Edheads (www.edheads.org) is a cool site where you can learn some stuff about weather, simple machines, and yes, knee surgery. Check it out to try your hand at being a surgeon!
-
Search Tip
Tuesday’s Technology Tip
(Little bits of information to hopefully make your computing life easier)Google is by far the most popular search engine, but certainly not the only one. Each search engine has its own “formula” for finding results. Google provide results based on how many sites link to the result sites. Teoma (www.teoma.com) provides results based on how many sites link to the result sites within the subject being searched, and also offers tips for refining a search and resources from experts.
This is easier to see by doing – try a search for Martin Luther King in both Google and Teoma to compare. Also see the following link for a comparison of 3 “big” search engines – Google, Yahoo!, and Teoma. http://www.infopeople.org/search/guide.html
-
Music Notation Software
Mr. Marinaccio’s classes just started coming into the lab to notate their rhythmic speech compositions. We are using the free version of the notation program Finale, called Finale NotePad. You can download and use this program at home as well. To get the download, click hereHappy composing!
-
Backup Tip
Tuesday’s Technology Tip
(Little bits of information to hopefully make your computing life easier)Backing up files for permanent storage is best done with CDs. All new Dells purchased this year, along with all eMacs in the lab (plus some other Macs in the building) have CD burners.
On Dells, use Roxio Easy CD Creator to burn CDs. To find Roxio, click on Start | Programs | Applications | Roxio Easy CD Creator
On Macs, you can burn CDs directly from the desktop.
-
Happy New Year!
PC Magazine has posted The 50 Greatest Gadgets of the Past 50 Years. Without showing my age TOO much, let’s just say I own/owned at least 4 or 5 of the goodies on the list. While the box on the right may look like a dinosaur (and if you saw the graphics on it you would laugh), in its heyday it was awesome.
Some parents may have one of these in the closet – its an Atari Video Computer System (later called the Atari 2600).Interesting that no. 1 and no. 2 on the list are portable music players. Look at the list and think about why some of the items are there. Then, think about a tech gadget you use now that may make the list in 50 years.
-
Keyboarding
There is a lot of talk right now about when keyboarding should be taught in school. Historically it has been done at the high school, but since computers and keyboards are ssuch an integral part of our daily lives, it appears that keyboarding instruction should come earlier. Research shows that early keyboarding classes will help the most.
What are your thoughts on keyboarding instruction (time spent learning how to keyboard correctly)? Do you think it would help you? Do you think you type well enough already? How did you learn to type the way you do now?
Post your comments here – thanks!
-
Student Showcase
If you have not checked out the Student Showcase in WITS recently, you should now. Quite a few recent projects have been posted – new Wall Tiles, PhotoShop collages, Colony Advertisements, and more!
-
Word Processor tip
Tuesday’s Technology Tip
(Little bits of information to hopefully make your computing life easier)There are many different word processors available for computers. The most common one is Microsoft Word, which is on all District computers. AppleWorks is another program that includes a word processor (as well as a spreadsheet, database and more). AppleWorks is on all Heim computers. In addition to these, both Dells and Macs have a basic word processor installed. On the Dells, it is called WordPad, and is found in the Start Menu – click Start | Programs | Accessories. On the Macs, it is called TextEdit, and is found in the Applications folder – click Go | Applications.
-
Sony PSP – WAY Cool
I just had my first opportunity to try a Sony PSP – sweet! Now I’m not a gamer, but the size of this, along with the controls and the ability to hit the Internet make this one cool device. I may just have to change my Christmas list… -
WITS tip
Tuesday’s Technology Tip
(Little bits of information to hopefully make your computing life easier)There is a new feature for teachers in WITS called Terms/Flashcards, found in the teacher notes area. You can put vocabulary terms in for your students to practice in a flashcard format. You can also share your vocabulary words so other teachers can access them. For more details, click on the What’s New link on the homepage of WITS.