Kate Gardner's ITE 130 blog

Tedtalk: Jan Chipchase Our Cell Phones, Ourselves

2007-12-07T16:27:00.000-08:00

Jan Chipchase, a human behavioral researcher who works for Nokia travels around the world in search of behavioral patterns that will inform the design of products we don't even know we want - yet. He said the three most important things we carry are keys, money and cell phones which relates to Maslow's heirarchy - survival of ourselves and loved ones. Chipchase stated that the mobile phone has the ability to transcend space and time, and it is universally appreciated. It is personal, private, and convenient. He spoke about how illiterate people use cell phones as a bank to send money home to their villages. Despite all the resources and sophistication, people in the streets innovate and use the phones is ways that meet their needs. The cell phone is creating a connected world where everything is intertwined.The designers are looking at these innovations, and incorporating that information into the everchanging mobile phone. Chipchase said that learning to listen is the most important part of studying people and their behavior.

This talk was extremely interesting to me. I am too involved in my own job and every little problem of everyday that I actually opened my head to think about the world and how huge, wonderful, and diverse it is. The fact that technology is evolving so rapidly because of the street (all the people in the world) is far out.

TedTalk: Jeff Han:Unveiling the genius of multi-touch interface design

2007-12-01T09:27:00.000-08:00

Jeff Han showed a high resolution multi-touch computer screen that may be the beginning of the end of the point and click mouse. He began with a simple lava lamp then turned it into a virtual photo-editing tabletop, where he moved photos across the screen with his fingers. He was able to enlarge photos with just touching them in certain ways. He said that by using this multi-touch, multi-user screen, there is no need to conform to a physical device, the device comforms to us. These interface-free computer displays are able to zoom in and out on a Google map just by pinching two fingers together. I enjoyed the creative applications where he was able to create shapes, move them around, draw shapes and interact with them by touching them. It will be exciting to see these new computer technologies in the future. Here is a webpage about Jeff Han's multi-touch interaction research which says that the technique is force-sensitive, and provides unprecedented resolution and scalability, allowing us to create sophisticated multi-point widgets for applications large enough to accomodate both hands and multiple users. It also shows a video demo of multi-touch interaction experiments. The music, "Who Am I?" is haunting with a great beat by Peter Kruder, Peace Orchestra 1999 :http://cs.nyu.edu/~jhan/ftirtouch

Individual Research Project Summary Internet and the Classroom

2007-11-23T07:41:00.000-08:00

My research Project was Internet and the Classroom. When technology tools are integrated into the K-12 and university classrooms, learning can be extended in powerful ways. The internet and multimedia provides students and teachers with access to up-to-date information, ways to collaborate with students, teachers, and experts around the world, and opportunities for expressing understanding via images, sound, and text.

The effective use of technology can help change the current educational paradigm from teacher-centered instruction to student-centered instruction. The new paradigm includes multi-sensory stimulation, collaborative work, information exchange, active, inquiry based learning in an authentic, real world context.

Technology is transforming education. Teachers have access to more information, more ways to interact and collaborate, more approaches to instruction than ever before. Combining the boom in instructional technology and constructivism, teachers are providing students with activities like the webquest, virtual field trips, and online activities that require research and evaluation of digital information.

A framework for improving student achievement called Understanding by Design (UbD) helps teachers clarify learning goals, devise assessments, and craft effective and engaging learning activities.

The following technology tools are ways that educators are using technology in classrooms: The Smart Board which is an interactive whiteboard linked to a computer where users write directly on the whiteboard and see their writing displayed on the computer's monitor. A Student Response System is a tool used to promote active learning in the classroom. Students respond to questions posed by the instructor using a small handheld that looks like a TV remote control. The use of digital cameras in the classroom can enhance the leaning environment as a writing prompt, to illustrate the steps in a procedure, to record a field trip, to create class books, to capture classroom activities for newsletter, webpage, and student portfolios. Weblogs are used as collaborative spaces where students read stories then use a blog to answer questions and create meaningful content for audiences wider than just a teacher and a small group of peers. They learn to negotiate knowledge in real and relevant ways, preparing then for the connected work they will find once they graduate.

Technology is here to stay and teachers need to provide the children of the 21st century with a technology rich classroom with best teaching practices for optimal student learning.

Blog 12b TED Talk Pilobolus: A performance merging dance and biology

2007-11-11T14:49:00.000-08:00

I was mesmerized by the two dancers who performed the sensuous duet, Symbiosis. The music, recorded by the Kronos Quartet is a compilation of works including " God Music" from Black Angels by George Crumb. They intertwined themselves to become one being throughout the performance. Drawing inspiration from biology the dance troupe has named themselves Pilobolus, a fungus that thrives in cow dung. The dancers, Otis Cook and Jennifer Macavinta each came together, then separated, then came together again with an ebb and flow using lifts and positions where the girl would stand on the man and entwine herself around him in a thousand different ways with continuous motion. Does it trace the birth of a human relationship, or the co-evolution of a symbiotic species? At times they looked like insects, other times they looked like underwater creatures. It was breathtaking to see the creativity of two human beings using their superb athletic and creative abilities to interpret music to form such an intimate and beautiful moving image.

Blog 12a Webpage Building

2007-11-09T16:21:00.000-08:00

I do not have experience building a webpage by hand. My experience with webpages includes the Google blog that we use with ITE 130 and more recently TeacherWeb which is used by our school for teams and individual teachers to keep parents informed. I am working on mine which includes Announcements, Homework, Supply List, Links, FAQ's, Teacher Info, Calendar, Schedule.

My participation on the Blogger blog has been a great learning experience. I have been exposed to a myriad of internet information that certainly has broadened my horizon. I also have enjoyed reading my classmates blogs and appreciate their efforts and opinions as people on a quest for knowledge.

Blog 10b Artificial Intelligence

2007-10-27T14:44:00.000-07:00

I liked the Ansgar video about the man opening the book and turning the pages. It reminded me of some of my students. The Bradford video was great! Just seeing the professor managing everything in his life through his voice and touching the screen was like Star Trek. The one technology we do not have in personal computing today is an interactive human interface.
I found an article from IBM Research on Artificial Intelligence at http://domino.research.ibm.com/comm/research.nsf/pages/r.ai.html. It states that Artificial Intelligence is the study of how computer systems can simulate intelligent processes such a learning, reasoning, and understanding symbolic information in context. The IBM Research's chess-playing program Deep Blue made history by beating world chess champion Gary Kasparov. AI research goes far beyond game playing and is at the forefront of many of the hottest areas of Artificial Intelligence. AI applications include electronic commerce, intelligent tutoring systems, knowledge management, performance management, and exploratory vision. IBM projects include Anti-Spam Research, Machine Learning for Coverage Directed test Generation, Personal Wizards, Swift File (An intelligent assistant for Lotus Notes that helps users organize their e-mail.

Blog 10a Thomas Barnett: The Pentagon's New map for war and peace

2007-10-27T12:42:00.000-07:00

Thomas Barnett argues that the moral mission of the United States is to extend the benefits of globalization to the one-third of the world that is disconnected from the global community. America needs to create a more secure world by eliminating the seeds of conflict. In Barnett's world, Earth is made up of two groups, The first is the Functioning Core, nations like the U.S., Canada, Europe, Russia, China, Japan, and India. The second is the Non-Integrating Gap, made up of the Middle East, most of Africa, parts of Central and South America and parts of Asia. The Core is defined by economic, political and military stability while the Gap is home to poverty, authoritarian regimes and conflict. Led by the U.S., it is the Core's mission to shrink the Gap and usher in a new era of relative global stability. A transformation of a new military- one that would split the present force into two different organizations would be used to provide security to Gap nations which will slowly be added to the Core. The United States-with help from other nations-will play the role of global policeman and global SWAT officers.

I think it makes sense to realize that the trouble in the world stems from poverty, authoritarian regimes and conflict. Could Barnett's concepts be improved? How about trying out what he has proposed? The countries of the Functioning Core should take the lead and work together using their economic, political, and military stability to help the Gap people become self sufficient, democratic, peaceful societies.

Ted Talk Craig Venter: A Voyage of DNA, genes, and the sea

2007-10-20T12:14:00.000-07:00

Craig Ventor is a biologist and genomic researcher. In 2001 he sequenced the human genome, in 2003 he sailed the globe to sample, catalog and decode the genes of the oceans unknown microorganisms. Now he is working to create the first synthetic lifeforms - microorganisms that can produce alternative sources of energy.

A human genome is a person's complete set of DNA. Genomics is a term that describes the study of all the genes in a person, as well as the interactions of those genes with each other and a person's environment.

Ventor spoke about millions of new genes discovered from organisms in the world's oceans and about his voyage aboard the Sorcerer II, a 92 foot yacht that sailed to Bermuda, Halifax, the Caribbean, Panama, Galapagos, and the Indian Ocean. He has made amazing discoveries about gene similarities like every species uses pigment and sunlight to see.

He spoke about synthetic genomics which is a field of research in which scientists use chemically created pieces of DNA and assemble chromosomes to create new pharmaceuticals and biologically produced green fuels.

Venter said that in the future species could be genetically engineered for food and posed the question as to weather or not we should make an artificial life form. The technology of synthetic biology will continue to evolve rapidly, but not without debates about the societal impact and potential dangers to the world.

Ventor says that genomics is the field of science that has the power to transform the world around us by impacting human health and better treating disease by enabling a better understanding of the environment and potentially creating new biological sources of energy.

If new sources of energy can be created through genomics, this may be what the world has been looking for, ways to produce alternative fuels such as ethanol or hydrogen. To design, synthesize and assemble synthetic microorganisms that will produce fuels that that the planet needs could be vital to solving environmental problems of the future.

Blog Action Day October 15, 2007

2007-10-13T12:35:00.000-07:00

We can save the world together! Here is a cool online coloring book for kids! NIEHS Kids Pages.

http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/colepa1.htm Check it out!

Blog 8a Al Gore: 15 Ways to Avert a Climate Crises

2007-10-12T15:51:00.000-07:00

Al Gore was funny when he described how depressing it is to have been the vice president, then not. He talked about what you can do about the Climate Crises.

Reduce emissions in your home (insulation, better design)

Buy a hybrid car.

Be a green consumer, you have choices, choose products that have a much less harsh effect on the environment.

Live a carbon neutral life.

Reduce your carbon emissions.

Look at the website http://climatecrises.net/ which shows a consumer friendly carbon calculator with options to reduce carbon emissions.

Make your business carbon neutral.

Integrate climate solutions in all you do.

Become a catalyst of change, teach others about it, learn about it.

Become politically active.

Support the idea of capping carbon emissions.

Help with mass persuasion techniques.

Rebrand Global Warming: Climate Crises

This is not a political issue, but an opportunity to bring more coherence to ideas. We are one.

I am so impressed with Al Gore and his crusade for Climate Crises. We do have choices and we need to
make the right ones to keep the carbon emissions from destroying our world. This TedTalk was filmed in February of 2006, and since then Al Gore has won an academy award for his documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth" which has had an international impact in global warming awareness. Now Al Gore and the UN group for climate change have won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. They were credited for their efforts in spreading the message of climate change and global warming. Gore was said to be the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted.

Googlereader RSS feed to blog

2007-10-12T12:18:00.000-07:00

My Googlereader Feed is: http://www.google.com/reader/view/#overviewpage.

Alex Steffen: Inspired Ideas for a Sustainable Future

2007-10-08T15:54:00.000-07:00

Alex Steffen is a journalist, environmentalist, and cofounder of WorldChanging.com. He talked about the earth's sustainability and said that our ecological footprint has major flaws. This small planet circling around the sun has evolved into a place with too much stuff that is hurting the environment. We don't know if the earth is environmentally sustainable. The world is changing quickly and we need to look for tools, models, and ideas that will change the game. He asked, "What are we looking for?" and answered, "The Bright Green City" which means changing the way we live in cities. He mentioned cities like Vancouver (denser and more livable), and Portland (using growth management where the pastures and trees stay and nothing changes).Mr. Steffen said that people in close proximity need to be Smart Places; they need to know where things are, they need to use car share clubs, information technology to use less stuff. They need to look for low cost technology like cell phones to help people freely work together. He spoke of using new tools for people in developing countries and innovative ideas like refrigerators that don't need electricity, a straw to suck water that makes it drinkable, and a merry-go-round that pumps water as kids play. We need to Leap Frog or use what we all ready know and invent new tools to make A Bright Green Future for the World.
Mr. Steffen's ideas are awesome! He is leading the way in saving our planet. We do have the ability to change our cities through consumer activism, new farming techniques, alternative energy, green building projects, technology globalization, and human rights. I think most people on the earth want to make it a better place and will contribute to new and better ways to improve the environment and totally increase livability for all of us.

TED Talk Jonathan Harris: The Web's Secret Stories

2007-09-23T18:59:00.000-07:00

I loved Jonathan Harris's presentation, "The Web's Secret Stories". He is an artist, story teller and Internet Anthropologist. He stated that people have a lot in common, but they also have gaps, like language, gender, age, money, and religion. He spoke about how people have taken traditional forms of self expression such as writing, art, and poetry on to the internet. These moments of self expression are leaving footprints.

In his project "We Feel Fine" he scans the world's blogs to collect snapshots of the writers feelings, and in the "Universe" he turns current events into constellations of words. His computer programs build graphic interfaces that help us visualize his data. He makes online art that show the world's expression and gives a glimpse of the soul of the internet.

When I saw the huge display of pictures on the planetarium-like screen, I was moved by the pain, sorrow, and happiness of these people, these souls floating through space. I felt a great connection with these people because I am them and they are me. I think this mode of art does create coherence from the chaos and will bring people from all over the world together.

Blog b Class Content Phishing and Internet Scams

2007-09-23T16:07:00.000-07:00

The word phishing comes from the analogy that Internet scammers are using e-mail lures to fish for passwords and financial data from the sea of Internet users. The term was coined in 1996 by hackers who were stealing AOL internet accounts by scamming passwords from unsuspecting AOL users. Since hackers have a tendency to replace "f" with "ph", the term phishing was derived. http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/2005/phishing.asp

The Webopedia Definition of phishing is the act of sending an e-mail to a user falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft. The e-mail directs the user to visit a Web site where they are asked to update personal information, such as password and credit card, social security, and bank account numbers that the legitimate organization already has. The Web site, however, is bogus and set up only to steal the user's information.

I have received odd e-mails over the years at school and home but so far I haven't been scammed. I remember being warned about certain Internet Scams and told not to open the e-mails. My school system does have a system in place to block e-mails that shouldn't be coming through. The article "All About Phishing" says the golden rule to avoid being phished is to never ever click the links within the text of the e-mail. Always delete the e-mail immediately. Once you have deleted the e-mail then empty the trash box in your e-mail client as well. You can also visit the Web site of the company from who the e-mail appears to be from and notify them of the suspicious e-mail. Many companies do want to know if their company name is being used to try and scam people. You can also report phishing to the Federal Trade Commission, or the Anti-Phishing Working Group who is building a database of common scams to help inform people of the risks.

My thoughts on this topic are that there have always been scam artists who try to steal from people. This is just a new method, phishing, an outcome of the advancement of the internet. People do need to be informed of these
scams and know what they need to do to protect themselves from identity theft. We need to constantly be on the lookout to safeguard ourselves against the evil forces that permeate our society.

Surfing the Net 3b

2007-09-08T07:32:00.001-07:00

I surf the web about 20-30 hours a week. The main websites I went to this week include:

http:dozier.nn.k12.va.us This is my school Website. I go here each day to check e-mail and keep up with the daily instructions from the principal, technology people, related service teachers like adapted P.E., Speech Therapists, and Occupational Therapists.

http: abcteach.com This website has worksheets for elementary students. I was looking for pictures for a cowboy theme and found a good picture of a cowboy boot that I used for names tags for the kid's desks.

http: edhelper.com I am a member of this website. It has great reading and math worksheets for many levels.

http:www.rcc.vccs.edu I have spent most of my time here can you believe it!

http: ted.com I viewed the Tony Robbins presentation this week. These lectures would be great for teachers staff development meetings because the speakers are so great.

http:vcu.edu My son goes here and I am able to keep abreast of his financial needs and courses he needs to take.

http: news.com.com I read a good article here by Declan McCullagh called "Should the United Nations Run the Internet?"

http:www.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2w4FH34kgQ I am taking a sign language class and wanted to use the story, "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" for my presentation and I found this on youtube.

Tony Robbins TED TALK Why We Do What We Do

2007-09-06T18:27:00.000-07:00

I was deeply touched by Tony Robbins, "The Why Guy's" presentation. He said that emotion is the force of life. He asked why is it that some people who are raised in a good family and have everything end up in rehab when other people who have had bad childhood's and pain in their lives contribute most to society? No matter what happens, they find a way to be happy. They have developed psychological strengths and resourcefulness using their emotions in creative playful ways to make decisions that shape their destiny.

Mr. Robbins stated that emotion creates action like Rosa Parks refusing to sit in the back of the bus which changed society, and Lance Armstrong beating cancer and winning the Tour de France six times. Again, these people overcame pain and used their emotions to achieve greatness.

In the model of the World, Mr. Robbins named six needs: avoid pain, variety, money, prayer (needs of the spirit), need to grow, and the need to contribute beyond ourselves. He asked, What's driving you? and said explore what you are doing today.

I have known people who had it all and lost it, and I have known people who have suffered great pain and made it. For myself, I do believe that times of trouble and pain caused the force of life (EMOTION) to kick in and made me do everything I could at the time and throughout my life to improve, strive to experience variety, address my spiritual needs and enjoy the total satisfaction of contributing beyond myself.

The Internet and Education

2007-09-01T11:52:00.000-07:00

I didn't use the internet in my education, I actually went to a library and used books and magazine articles for my research project, "Sugar and Hyperactivity in Children." I was teaching when the internet came into being and I have used it for many years and have searched and found zillions of great websites and kept current with articles and organizations pertaining to special education and anything else that struck my fancy. I have used websites like starfall.com and kidport.com with an s-video cable to my TV and the kids are able to see, hear, and interact with the program. I have taken my kids to a computer lab each day where they are allowed to surf the net and play games on websites like funbrain.com, primarygames.com., and kizclub.com.

In five years students will all have their own personal computers in the classroom where they will participate in creating presentations with information from the web,choosing what type of teaching methods they prefer, communicate with other children around the world, begin studying what they are interested in and explore what they will do in the future.

There should be a World Wide Education System where all people can access
the knowledge of the world from birth to 99 for free and get college credit for it.

Do Schools Kill Creativity?

2007-08-30T17:35:00.000-07:00

Sir Ken's presentation cracked me up and made me think. Human creativity...What's going to happen in the
future?...education goes deep with people....children have extraordinary capacity for innovation......creativity is as important as literacy and we should treat it with the same status....we don't grow into creativity, we grow out of it...the purpose of schools is to produce university professors who live in their heads and only use their body as a form of transport for their heads to go to meetings......intelligence is distinct......Some people have to move to think.......hope for the future.....new conception of Human Ecology....rethink fundamental principals about how
we educate children....human imagination.....creative capacities.....educate the whole being....it's our job to help
them make something out of it. Do schools kill creativity? No But the word stifle does come to mind. Kids need so much more than to sit at their desks and listen to a teacher talk. In fact that's what they don't need. Providing innovative presentations using the internet and hands-on activities for students to work together using real world situations will inspire students and promote creativity.

2007-08-25T08:52:00.000-07:00

Hello, my name is Kate Gardner. I live in Deltaville, Va., and teach TMD Students at Dozier Middle School in Newport News. I have a husband Jeff who runs Gardner General Services in Deltaville, and a son Jeff who attends VCU (Mass Comm Creative Advertising major). We have a dog named Brownie and three cats, Tiger, Boot, and CoCo. I like to sing, play the piano, take pictures, and go on trips with my friends.

I have a BS Degree in Elementary Education from Villa Maria College, Erie, Pa., and a Masters Degree in Special Education from Slippery Rock University, Pa. I have taught elementary grades for five years in Butler, Pennsylvania, and Special Education in Middlesex, Gloucester, and Newport News for about twenty two years.

I love working with the Special Education students and am taking this course to renew my teaching license.