CBI Sketch & Flowchart for Final Project

Here is the flowchart and sketch of my frames for my final project. I forgot to add the URLs that will be included in my project. The project is due December 1st. I will have to present the project in front of my EDIT 484 class on that Tuesday. I hope that I can get all of the animations done on time. We are working on the title screen and main menu in tomorrow's class.

Computer Based Instruction Project Outline

I have chosen to do my project on Electricity and Magnetism because we are currently working on this unit of study at school. Since science is usually hands-on, I would like to create a project that has some interactivity in it just like if they were to pick up the real objects for science inquiry. At a later date, I could add more physical science standards based activities to the project. This project is geared toward 4th graders, but could easily be used in the 5th grade based on the fact that they are tested on 4th grade standards on the CSTs.

This project will be benefit students in several ways. One, it will have interactive activities to help students review concepts they have learned in physical science. Second, it will allow them to use computer models to reinforce their learning. Basically, it’s the same learning presented in a different format. It also covers two standards in physical science out of the seven for the unit.

Outline of the Project:

I. Magnetism & Electricity
A. Magnets
1. Different poles like the Earth
2. Attract & repel (animation)
3. Magnetic fields
4. Magnets and the compass (animation)
5. Magnets and other objects

B. Static Electricity
1. positive and negative electrons
2. materials and charges
3. two balloons w/ charges
4. wool on one balloon – change in charge (animation)
5. balloons - repel and attract (animation)


Web Resources

1. http://phet.colorado.edu/simulations/sims.php?sim=Magnet_and_Compass

2. http://phet.colorado.edu/simulations/sims.php?sim=Balloons_and_Static_Electricity

3. http://science.howstuffworks.com/magnet.htm

I actually revised my project. Now it only has magnets as the main idea of my project. I am currently working on some sketches for the layout and the flowchart that I have to turn in by Nov. 15th. I have already decided my buttons will actually be a picture of one of the blue/ red bar magnets that I got from Lakeshore. The layout of the Main Menu screen has already been designed. It's the other frames and animations that will be more difficult to produce. The back, home, and next buttons will also be miniature versions of the main menu buttons.

The next posting will have the flowchart and the sketches for all of my frames I will design.

Project #3 - EDIT 484

Project #3 had us make buttons that would jump to another frame. It was very difficult at first. I must have played around with the code for 4 hours before I finally got it right.

One stumbling block was the 3rd button. I didn't realize when I need to jump to the 4th frame that I needed to add blank frames in between. So frustrating, but now I know. I struggled with the 3rd button in class, too. I learn by doing, so though it was frustrating, I learn a great deal by problem solving on my own.

We had to jump to new frames that talked about us personally. I chose teacher, runner, and traveler. On the jump to frames, I added pictures of myself in those capacities.

The colors remain the blues and yellows. I had fun creating the buttons because they were not standard buttons. I played around with the curve tools and created all my buttons that way. I was even able to create a back button for each frame so it would go back to the beginning. It's a little tiring clicking on Control > Test Movie. This way I could test all of my buttons after only clicking on Control > Test Movie once.

Project #4

It didn't take me very long to figure out how to link buttons to websites. I tried playing around with motion before the button, but that didn't work out too well, so I scrapped that part of my project. Now I am agonizing over the details of the project. I have the buttons I like, however, I am not sure they are right for the project I created. I don't want to go with standard rectangular buttons or oval buttons. I have tried both and they don't look right on the stage. I thought the hardest part was going to be the Action Script for website linking. Surprisingly, it was the easiest part. I even know the websites I am going to use. Blue and yellow seem to be a reoccurring theme in my projects. Am I going through a blue period of work. I've tried many other colors and they don't seem right. I always go back to blue.

I added a television screen like background so it wouldn't be so plain on the edges of the project. I got some inspiration from The Unforgettable Album artwork that has thin lines at the top and the bottom which breaks up the solid colors and the picture. I still have to play around with the middle to make it just right.

Here is a screen shot of my unfinished project. Who knows what the final version will be when I turn it in on Monday night.

My First Flash Project in EDIT 484

The project was an introduction to Adobe Flash and its capabilities. The main focus of the project was to create working buttons and put some motion tweens that make sense in the mock interface. It was a fun project because I was able to play around with what I learned in class. I can't wait to see what else I can do with this program. I already see the applications in social studies, science, math, and language arts. I could make interactive activities, online quizzes, and other content related to the subjects I teach.

I apologize for the bad quality of the quicktime movie. I haven't figured out a great way to convert .swf to a movie file that can be uploaded into my blog. At a later date, maybe I will learn the proper way to export my projects that I am working on in class.

New Class for Fall 2009

On Tuesday, I had my first class of the Fall, EDIT 484. In this class we are going to learn about Adobe Flash. Concurrently, I am trying to work on being Nationally Board Certified by the end of May 2010. One of the portfolio pieces has to be a lesson using Social Studies and Art. I think Flash will be a way for me to incorporate technology into the lesson also.

I learned what the file extensions .swf and .fla meant on Tuesday. We played around with layers, objects, and several tools during our class session. I am looking forward to learning a great deal about Flash, so I can begin to use it in my classroom.

Three Important Books

I just finished reading Rafe Esquith's Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire. There are many examples given in the book that I would like to try out in my own classroom. I like the property ownership of their desks, building an environment of trust rather than fear in the classroom, and teaching them valuable problem solving skills. There are many more examples. These are a few I want to begin using. To do what this man does every day would take a serious commitment from the teacher. I noticed in his daily schedule that he doesn't have to teach ELD. I wonder how he got away with it when I am forced to teach it for 30 to 45 minutes a day. Two other colleagues are reading the book and I cannot wait to discuss the finer points of the book with them.

A few days ago, I read Malcolm Gladwell's Blink. Everyday examples from doctors to the military to detectives apprehending a "suspect" were given to illustrate the point of the writing. Snap judgments are not always wrong. Unconsciously, we make decisions that we cannot explain, "thinking without thinking" as the second title of the book says. The Millennium Challenge is a perfect example of a situation where the Blue Team had all of the advantages and planned out everything to a tee. Red Team, who lacked as many resources at their disposal, but was able to defeat Blue Team. The book contends that we accept that when an issue or problem has been thought out that the result will be favorable. The book posits that it may not be the case. Gladwell's new book Outliers might be a future read.

Last week, I finished reading The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman. I read it more as a history of technology, but came away with a wealth of knowledge on how the "flat" world works. I gained insight in how a business works - especially supply chains, outsourcing, insourcing, etc. I was amazed that UPS of all companies actually provides services for companies other than delivering packages. Walmart's supply chain is very efficient to the point where they have little inventory. I was astonished to found out after we were losing jobs to Mexico due to cheap labor, they in turn lost out to China through even cheaper labor. Friedman gives many solutions to help our workforce transition in this "flat" world.

My next two books will be Grown Up Digital, I am currently on page 40, and Cultural Literacy, another E.D. Hirsch, Jr. book.