instructional software design project
Posted on November 18, 2008 in Dreamweaver extensions
I submitted the following article to the Australian Maths Teacher Journal in 1994 but it was rejected for publication. The note I received back said that my students hadn't really achieved much learning in Fractions. I still think this was a very worthwhile Project and that the reviewer didn't take into account all of the meta-learning that happened. The approach used is still relevant today but it does require a high skill level for the teacher in a variety of areas - programming skills and managing a complex learning environment. The article also includes a comprehensive explanation of the "instructional software design project" approach which was pioneered by Idit Harel and Seymour Papert and which still draws positive reviews today. Anyway, the era of paper journals is over. I can publish what I want. You, the reader can ignore, critique or praise. Education Software: Designed by Kids, for Kids - link to full article written by Bill Kerr in 1994 Abstract Students at the Year 8 level used LogoWriter software to design computer screens to teach Year 3/4 students Fractions. Students were set the task of doing transformations between words, symbols and pictures using LogoWriter. They recorded their experiences in a journal and identified problems they encountered and solutions to those problems. They helped each other solve problems in Fractions, design and computer programming. Outcomes from this learning sequence included expressive writing about mathematics, improved scores in a Fraction test, improved fluency in Logo programming, improved self management skills, increased cognitive resilience (overcoming frustration and not giving up), improved time management, and increased faith by the students in their own thinking patterns. Students remained motivated and interested in the Fractions topic for a 7 week block using this approach. The culture of mathematics was perceived by the students to be different and more interesting than traditional textbook maths. Some students dropped in at recess and lunch to work on their projects. The final combined software product is a useful piece of educational software that can be utilised by other teachers for diagnostic purposes as well as being an exemplar of what can be achieved with LogoWriter when it is used in this way. Conclusion Teachers face the task everyday of how to make their subjects relevant and interesting to their students and this is seen to be a particular problem with maths. One way to look at this is from the point of view of objects to think with. The teacher and students co-construct a learning environment that is replete with "objects to think with". These "objects" include: The challenge of teaching others and designing screens for this purpose using Logowriter The structure of fractions and their transformations (words, symbols, pictures) Other students, eg. best friends, class experts, the Year 3/4 students Teacher (Is he/ she approachable, friendly and skilled?) Journal reflections Taken together these objects represent the ISDP (Instructional Software Design Project) Harel and Papert (1990) argue that some materials are better with regard to the following criteria: appropriability (some things lend themselves better than others to being made one's own) evocativeness (some materials are more apt than others to precipitate personal thought) integration (some materials are better carriers of multiple meaning and multiple concepts) When used in the way described above LogoWriter is a most effective learning medium to think about Fractions and Design according to these criteria. Tags: constructivism education papert cheap oem software buy software
Developing film in coffee - UPDATE
Posted on November 18, 2008 in Adobe photoshop software
Some time ago, I wrote about my experiences developing in caffenol. In my version of the recipe I used 5 table spoons of coffee and 2.5 table spoons of soda. People pointed out to me that the abbreviation "tsp" stands for "teaspoon", which is an entirely different amount. So, when I was developing some film yesterday, I decided to do one roll in my recipe and one in the recommended recipe. For sure, the smaller amount works! And for sure, the smaller amount stains the film. The Lucky SHD400 that got developed in the more diluted caffenol ended up some shade of brown. I can't show you any examples as the film was mostly blank (which I already expected as I found this film in my Zeiss Ikon and just took it out). Unfortunately, the few frames that were exposed weren't very good. But this does not matter. What matters is that the more diluted caffenol works and gives the staining. I'm now thinking of still using table spoons but half the number of scoops. I don't really care much for the staining after all and prefer the beautiful shades of grey the stronger caffenol gives me. Now I just need to find out where the balance lies. I hate to waste, so the less coffee and soda I need to use the better it is. Technorati Tags : photography photo rangefinder Shards of Photography http://shardsofphotography.blogspot.com/ Labels: caffenol, coffee, dilution, Lucky, soda, Zeiss cheap oem software buy software
Not sure what to blog about
Posted on November 18, 2008 in Windows xp media center
I'm not sure what to blog about, so I'm going to ramble. This isn't necessarily out of the ordinary, right? First of all, I've been thinking about some positive qualities I'd like to develop related to a quote in that Maryknoll magazine I mentioned for Independence Day about different ways of looking at people. Basically, the story was about a missionary priest of a village feeling obligated to do something to punish a parish member who had divorced or otherwise cheated on his wife for another woman. The rest of the community, although in no way approving of the unfaithfulness of the man, felt little inclination to ostracizing or otherwise punish "the adulterer". The priest learned that his parish members took a holistic view of the man, weighing his contributions to society over his personal shortcomings and spiritual crimes, while he himself was fixated on the negative. WWJD? Obviously, it depends on circumstances and consequences. My take on this is more general. While pessimism is a terrible philosophy in general, optimism isn't necessarily the cure. The priests parish members didn't necessarily try to just look for the good in a person, so much as looking at the whole picture. To do that, one should merely control their emotions. If something about someone really bothers me, I tend to get fixated on it and allow it to irrationally dominate my impressions of him/her, masking positive qualities. And, having heard the Dalai Lama talk last Sunday, emotion, be it love or hatred (yes, strong word) cripples reason. My original hope for myself, however, was indeed to look for the best in people--to see their potential and help them realize it, even if they don't see it themselves. SOURCE: Procrastination : /
Tags: member, priest, necessarily, parish, emotion
Developing film in coffee - 1 more roll of Efke KB100
Posted on November 18, 2008 in Adobe photoshop software
Before I used the more diluted caffenol, I developed a roll of Efke KB100 in the stronger caffenol. I'm still amazed about how well the film comes out of the coffee and soda! :) Efke KB100 does become a little grainy, though. Much more so than Lucky SHD400, which surprises me a little. I would assume that an iso100 film would develop less grain than an iso400 film. But maybe I'm wrong thinking like that. Anyway, I'll post a few frames as soon as I scanned the roll. Keep watching this blog! Technorati Tags : photography photo rangefinder Shards of Photography http://shardsofphotography.blogspot.com/ Labels: caffenol, coffee, Efke, iso, Lucky, soda cheap oem software buy software
Tuesday's Gone With The Wind...
Posted on November 18, 2008 in Buy windows xp professional
You know, it's pretty sad that the most exciting thing going on in my life at this very moment is that I'm getting a new CPU fan installed in my computer. I'm also thinking about upgrading from Windows 2000 Professional to Windows XP Professional. I'm also a huge nerd. *Update* : So I find out that while trying to remove my old fan I irreparably damaged my processor, and I have to buy a new one. Granted, my processor is about 3 years old and was due for an upgrade anyway, (I'm going from an Athlon Thunderbird 850 MHz chip to an Athlon XP 2200 MHz chip - that's computer nerd speak for " My 'puter's gonna be a shitload faster, wha. "), but it's still annoying. buy software cheap oem software
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The discomfort of strangers - great piece
Posted on November 17, 2008 in Adobe photoshop cs2 free trial
By Sean Coughlan BBC News It's a crowded train in central London, and I'm sitting opposite an Asian man carrying what looks like a large laptop bag. Is it a coincidence that no one else is sitting near us? Is it an accident that he's pushed out his corporate ID card so that it's clearly visible over his jacket, hanging like the open page of a passport? Public transport can be a world of unspoken signals and gestures - but am I right in thinking that he looks self-conscious, sometimes burying his face in his arms as though asleep? When that woman getting into the carriage half-turned towards us and then moved away, was that a deliberate decision, or was it a random commuter choice? How would it feel to have someone literally turning their back on you? Mind-games I change Tube lines and in the next train I'm sitting close to a woman wearing Islamic dress. But this time, all the seats are filled around her, and the atmosphere feels relaxed. What's going on in the thoughts of passengers? What judgements are they making? It's a mind-game being played out all over the Tube network, and indeed on many trains and buses throughout the country. It's performed in silence, with people unsure of their neighbours' motives and guilty about their own feelings of suspicion. Following the London bomb attacks, there have been stories swapped all over the capital of people switching seats because of "suspicious" passengers. And targets of that suspicion have talked about their sense of frustration at the unsubtle attention of other travellers. Even though people say little when they're travelling, there's plenty going on inside - fears of danger, changed routes, calculations to avoid risks, guilt at making stereotypical assumptions, anger at being unfairly distrusted. Stopped carrying rucksacks In the rather unreal atmosphere of familiar places facing unfamiliar threats, people are taking note of actions and appearances they wouldn't usually see. Hundreds of e-mails sent in to the BBC News website show how, in the uneasy mood on public transport, we're thinking all kinds of unspoken thoughts. There are flickers of bigotry and thinly-disguised racism, but there are also convincingly understated descriptions of people's edginess - and examples of how it is changing people's behaviour, including a number who say they have stopped taking Tube trains. Marcus, who says his family are Greek-Cypriot, has devised a strategy to avoid "odd looks" on the Tube (which he attributes to his Mediterranean appearance). To make himself seem non-threatening, he now wears a Make Poverty History wristband and makes a point of reading the Economist. "Whilst this sounds ridiculous it does reassure people around me. Of course, the whole thing is ridiculous but these are ridiculous times we are living in," he writes. An Asian reader says fears about what people are thinking have stopped him carrying a rucksack. "I do not take my rucksack to work anymore, which had my lunch and work shirt. I would rather wear a dirty shirt left at work than be looked at suspiciously. I also wear a T-shirt to work now, as I am afraid to wear too much, after the shooting," he writes. There are also people who have stopped wearing their MP3 players or iPods because of worries about trailing wires or not hearing orders from the police. Empty seat Being on the receiving end of such a hostile atmosphere has persuaded Leila, a white convert to Islam, to stop travelling by Tube altogether. "I sensed people's fear of me because of my Muslim dress. Sometimes people even preferred to stand rather than sit by me, leaving an empty seat next to me." Hindu and Sikh readers have also written to say they have experienced the same sense of rejection. "As I got on the tube with my rucksack, a fellow passenger saw me, waited a second then got up, to wait on the platform for the next train," writes Dev. Violence This distrust between travellers is a phenomenon that feeds on itself, says psychologist Gary Fitzgibbon, from the north London-based consultancy, Fitzgibbon Associates. "You've got a strange effect here. Everybody's awareness of a threat is raised - and everyone is looking round suspiciously. So they're looking at each other - and what they observe is people looking at them suspiciously, which immediately raises their awareness that this person might be a threat. "You can get very anxious situations arising - and in the extreme it could lead to violence." Mr Fitzgibbon says fear is a natural response to a threat - but the prolonged media coverage, and the way that people continue to talk about the bombings, can generate a response that is greater than the actual threat that exists. And amid such fears, he says that people can tend to seek people more like themselves and to avoid those who are different. Such a reaction, already witnessed by people sending in e-mails, would threaten what a worried reader described as the capital's "multi-cultural mini-world". ------- And this is the outcome of terrorism - less tolerance and understanding. It seems counter-intuitive. Rather than a sympathetic view of the terrorists' world view, people are reacting quite rationally. We forget today's European tolerance of "others" is quite recent - the holocaust was only 50 some years ago. Threats like the London bombings might rekindle all kinds of behaviors. buy software cheap oem software
Telecommuting PHP Web Developer (san mateo)
Posted on November 16, 2008 in Dreamweaver help
City: Sfbay A stealth San Mateo startup preparing to originate its album web-based product is seeing whereas an experienced contract-to-hire PHP internet developer. Exertion with an exciting new clan, created completed an innovative troupe of given to startup engineers/Stanford graduates, midst we keep on our patent-pending view. This is your opportunity to be a branch of everything amazing. You are an expert PHP programmer furthermore write uncommonly clean, documented symbol. You must have your possess upbeat environment in the Bay Quarter. This is a part-time freedom install initially, with likely to become a full-time, long-term where. Imperious QUALIFICATIONS: BS surrounded by CS or commensurate finish/apprehend 3+ years PHP4/5, MySQL recognize architecting, implementing to boot maintaining database-driven Info Strada applications among PHP able to check productively with minimal supervision together with remote co-workers able to album reserve under pressure more sharpen aggressive deadlines thinking to formation DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS: be cognizant optimizing & scaling bygone a high-traffic web log feel certain with PHP frameworks (CakePHP) blog coin over mobile devices SMS/MMS WAP 2.0/2.1 xHTML-MP/ECMAScript-MP WML/WMLScript Linux, Apache (LAMP) HTML AJAX CSS familiarity with bringing up analysis habits (CVS, SVN) discern with website armament plus manifest interface plan Grant resume as well comprehend air mail, gate proposals, furthermore relates or samples of your past PHP Web way rally. Model Posting buy software cheap oem software
Christmas
Posted on November 15, 2008 in Windows xp media center
Since the days here are getting shorter and air, colder, I figured it'd be a good time to start thinking about Christmas. It always creeps up on us faster than we can prepare for it and I, at least, need a head start getting into the holiday spirit of giving and receiving. Yes, it's giving and receiving. It could mean other things, but that's why I need a head start. cheap oem software buy software
Linda Blondheim Art Studio Landscapes of the South
Posted on November 14, 2008 in Canvas Standard
I'm going to be painting in this beautiful place for a week starting Friday. Don't give up on me. I will return soon with more painters tips. Painters Tip It is pretty easy to lose focus in a painting when you are out on location or painting in front of others for a demonstration. What you need is a plan before you begin. Think about what drew you to the scene and rely on that for the theme of your paintng. Let go of all but the main elements and rank them by importance. Keep the number small and think, main element, secondary elements, tertiary elements. How will you lead the viewer through the painting to rest on these elements? What paths will you create to lead the viewer? Will you use values in such a way as to establish paterns or paths? Will you allow a dominant value in the painting to create more interest? Will you create anchors or stops in the composition to prevent the viewer from going out of the painting? Where is the direction of light? What is the source? How will you feature the main element? Where will you feature the most texture and hard edges, where soft and blurred? Remember that you are in charge of the painting and it's theme and development. Paintings are not about copying nature. You are the conductor of the orchestra, or the arranger if you will. Your job is to create a beautiful painting that viewers will fall in love with and want to look at over and over again. Thinking through all of these questions and answering them will help you to stay focused on the process and the painting, bringing it to fruition with control, not chaos. Will any of us always create beautiful exceptional paintings? Likely not, but our goal is to strive for that excellence each time we put brush to canvas. Careful analysis will help us come closer to that goal. buy software cheap oem software
Getting Started with Microsoft CRM Online
Posted on November 13, 2008 in Microsoft outlook
I helped a client with CRM On the web mid the weekend, and am do far altogether impressed with the custom Microsoft has been able to pore over that server based thinking to be a largely Web enabled thought. My client is a current Salesforce.com with extensively 13 patrons, besides they receipt about $125 per user per spell. Past practical to CRM Online Professional Also, he will be able to place the internal prospects at his horde shortened tabulating his monthly ceiling primacy what he pays Salesforce. The screenshot clock ins the first, most obvious difference a user of a server based CRM implementation need declaration. Withing the Workplace screen, there is a new \"order\" cryed \"Getting Started\" which walks the new user/administrator succeeded entirely of the typical steps necessary to feel certain a successful begin of CRM On the internet. This theory guides you, division settled tenor terminated Setting done with the prevailing assemblage cultivation - Consumers, Contract Offshoots, Fiscal Years Integrating with Outlook Managing Customers Managing Cater Managing Schedules amidst Party Service Managing Purchasing Advanced Case Processes Term we are essential starting getting seeing these steps, I hand onto to let slip this that getting started screen voracity nourishment new interchange of Dynamics CRM On the net raise using CRM tween a additionally productive way. What I don't Think is why these Getting Started screens are not point at intervals the server based monograph of MSCRM? Perhaps these voracity be added at a years ago date. Largely, my client is odd with what he has so far, along with I salacity withhold posting meanwhile I delve advance into Microsoft CRM On the web.