The site students log into is actually a database of books and related quizzes.
   We've created a database in recent years that's hosted by the Honeywell Instant Alert group.  Populating fields with user names, phone numbers and emails, we can now use this database to notify our school community of any emergency notification. When that call comes letting you know there's a delayed opening due to weather conditions, a database has made that call possible.
   Upper School students and their families are familiar with Naviance, a database that has been created specifically to serve the needs of college-bound students.  Through Naviance, a large amount of college-search and college-admission data can be organized.
    All of these databases are actively managed by people at GSB.  But there is a whole other set of databases utilized widely by GSB students and faculty. These subscription databases, over twenty in all,  are manged by our library and are closely tied to curricular needs. Some examples include the American Memory (database from the Library of Congress), eLibrary (access to newspapers, magazines, maps and TV/radio transcripts), Image Quest (2 million images from specialized collections, all rights-cleared for educational use) and the Historical NY Times (every page of every issue). Access to these databases is available on the KnightFiles page of KnightSite.
   In ways obvious and less apparent, GSB is managing and utilizing data in administrative and curricular ways. Not so long ago, hardly anyone in education gave "data" a second thought. Now, it's become a crucial part of our school's operation.

Topics in KnightSite

   Over the last several weeks, faculty, students and parents have become increasingly comfortable with our newly designed KnightSite.  As has been mentioned, changes are primarily in design, not in functionality.  What was done in the former version of KnightSite continues to be done in this latest iteration of our intranet.  But there are some genuine differences as well.
   The Activity Stream is an obvious change from the former version.  With the Activity Stream, users are instantly apprised of new postings that may be of direct interest. This change will affect all users. Editing tools have changed as well.  There is drag and drop technology built into the editing views of many pages.  Not everyone will be affected by this change, but for page editors, it is a welcome change.
   Faculty have a new tool as they construct class pages; Topics.  Topics, one of the four pages that comprise each class site, allow individual teachers an ability to show a set of interrelated resources that are thematically connected to a learning topic.  These topics can be used in a wide variety of ways to conveniently present information about a learning unit.  A few newly created Topics can illustrate some of the possibilities.
   In the Lower School, Science teacher Lynn Prosen has created a series of grade-specific Topics.  Each hosts information and resources about a topic of study that is addressed by a grade level.  The screenshot below shows four of her seven Topics:

By clicking the highlighted title of a Topic, the user will open to the contents.

After clicking on the Butterfly Garden Problem, the resources for learning are apparent.

   In the Middle School, Latin teacher Donna Butler has also created a topic, albeit for a different purpose.  Donna utilizes an audio dropbox to facilitate student learning.  Students can record assigned lessons into a cloud-based recorder (the audio dropbox) which Donna, through her account log-in, can retrieve. Then she can listen to the voice recordings of her students.  It functions much as a traditional language lab though it is neither constrained by location or time. Students can record from anywhere (so long as internet access is available), and Donna can listen to the recordings on her schedule. If you're interested in learning more about an audio dropbox, Michigan State's site is the place to check. Below, a screenshot of the Topics section of the Middle School Latin class site. Within the Topic: a link to the dropbox recorder.

A cover graphic, like the microphone above, helps to add interest to your Topic.

   In the Upper School, Allison Kochis, a Science teacher, has been screencasting a few lessons so that students can view a presentation about a learning topic at home.  (Interested in learning about screencasting? Screencast-O-Matic is free and is widely used by teachers and others.) In a sense, this video presentation replaces a traditional front-and-center lecture a teacher may do in the classroom.  This format gives students the ability to start and stop the presentation as needed in order to deepen understanding of the presentation.  Below, Topics for the AP Environmental Science class.

Opening the Chapter 1 topic reveals the lecture links.

   The Topics feature provides a convenient tool for student learning.  Hopefully, as teachers become increasingly comfortable with the newly designed KnightSite, they'll fine additional ways to utilize  Topics.

Some Great Web Sites to Explore

   A new school year is about to get started.  For school people everywhere, the start of school is our other New Year's Day, a day that marks the beginning of another annual cycle of a school year.  At all schools, there's much to do as teachers ready their classrooms and curricula for students.  At GSB, this school year is a bit busier; there's also a new KnightSite to learn.  But somehow, someway, all of the plans and tasks fall into place as the students arrive, and everyone begins the process of another year of learning.

   I thought as an initial blog entry this year I'd offer to teachers a few web sites that I find useful and/or interesting. Each comes with a brief annotation.  I hope in your spare minutes you'll take a look at sites that look promising to you.

http://geoguessr.com/ - This site is actually an interactive geography quiz that utilizes Google Earth maps.  Players are offered a scene. The scene can be manipulated; views can be changed, images enlarged.  On a world map, the viewer places the scene. Answers are given, and the closer you are to the location (in miles), the better your score.  It is guaranteed to test your knowledge of geography and sharpen deductive reasoning skills.


http://www.smallmeans.com/new-york-times-infographics/ - Infographics marry artistic design with data-driven information.  I believe infographics can make great project assignments for students of virtually any age.  They can be fun to do and can help students learn about a topic. The NY Times is one of the only news agencies with a department devoted to infographics. See their work archived at this site.


http://www.hbogo.com/ - Do you get HBO at home? If you do, you have access to a wide variety of their content at this website. Here, content is organized for your convenience. Of special interest to many teachers is the wide array of documentary films available. This content can be accessed on your computer; there is also an HBOGO app for mobile devices.


http://www.gutenberg.org/ - The Gutenberg Project is taking non-copyrighted written material and making it available as digital content. A great many books, especially literary classics, are available free here.  The site is user friendly when it comes to downloading content to your device of choice.


http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/ - I believe I have mentioned this site in a past post.  PBS has built a site for educators that brings together thousands of instructional materials for teachers of all disciplines and ages.  The site navigates easily and it's virtually guaranteed any teacher can find useful resource material here.


https://www.dropbox.com/ - Dropbox (and similar sites like box.net) utilize Cloud technology to offer remote storage to users.  Dropbox users get several gigabytes of free storage. More is available with subscription charges. The end result? You can store files in your dropbox account and access these same files anywhere there is internet service. There is a mobile app as well with full syncing capabilities.  It's convenient, safe and efficient.  No need to email yourself documents again.


http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ - National Geographic Magazine has been around for a long time because it has offered consistently interesting articles and stunning images.  The web site continues the journalistic tradition.


http://www.online-convert.com/ - This site, and others like it, won't be used every day, but when you need the service, it's priceless.  Here, you can take a file in one format and convert it to another format.  Have an MP3 audio file that you want to convert to WAV? Have a MPEG-1 video file that you want to convert to a video file format for an iPad? Have a TIFF image file you want to convert to a JPEG?  This site does the work free and seamlessly.


http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/  The Mindshift blog is hosted by KQED, a public media outlet that comes from San Francisco.  The KQED site is interesting and there is plenty of education-oriented content, but the Mindshift blog in particular regularly offers much for any educator to consider.


http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/flash/ - The Newseum site is also loaded with plenty of fascinating content. This linked page is particularly timely. Here, you can see the front page of hundreds of today's newspapers.  We might be familiar with what The Star-Ledger and the NY Times have on the front page, but what about The Bismarck Tribune (North Dakota) or The Lima News (Ohio)?

When the Lights Go Down

   This year, I taught a semester filmmaking class during the first and second semesters.  (An earlier post on January 22, 2013 highlights some of the student work that came out of that class.) For the Unit, our two week program in late May, I again found myself involved with film. Teaching with Gina Wendell and Fred Corona, our class of 15 students examined film from a variety of perspectives. The class was titled "When the Lights Go Down," but in truth the course delved into areas of filmmaking that occur well before a final screening. We looked at script development, story boarding, shot-making, lighting and sound. We also looked at post-production processes including the editing of scenes, sound and color correction.
    It's fair to say the class went well. I know that because through an assessment survey, our students uniformly told us they enjoyed the class and learned plenty.  A key reason for our success? Adam Aresty.

Adam Aresty, on site in Hockenbury 201, working with a couple of students.

     Adam, GSB Class of 2003, is in the film business.  Leaving GSB as an enthusiastic film hobbyist, he enrolled in USC's film program.  Perhaps his filmmaking Unit in 2002 offered him a head start to the success he found at USC.  Coming out of college, he settled in southern California determined to make a living in the ultra-competitive film industry.   He felt his strength was in writing and so he began working on scripts while extending his professional network.  Finally, this year, he sold a script to a production company. The film, Stung, is currently in production.  It will be shot in Germany on location in the fall.  (It's what I would call a fairly graphic, somewhat grotesque horror film. More on that later.) Not surprisingly, it is occupying much of Adam's time and attention through this year.
     And yet, when, earlier this year, I emailed with Adam and asked if he'd like to visit this Unit class if he was going to be in NJ, he jumped at the chance to be involved. "Involved" doesn't begin to describe his immersion in the teaching process.  I thought we'd be lucky to have Adam in class for a day. He committed to four days. I hoped he might walk students through the transition from script to shoot.  He did that, and plenty more. He provided the class with scripts, storyboards and films to illustrate key concepts.  He provided guides to viewing films, designed to help students get beyond plot lines. He steered students into script writing. And though relatively young, he is accumulating the anecdotes only available to insiders.  For students and resident teachers, Adam's stories were fascinating.  
    Most importantly, Adam was able to convey to our students what it means to work in a field you love. His enthusiasm for films as wide-ranging as Jaws, Groundhog Day and Psycho was contagious.  Simply put, he was a real key to the success of our class.
     What are the lessons to be learned? It's as simple as 1-2-3. 
     1) Great teaching - and the learning that invariably follows - begins with an enthusiasm for the subject.    
     2) At GSB, we should think more often about our ever growing body of alumni as a source of expertise. Alumni generally won't think to help out unless asked. When asked, however, the response is almost always "How can I help?"
     3) Our students learned that the people who work on horror films can be personable and intelligent.  It would be hard to find two more apt words to describe Adam.