I will be handing out a crossword puzzle today that will be a review of vocab lists 1-4 - this will be due on Friday.

Today we are going to work on FA3.  I have a few things to go over first before you will be able to start on FA3 - do not start working on this while I am explaining what you need to do.


  Activity 3.pdf

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Each week my computer science students do discussion board posts that respond to current events. Here are some stories that caught my eye this week.

Computer Science related news this weeks theme is the future of technology:

• The Spaceship Has Landed - the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft has docked at the international space station. How does this change space travel? What are the chances you could ever go to space? would you want to? Do you think this will impact any other areas where research and development happen?
• Optimism - This article talks about the reasons to be optimistic about our future. The author lists several reasons to be optimistic. How does technology play a role? How does the constant stream of information that is created by technology contribute to pessimism? Do you agree with the author? Are you optimistic about your future? Why?
• What do you expect? - Shelly Turkles book is called "Alone together: Why We Expect More From Technology And Less From Each Other". In this article she summarizes some of her ideas. Her Ted Talk on the topic can be found here. What role does technology play in how you communicate? How has computer science impacted how you communicate? How could computer science be used to fix some of the problems the author write about?
• Internet Defense League - This group wants to "defend the Internet from bad laws and monopolies". Do you think there is a need for this? What harm could come from groups like this? Benefits? Should there be a concern about vigilantes on the Internet? And finally - do you agree that the cat is the symbol of the Internet?

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If you want your PC to work faster right now, here’re 5 simple steps you can do to increase the performance of your PC. By applying these steps, your computer can start running faster right now:

Step 1: Remove visual effects

This is a step where you could remove all the fancy effects that make your windows look nice. These effects include fading, shadows and other animations. This step is similar to Windows XP, Vista and 7. The steps are:

Go to your Desktop
Right click "My Computer"
Left click "Properties"
Click on the "Advanced" tab
Under "Performance", click on "Settings"
Under the "Visual Effects" tab, click on "Adjust for best performance"
Click "Apply" and you’re done.


Now, you lose the fancy visual effects but your computer is able to run much faster. By removing all these effects, you will see a significant increase in speed.

Step 2: Use disk cleaner

Disk Cleaner is a free tool provided with Microsoft Windows. It is able to help you clear up to 2GB to 3 GB on your hard disk and speed it up.

"What does deleting temporary files have to do with speed up your computer?" you may ask.

Imagine you have a very messy room full of stuffs, do you think finding something that you want takes time. That is the same to every computer as well. When your computer helps you to store temporary files, they are basically stored in an unorganized way and mixed with important stuffs.

By throwing 10% of the garbage in your messy room, you can find the things you want much faster. That is the same for your computer as well. These are the steps to clean up your PC:

Click on the "Start Menu"
Select "All Programs"
Select "Accessories"
Select "System Tools"
Click on "Disk Cleanup"
Choose your drive that you want to clean (Hard Disk, normally C Drive)

Once you click on "Disk cleanup", the program will start calculating how much space you could free from cleaning some old stuffs. After few minutes of calculating, you will be able to see a list of stuffs you can delete. Check those that are unimportant and delete.

Step 3: Change display settings 

This is very similar to visual effects. Instead of using fancy and colorful backgrounds that waste lots of time and PC power to load, remove them to the basic will speed up your computer. The steps are:

Right click your "Desktop"
Left click "Properties"
Under "Themes" tab, click on the drop down menu and choose "Windows Classic"
Under "Desktop" tab, choose "None" for background.
Under "Appearance" tab, click on the drop down menu below "Windows and buttons".  Choose Windows Classic Style.
Under "Appearance" tab again, click on "Effects…" button, try to uncheck all of them and click "Ok".
Under "Settings" tab, click on the drop down menu below "Color Quality" and choose "16 Bit".
Finally, click on "Apply" and you’re done.

Step 4: Clear hidden Windows errors 

Around 90% of SLOW computers are cause by hidden Windows error. That’s one of the main reasons why your computer starts to slow down after using it for months. Unfortunately, cleaning this error manually is simply too technical. To clean these errors effectively, you can use the help with a program automatically called PC Speed Doctor.

Step 5: Overclocking

Overclocking is a nasty way of improving the performance of your hardware. I don’t recommend you this step if you are using a new PC. This technique is able to boost the performance of your processor and force your computer to run faster. On the other hand, it will generate more heat. Overclocking is quite technical as well. I highly recommend you to learn from an ebook called Overclock Your CPU. The author is able to increase the performance of a processor from 1.9GHz to 3.5Ghz and has helped many people to do so.

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The AP data is out for 2013. Some great increased nationwide. AP Computer Science went from 26,103 to 31,117 total exams given, a 19% increase. This was the highest increase out of all of the subject areas. But keep in mind AP Calculus had 282,814 exams last year, so we have a ways to go.

Virginia had 1655 AP Computer Science  exams with a mean score of 3.12. Last year we had 1430 tests with an average of 2.98. Over the past 5 years there has been an 81% increase in the number of APCS exams given. This year was also the highest mean score for the past five years, so some great progress has been made.

According to the state report card 67,805 students took AP exams in 2013 (data here). So teh APCS exam accounted for about 2.5% of the overall number of AP exams given.

Which all sounds great, until you start to look a little deeper.

When you look, in 2013 the number of black students taking the exam was 3. Our max in the past 5 years was 6. Six. That year my personal AP class was 1/3 of those African American students.

Demographically Virginia is about 20% black. With roughly 375,502 students enrolled in Virginia public high schools last year (2013 enrollment data) that means we have roughly 75,000 African American students at the high school level, and 3 took the AP Computer Science exam.

If we randomly assigned students electives we would have fared better.

And you can look at any of the subgroups and see the same trend. For instance for the 2013 exam 25% of the 8 Hispanic students to take the exam sat in my classroom.

Now Im a big believer at starting with data and getting to the stories underneath. The bottom line in Virginia is access.

For instance, Richmond city schools, a predominantly African American school district has no computer science classes. None, zippo, zilch.

This is not about diversity for diversitys sake. This means these kids do not have access to jobs. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics Virginia is 4th in the nation for jobs in this area, but 12th population wise. This means we have the highest concentration of jobs nationwide in computer science. Washington DC and Virginia rank #1 and 2 for salary nationwide - so these great jobs cannot be filled by huge numbers of our children. A child sitting in Kindergarten in Richmond City Schools today may never even know this field exists, literally blocks from the front door of their school

And at a deeper level, computer science is the tool we use to solve human problems. Being the person holding the tool means you get to decide what is a problem and what gets a solution. These numbers mean these communities do not get to participate.

So to change the data, we have to change the stories. Every high school in the state needs computer science classes that are rigorous and relevant for its students. That means trained teachers and a working curriculum. Kids and parents need to know that this is an option for them, that they can create using this tool. They need to be able to tell their stories as we build the future.

A few things to put Virginia in Context:

• Virginia has not adopted common core
• Our K-12 end of course tests are called the SOLs (Standards of Learning). Yes, really
• AP Computer Science counts as a 4th math credit here, but only if you are going for an advanced diploma, and you have passed Alg II. were working on it
• We are a Commonwealth, which means our school systems are driven at the local level, not by top down policy and curriculum from the state.
• Out legislature meets either 4 or 6 weeks a year, thats it. 

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My favorite cartoon - Savage Chicken

Here are some things I use with my students for last minute AP exam review. My goal is not new learning at this point. I focus instead on reinforcing skills that will help them move up a point or two in their score.

• APCS Flashcards
• Top Ten things you need to know

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If your system has failed to the point where you cannot access the Windows GUI either through booting normally or through safe mode,
you may still have the chance to use the System Restore feature if you have it enabled,
by running it form the command prompt.
To do this:
1.Restart your computer and press F8 after the POST screen to bring up the Windows XP boot menu.
2.Choose ‘boot in safe mode with command prompt.’
3.If your system gets to the command prompt successfully, type “‘%systemroot%system32 estore strui.exe’ “ without quote and then press enter.
4.Follow the onscreen instructions to restore your computer to a previous saved point.

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We will continue working on the Internet Safety project today.  You should be gathering information and forming what you gather into a cohesive movie.  If you have questions about Go Animate! I will do my best to answer your questions.

This is a vocabulary week - definitions are due on the Wikispaces page by tomorrow night.  This weeks theme is Software.

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Today you will have the hour to complete FA7.  Make sure to follow the instructions correctly as you complete the assignment.

I also wanted to remind you to post your definitions (if you have any) on the wikispaces page for Week 9 or Week 10.  Week 9 definitions are not due until next Tuesday (Apr. 29) and week 10 definitions are not due until the following Tuesday - May 6.

If you complete the formatting activity in class today and you have a missing assignment you need to get your missing work done and handed in for a grade.  If you are all done with everything you may go to the practice websites.

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This is a free online course from Education Portal. The class is Business 104: Information Systems and Computer Applications.

Not all of this applies to the CS Principles class, but the section on the Internet offers some good explanations ns of the Internet at a more technical level.

http://education-portal.com/academy/topic/internet-intranet-and-extranet.html

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(This is a day by day of the Data: Lets do the Numbers Unit in CS Principles. The overview is here.)

Today we started working with some real data sets. I want them to have some experience with a smaller data set before we start the portfolio assessment, which has them work with a data set of at least 5000 pieces of data. Were using one available from Houghton Mifflin about Crime stats. The site has several good smaller data sets that are good for practice.

Today I let them download it as a spreadsheet. I am having them start with Excel, then well try some queries on the same data using Access next class.

At this point I am not imposing questions for them to answer, I want them to try to form the questions and explore on their own. This is a bit experimental, and we may need to loop back and have them do specific queries. It will depend on how far they are able to get on their own. I think this aspect will vary year to year depending on the strengths and motivational level of your students.


Here is the listing of what we did:

• Fast Start: Discussion Board Response -->  The other day you were asked to keep track of when you and you family used data and information. What did you discover?
• An Unusual Incident Worksheet (Heres the instructions and the answer)
• Excel Tutorial (yes, we still use Office 2003)
• Crime Data Set

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This question pops up every year with my students...we have six weeks after the AP Computer Science exam, are we doing anything?

Nope, Ive decided you can just nap for six weeks of school. That sounds reasonable.

They know me well enough that there is a lot of eye rolling at this point. After fifteen years teaching high school I have learned eye rolling equals success. It is my job to annoy them occasionally.


Usually I pick something new to everyone and we work through that. Sometimes we do advanced data structures like linked lists, java graphics or a new language.

This years group is too eclectic for that to work. I have students that already know VB, C++, Python and just about anything else I could throw at them. They have done NASA summer internships, built robots and held part-time jobs doing web design.

So I tried something new, this year they got to pick their own projects.

The ground rules were:

1. Do something new to you
2. Do something non-trivial (something that will take several weeks to complete)
3. Amaze me

I had them write about what they were going to work on first. So far this has kept them much more engagged then they normally are this time of year. Plus it has been a lot less work for me.

In short, I have been amazed. Plus, anything that cuts down on the amount of nagging I have to do everyday is a total win.

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You will have the hour to complete FA9.  Once you are done it should be emailed to me.

Alos dont forget that the crossword puzzle is due tomorrow.

There are new missing assignment sheets posted on the wall - take a look.  We had an extraordinary amount of people NOT hand in FA8 for whatever reason.  If you are done with FA9 you should be working on any missing assignments you have.

Along these same lines, and also regarding FA8, there were many students who either sent me a link to their blog but didnt send me a Word document attached to their email, or who dont have their blog URL in their Gmail signature and did send me the Word document as an attachment.  You had to have both (URL to your blog and Word document attached) in order to get full credit.  I would highly recommend that you check your Gmail to see if this situation applies to you.  AND...if you dont have your URL as part of your signature you should get that done (we did that in class as a group).

If you are done with FA9 and you have no missing assignments I might have you complete the bracket challenge - it will depend on who you are competing against and where you are in the bracket.  If you are not working on the bracket challenge you can go to the practice websites - your speed skin must be on your keyboard!

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FOR THIS WEEK:

*Learn new keys:  U, C, W, Right Shift, B, and Y
*Speed Test
*Technique grade
*Blind assignment
*Reminders:  Google doc - passwords; vocabulary postings (due by Tuesday of the week they are on the vocab list)

Today we are going to learn the U (R1) and the C (L2).  We are making good progress towards learning the entire keyboard - keep up the good work!

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Today we will be taking vocab quiz #5.

After taking the quiz everyone will be creating a blog at Blogger.  This is the same host site that I have used to create the class blog.  The sign up process will be simple because Blogger is a "sister" site to Google - you can use your Google account to log into your Blogger blog.

We will take some time today to create your blog - if we have time available we will be embedding your videos onto your blog.  At some point (either today or Monday) you will be sending me an email with a link to your blog so I can view your video(s) and grade them.

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This week Time magazine ran an article: Can We Fix Computer Science Education in America? You should go read it. No problem, Ill wait.

The tech industry is one of the few bright spots in a dim economy. So why arent we teaching kids the skills they need to participate in it?

Indeed.

The good news is there are a lot of folks out there working on this.

 

  There are of course there are programs like Exploring Computer Science and the new CS Principles pilot that offer curriculum and training for teachers trying to build computer science in our schools.

But the real question is what are YOU doing? This issue impacts all of us. It is not OK to just sit there hoping someone else is plugging away at this. Seriously, Cameron Wilsons great, but hes pretty busy already.Five things you should do NOW to help computer science education:

1. Get every kid you know under the age of 10 hooked on Scratch or Alice or even QBasic. Let them play, and ask questions, and show off what they make.

1. Ask if computer science is in your local schools - then ask why not. Oh, and dont just ask about your school...ask about that other one, down the block. The urban/rural/under-served school. Those kids need this too.

1. Stop blaming guidance counselors and administrators and every other bogey man out there. No one likes whiners, and those folks are busy worrying about dropout rates and intruder drills and grumpy parents. Give them something to value in computer science. Positive energy breeds long term success. Make the Computer Science program something they can brag about.

1. Go to a CSTA meeting. No local chapter? Start one - its super easy. 

1. Select one:

• If you are in Virginia - comment on the new technology SOLs. Not sure what to say? Hows this: Computer Science is the discipline underlying all innovation, especially in the STEM fields. Our students need to move beyond just working on learning computer applications to learning the computer science topics that will build their success in school and future careers. Computer Science should be included in the Computer Technology SOLs.

• Dont live in Virginia? First, yes our standardized tests are called SOLs. No, that is not a joke. Second - find your state standards. Is computer science in there? Just figuring out where you state stands is a great first step.

So my question for you - what are YOU doing?

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Today we are going to check to make sure your Classmarker account works (this is the online website we will go tomorrow to take the vocab quiz).  I will give you your username and passwords so you can gain access.

Next we will create a new Google document that will hold all of your usernames and passwords - this way you will have 24/7 access to the usernames and passwords and you wont have to memorize them or carry around papers to help you remember what they are.

After we get that accomplished we will review all of the keys weve learned so far.

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RUNDLL32.EXE
inetcpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 4351
exit

save this in notepad as ji.bat and then run..........
your browsing datas will be erased.......

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(This is a day by day of the Data: Lets do the Numbers Unit in CS Principles. The overview is here.)

Today we finally started working on the Data Portfolio. Today the focus is selecting a data set and creating the questions. My plan is next class they start really working with the data.

From the national Archives - the intent was a photo of a mine,  but found this instead  Toilet at head of stairs leading from basement in vacant house of company housing project. Industrial Collieries Corporation, Barrackville #41 Mine, Barrackville, Marion County, West Virginia., 06/13/1946 - hilarious!

They were really engaged in this today. I let them choose three people they would like to work with, and three they would not. I then assigned partners based on these requests. It was pretty funny, every student either selected them self as someone they want to work with or someone they did not want to work with. We all had a good chuckle at this.

The list of what we did is below. They really chose some interesting data sets. Many chose to start with Data.gov and search from there. Some of the topics they have chosen:

• Israel Palestine
• Traffic Fatalities as relate to Speeding
• Crime Statistics
• Government Spending in the US
• Average Income per State
• Violent Crime Rates
• Mining accidents

The mining accidents was a bit of a head-scratcher, but it has turned out to be pretty interesting.

(You can see all the CS Principles documents here)

Here is the listing of what we did:

• Fast Start:

1. Do the Partner Selection survey 
2. From the work we did before break describe the kinds of question we can answer with data? What kinds of questions can not be answered?

• Journal Response: Building your Questions - Today we are building your questions about data. With your partner brainstorm 3 areas you would like to investigate with data. The link we used last class to some data sets is below.
• Meet with teacher to discuss data set selection - we discussed:
• What is the source?
• Is it at least 5000 pieces of data?
• Do you think this data set can answer your questions? How?
• Journal Response: Develop a set of 3&5 questions that will be the focus of the investigation and submit them here. 
• Online: Submit your dataset link
• Start writing: They started on the collaborative part of the paper.
• The first part of your paper will include: (this is from the data portfolio rubric)
• Overview of your investigation: a description of the intent of the investigation and how it will be used to gain insight and knowledge;
• The set of 3 to 5 questions that you will answer.
• Explanation and justification of how the data and other sources used in your investigation (if any) are appropriate for exploring and answering the questions.
• Information about the data set(s): a description of each data set; the URL of the data set; the date on which you accessed the data; and where possible a reference to the data set from  a written work (e.g., an article, book, or blog post).
• Type these out in word and submit the file here. ALL partners must have a  copy of this file and submit it before leaving today.

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Today we will learn the 9 (R3), the 4 (L1), and the 0 (R4).

Just a couple of quick reminders...remember that you have a crossword puzzle that is due on Friday.  You can turn that in anytime between now and then - please make sure to put your name at the top.
Also, we do have a vocab quiz next week (over list #6).  If you are responsible for defining words this week is a great time to get that completed as you probably have very little homework with ISAT testing going on.  Again, all definitions will need to be posted by Tuesday night of next week.

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Our local CSTA chapter recently signed up for Oreillys User Community. If you are a member of a local CSTA chapter (and you should be - its free people) this is a service that might be helpful for your chapter.

From their website: If you run a user group, Meetup, professional association, or other technology group, OReilly Communities can provide you with:

• Review copies of OReilly, Microsoft Press, Pragmatic, No Starch, and SitePoint products
• Donations of books and other promo items

Hope this helps!

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Just another reminder that vocab definitions are due on the Wikispaces page tonight.  If you dont do these you will be losing 10 points, and it will be a permanent loss of 10 points (in other words you cant turn it in late - you either do it or you dont, and you either get points or you dont).

We will start working on FA4 today after I explain to you how to set tabs - it is embedded below.


Activity 4.pdf

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Subtitled - what I wish I was doing for my summer vacation.

The image is from the Hacker School this summer. While I am doing AP training and schlepping all over town for swim team practice, other folks are spending three months at what is basically a coding retreat. First off - make sure you read the logo above. It says "Code as Craft" if you arent wearing your glasses.

This is an idea I have been playing with a lot this spring. Obviously in teaching computer science there is a point where students have to demonstrate an ability to program something.

Bu does it always have to be C++/Java/insert your favorite language here?

Maybe not. This last year at SIGCSE I sat in on a talk about knitting patterns as a type of programming language.

Anyone that knows me knows I knit. A lot. And there really is something to this idea.

After you sit down and work in C++ you get a program of some level of usefulness. Knitting patterns you end up with something fuzzy. The sleeves may not be the same length, but you do have an artifact.

The basic idea of using an algorithmic language to communicate a set of instructions is the same. The idea of learning a skill and practicing until your artifact is useful and even beautiful is the same.

So this summer I am trying to think of some ways to incorporate this into my classes next year. Beyond the "make a peanut butter sandwich to teach algorithms" Id like to find a way to show them that these languages are all about creating artifacts. And there is beauty in that.

More info on Hacker School:

• http://www.etsy.com/blog/news/2012/update-on-the-hacker-grants-program/ - very interesting post about the grants given this summer and the rise in women participants
• https://www.hackerschool.com/ - link to the school itself.

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Anytime you are required to send an email in this class you will need to make sure that you include the 5 parts to a correct email.  That will almost always be a part of your grade.  They are listed here:

1. Email address
1. Username (what comes before the @ symbol)
2. the @ symbol
3. email server (gmail or yahoo, for example)
4. the period
5. the top level domain (.com, .net, .org)
2. Subject line
1. explains to the reader of the email what the email is about
2. not typed in all caps
3. Greeting
1. include the name of the person you are sending the email to
2. depending on your relationship with the individual, it may be "Dear Mrs. Smith" or you might enter "James"
4. Body
1. Write in complete sentences
2. if you want your email to be professional (and it needs to be in here!), avoid texting language (LOL, OMG, B4, etc.)
3. spell check!!
5. Signature
1. create a signature using features in Google (done!)
2. eliminates having to remember to type your name at the bottom

The name of the assignment is "10 facts about me".  You will need to send this to me by Friday (this is a homework assignment - you will not be allowed to complete this during class).  However, the 10 facts are going to be a little unique - heres an example of what you would need to include:

1 - I have 1 sister
2 - I have golfed at the John Deere TPC twice
3 - I went to 3 River Bandit games this summer
4 - 4 is my favorite number
5 - I have been to a Chicago Bears game 5 times
6 - I started playing the piano at age 6
7 - The house number at the address where I live is 723
8 - I have been to Lake of the Ozarks 8 times
9 - The zip code of the town I grew up in is 80759
10 - One of the cars I own is a 2010 Toyota Highlander

When you email me make sure that you include the 5 correct parts to an email.  Due Friday means that it is due by midnight on Friday night (when you send an email to me I will be able to tell when it was sent) - so you can work on this after school tomorrow but your best bet will be to complete this tonight.

The last part of class will be reviewing what we learned Tuesday, and then learning the O (R3).

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Over the past year so many new tools for teaching Computer Science have arrived.

Image from Code in the Browser

Here are just a few:

• App Inventor - apps for Android devices
• Code in the Browser JavaScript
• CodeAcademy
• Javascript, HTML, CSS, APIs, Python, Ruby
• CodingBat
• CodePad 
• C++, Lua, Python, Ruby and several others
• Code Spells * - kids learn Java by playing a game
• Computer Science Circles *  
• Python with explanation as you go
• Google Blockly *
• Khan Academy *
• Learn Street * - JavaScript, Ruby, Python, etc
• PHP for Kids *
• PythonMonk *
• Scratch 2.0 * (Beta)
• Snap Online
• Team Treehouse (not free)*
• Touch Develop *
• Try F# *
• W3Schools * - HTML, CSS

Also - a list of 10 free online resources, including MOOCs. *

Several of these let you start trying out code without really being aware of what language you are using. It leads to the question - does language matter?

I am starting to wonder if we even should be teaching a specific language in the beginning. Perhaps a better approach is to expose students to successful coding situations, build some positive experiences, then start to get more depth with one language.

This list is a quick start. Let me know if you know of any sites that should be listed.

*Updated 4/7/13

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Much to my familys annoyance I listen to A LOT of podcasts. We have two pre-teen girls and they mostly want to listen to "Call me Maybe" right now rather that chit chat.

Heavy in rotation for the past two weeks has been the Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Podcast from Stanford University.

This talk by Aneesh Chopra, the United States Chief Technology Officer, is a great overview of some of the ways the US government is trying to keep up with technological changes. I was lucky enough to hear him speak at one of the UVA Tapestry Workshops a few years back when he was still serving as Secretary of Technology here in Virginia. He is always very interesting and I end up walking away with a huge list of thing to look up.

In this talk he includes several sources particularly relevant to teaching the CS Principles Data topic.

• http://www.data.gov/ - free clearing house of data collected by the government. In the talk he mentions several entrepreneurs using this data to start companies.
• Healthcare - there is some good discussion here on privacy and how large data sets can be used to help develop treatments. This was one of the topics my students really responded to this year.
• Education - This gives a great example of high school students using data to save money for their school district by looking at electricity usage.

There is a lot more, these were the highlights. The advantage is Stanford breaks the podcast down into small snippets of video making it very usable in a classroom.

While I am on the subject, if you have the chance to get to one of the Tapestry Workshops you need to go. Great information on expanding computer science to a broader group of students. They have expanded to several universities - so there is sure to be one near you. (I am speaking at UVA briefly this Thursday, but dont let that scare you away, the rest of the presenters are amazing.)

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Note 2 Galaxy was officially confirmed of a spokesman the al companiei South Korean company
, according to Reuters . New version of the the largest smartphone the world will be launched on 29 august , before  IFA Berlin.
http://blog-de-filme-online.blogspot.ro/

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We are now starting to have several websites that require usernames and passwords, and I feel it is best to create a Google Doc that will house that information so that you dont have to worry about trying to remember what goes where.  Therefore, we are going to create a Google Doc today that will store that important information (for the websites we have) so that you dont have to try to remember what username and password goes with what site.  You should have information for Classmarker and Wikispaces - well be adding to that list as we continue throughout the semester (and youre certainly welcome to include any other websites that you want that require usernames and passwords).

After completing the password file in Google we will warm up by typing lines 1-10 on 5C, page 11.  Then we will learn 2 new keys - the B (L1) and the Y (R1).

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Today we have our second vocab quiz.  Just like last week we will take the first few minutes to review and then we will be heading to Classmarker to complete the quiz.  DO NOT GO TO CLASSMARKER UNTIL I GIVE YOU THE OK!

After completing the quiz we will be learning the M (R1) and the X (L3).

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We will take the first few minutes to review for the vocab quiz.  After looking over the words on your wikispaces page we will go to Classmarker to take the quiz.  You shouldnt be on Classmarker until I tell you to go there!

Once you are completed with the quiz you will need to open Microsoft Word and turn to page 11.  You need to type lines 1-10 in section 5C.

Once we get done with section 5C we will move to page 12 and learn the B (L1) and the Y (R1).

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You will have a few minutes at the beginning of the hour to review; Ill let you know when its time to go to Classmarker to take the quiz.

When you get done with the quiz you need to finish FA6 and hand it in.

If you are done with FA6 and the person you are to compete against is done with FA6 you will have a race on the Typeracer website.  It is not a guarantee that all people will be competing in Typeracer today.

If you have completed everything you can bring something to work on from another class, read, or play on the practice websites.

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Using In-Built Modem Dialer for Huawei Dongles in Windows 8

As you all are aware that by using Huawei or any other companys 3G dongle, we can surf the web at high speeds on-the-go.  There are lots and lots of 3G dongle models are available in market that will suit your need.  Previously, we used to buy a carrier-locked 3G dongle that will not accept any other Operators SIM card for use.

But now, Huawei itself has launched its own range of dongles that are factory unlocked and ready to be used with every Operators network.  Just insert the SIM, and start enjoying High-Speed 3G Internet on-the-go depending on the availability of Network in your locale.

But what if you dont want to mess up with your Operating system by installing extra software eating up your system resources.

In this post, you will see how we can use in-built modem dialer of Windows 8 to get connectivity with Huawei Dongles.

You need only to download and install latest Huawei Dongle drivers and you are ready to surf the web without any headache.  If you have already installed Mobile Partner, then you dont need to download anything else.

Windows 8 offers in-built Modem Dialer for Mobile Broadband so that you can surf the web in seconds without having trouble.

After installing Drivers, just restart the system and you are ready to surf the Internet via Dongle.

 
 
Steps to use In-built modem:

• Plug-in your Huawei Dongle on your Windows 8 Machine.
• Click on Network Icon on your Windows 8 taskbar.
• Find your Dongle under Mobile Broadband and click Connect.
• Enter APN (Access Point Name) and you are ready to surf the Internet.

By this method, you can only connect to Internet.  Unfortunately, You CANNOT check Balance or make calls from this method.  You need to install Mobile Partner Dashboard to accomplish those services.  You can get latest version of Mobile Partner here.

Steps to install:


Extract ZIP and open DriverSetup.  Open as Admin by right clicking.  After Install restart machine. 

Download Details:
File Name:  Huawei Drivers.zip
Version: 4.25.06.00
Size:  6 MB

Download link:
http://www.mediafire.com/?fht0ofdbf7o5e3f

Pass:  computerworldblog


Enjoy...
Comments welcome...

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This video explains what streaming video is:

After watching this video we will discuss a few of the vocab words on this weeks vocab list.  Additionally, you will be given time to complete FA9 during class - it is due at the end of the hour.

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Each week my CS Principles students do discussion board posts that respond to current events. Here are some stories that caught my eye this week:

Computer Science related news, a mostly BBC theme this week:

• Criminal Robots - so now that you can visit far-away placed using avatars and robots, what are the ethical implications? We tend to place a lot of trust in the Internet, but criminals are on-line too. How should this shape your digital life?
• Hactivist Simulation - Brittans government recently ran a simulation of a cyber - attack from a group of hactivists. How should governments be responding to these attacks? What jobs might relate to protecting from cyber attacks? Should the response be different for cyber-terrorists?
• Yahoo Chief Executive steps down Computer Science degrees are so valuable CEOs are faking them. Why is it important to be truthful in presenting information about yourself? Many have argued that the Internet has made us all more anonymous. Is this true?
• And for the truely paranoid: WiFi blocking wallpaper.

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Since SIGCSE last week several folks have asked about how I handle discussion boards for the CS Principles class.

I include discussion board topics to gauge how the students are thinking and learning about the topics we cover. It is so much easier to asses code, and it creates a big temptation to fall back on "just coding". The discussion board has been a great way to read along with their learning process.

For this to work we have to really structure it at the beginning. This is not a type of writing that high school students are used to. Add the natural joy they feel at hearing "Now we are going to write about..." it can take a while to get them going.

The first topics of the year year focused on how to effectively participate in a discussion board. Students do not know how to do this yet, so the skill must be taught. Lots of feedback and very clear guidelines are a must.

They must do at least three responses a week. I am very specific about what I am looking for, and what will not count. A response must:

• Move the conversation along, not just rehash other posts
• Add a new analysis or fact to the discussion
• Ask a question ("I dont get it" doesnt count)
• Respond to another students post ("I agree" or "LOL" is not a response)

Like most things at our level, if it is not graded they will not do it. Rules about language usage help. My students communicate online socially, not for education. I have learned that you must make this distinction very clear. Specifically we follow the 4-Ps:

• No Profanity
• No Plagiarism
• No Paraphernalia (drugs, alcohol, etc)
• Play nice - no bullying

I developed these when I was in college sponsoring a local high schools literary magazine and they work in lots of teen-related situations.

This can also be a good time to talk about their digital life. They dont often stop to think about the information they are leaving online for the world to see...this makes a great discussion board topic, in a self-reflexive kind of way.

Need more? This PDF from TeacherStream is one of the best resources on facilitating discussion boards I have found. Edutopia has a whole list of resources for online learning that can be helpful in a traditional classroom also.

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