by Brian Metcalfe  - Technology Education

Technology Outcomes Continuum Guide (K-S1) at: http://www.wsd1.org/techcont/
Back in 1997 a team of educators in our Division created a matrix or guideline to assist educators who were integrating technology into their classes. However with the increase in technological innovations both in hardware and software as well as demonstrated competency by younger and younger students, it was necessary to upgrade this document. Check out this new web site to find our Divisional guidelines for "Introducing", "Practicing" and "Mastering" the various outcomes in the "Technology Literacy", "Information Literacy" and "Communication Literacy" areas.

Freeze Frame 2004 at: http://www.freezeframeonline.org/
Thanks to Brenda Dahle of Brock Corydon for informing me of the talented students in our Division who on March 15, 2004 were recognized at the "Teenscreen Awards Night" at the IMAX theater as part of this year's Freeze Frame festival. Students from Brock Corydon, Sargent Park and Daniel McIntyre School were winners in various video categories. Congratulations to the creative students and their supporting teachers.

FrontPage 2002 Counter - Usage Stats
Web creators often want to gain feedback as to the number of times their web site has been visited. Those using FrontPage 2002 now have a "usage" tool which can now provide statistics about a created web site. To investigate this feature one needs to start FrontPage 2002, click on the "File/Open Web" menu items and then select the "default.htm" file which is the home page of your school's web site. Next one can click on the "View/Reports>Usage>" menu items to gain access to such statistics as "Total visits" or "Total page hits" by month, week or day.

Hard Drive Capabilities (:-)
Heard the one about the computer users who where boasting over lunch at the diner one day?
"I can fit over 100 spreadsheets on my hard drive," said one accountant.
"Big deal. I can fit more than 1000 contracts on my hard drive," said a lawyer.
"That's nothing," said a scientist. "I can fit over 10,000 formulas on my hard drive."
"You folks don't know nothing about hard drives," said a stranger who had joined the group at the lunch counter. "Why, I can fit more than 100,000 oranges on my hard drive."
"Oranges?" the accountant asked. "What kind of hard drive do you have?"
"Florida to New York, twice a week," said the trucker.

by Brian Metcalfe - Technology Education

In the March 2001 issue of "Bits and Bytes", I wrote an article entitled "A Classroom Quiz - An activity on 'the cutting edge'" in which I experimented with providing feedback in a Works spreadsheet using the built-in logical IF function. In today's article I will refine my earlier endeavour and explain how one can design a quiz using Excel to provide feedback automatically.

Users new to Excel will find that when a new Excel "workbook" is created, three generic work"sheets" are automatically created with their navigational tabs located in the bottom left corner. I decided to rename them as follows: "QUIZ-sheet" contained a 20 question quiz, blue answers frames in column "I" and the feedback responses in column "K". The "DATA-sheet" component contained "Wet Days in Canada" data downloaded from the Stats-Canada web site at: http://www.statcan.ca  The third page was re-named "CHART-sheet" and displayed the corresponding bar chart generated from the selected "wet days" data.

Although I created this quiz as an activity to enhance an Excel workshop, I will describe the components in detail so that educators can utilize this model to create self-testing quizzes for a variety of subject areas. Better yet, older Excel-using students will be able to create quizzes to challenge their classmates or to use as a review tool.

Since I was using this quiz activity in an Excel workshop, I advised participants at the top of the QUIZ-sheet, to search  for the answers in either the DATA-sheet or CHART-sheet and only use the QUIZ-sheet for entering answers and determining if they were correct based on the feedback generated.

Quiz questions began quite simply such as the first one which asked "How many different Canadian cities are represented in the worksheet or chart?" If one looked at the DATA-sheet at the left, counted the cities, clicked on the QUIZ-sheet tab to move back to the questions, and entered 16 in the blue answer frame in cell location I23, the corresponding feedback in cell K23 would change from "Keep Trying ..." to "CORRECT!".

However later questions became more challenging such as #10. "What is the number of the bottom row?" or #13. "On average, how many millimeters of precipitation fell in Winnipeg during the year?" Most of the questions, like these, were "teachable-moments" in that they reminded me (the instructor) about a feature of Excel that should be demonstrated and discussed. In the DATA-sheet above, participants were challenged to find a word in a cell, such as F18, which is hidden behind the umbrella-carrying cartoon or they learned about the Comment field which is identified by the red indicator in the top right corner of cell D10.

The third worksheet of this quiz activity, that I created for an Excel workshop, was the pictorial representation of the "raw data" shown above. The CHART-sheet below is a bar chart showing the relationship between the data values in the DATA-sheet component. This graphical representation is only one, of a multitude of different charting options, that are available using Excel.

The remainder of this article will focus on how Excel determines if the participant is entering the correct answer or not, how the appropriate feedback is generated and how these "behind the scenes" procedures are hidden from the "curious eyes" of the quiz-takers.

The main components, illustrated in the QUIZ-sheet example, are located in the columns indicated:

• Column "A" - Questions
• Column "I" - Quiz-taker's entry into blue bordered "answer" frames
• Column "J" - Logical IF function comparing quiz-taker's entry with actual answer
                      and feedback (which is not in column K as one might think)
• Column "AK" - is my way of remembering where the "A"nswer "K"ey is located

If one wishes gain an in-depth understanding of how this Excel quiz was constructed, it is recommended that you download the Excel Quiz "freebie" at the end of this newsletter. Once the file is downloaded, one should file an original  copy for safe-keeping and make a duplicate copy for testing and working on while one follows the steps that are outlined below. Should any problems occur with the working copy one can always go back and make a new copy from the original and continue exploring the inner workings of this Excel quiz.

Begin by examining the earlier illustration of the QUIZ-sheet. Other than Columns E, F & G, which were "ripped" out so that the image's width could be reduced to fit on a printed page or screen, what other column appears to be missing? Obviously if you are actually examining a copy of the Excel QUIZ-sheet spreadsheet file, it appears that column J is not displayed or hidden. However, if one were to select columns "I" through "K" and click on the menu items "Format/Column/Unhide", column "J" would not appear because it is not hidden using the Excel "Hide" menu item. Actually column "J" holds the logical "IF" function as well as the feedback statements for both a correct and an inaccurate response. Rather than "hide" this column and have the feedback display fail, I chose to reduce the width of column "J" which, in the extreme case, causes it to disappear from "prying eyes".

In order to gain a better perspective, one must examine the contents of column "J". If one highlights columns "I" through "K", one can then click on the "Format/Column/Width" menu items. Enter 20 as the column width and now columns "I", "J" & "K" will be set to a common width of 20 units so the very narrow column "J" appears. With the wider "J" column visible, it is apparent that the feedback statement actually begins in column "J". When this column is reduced in width, the "CORRECT!" or "Keep Trying ..." labels appear to flow into the "K" column on the right.

To explore how the answers are validated and how the feedback is generated, one should click in cell J23. If the correct value16 is entered in cell I23 as the answer to question 1, the contents of cell J23 display "CORRECT!". If any other entry, including a blank, is entered in I23, the adjacent feedback cell on its right displays "Keep Trying ...". The image below illustrates the main function that is displayed when the cursor is clicked in the J23 cell.

T he IF statement =IF((I23=AK23),"CORRECT!","Keep Trying ...") has three sections separated by commas. The first portion is a logical test which determines if the quiz-taker's entry in the blue framed cell I23 is equal to the answer key which is hidden in the "AK" column (shown at right) at row 23. Next this logical test is evaluated, and if the result is true then the action within the middle set of commas is activated. If the logical test is determined to be false then the last action is acted upon. In this case, the value of 16 entered by the quiz-taker in I23 is equal to the value of the answer key of 16 created in the cell AK23 by the quiz-maker, so the text string "CORRECT!" is displayed in the feedback cell of J23. Any other entry, including a blank, in cell I23 would be compared as unequal to the value 16 in the answer key column in cell AK23 and the feedback entry of "Keep Trying ..." would be displayed.

Although this feedback mechanism would fail if the person entered the word "sixteen" rather than the number "16" in cell I23, a strategy is recommended to facilitate a variety of possible answers. For example, question #3 asked "What colour is used to represent Montreal?". Those who have downloaded this quiz freebie will note that the colour yellow is used in the CHART-sheet to colour-code the Montreal bar. By setting up work-stations properly in advance, a quiz-taker could enter "yellow", "Yellow", "YELLOW" or any upper or lower-case combination of this colour and still gain feedback that s/he is "CORRECT!". To ensure that a computer does present feedback on the case-sensitivity of the answer entry, one must check each workstation. To do so start Excel, and click on the "Edit/Find" menu items. If the next screen includes an "Options" button, click on it so that the "Match case" item is displayed. Clicking on the box to the left of "Match case" will toggle this option on or off. Make certain that no checkmark appears in this box and thus the Excel program will not worry about matching case-sensitivity when comparing the quiz-takers guess with the actual answer in the AK column.

The construction of the QUIZ-sheet, from scratch, might proceed as follows. Begin by entering the first question in cell A23 and its corresponding correct answer in the Answer Key column in cell AK23. Next correctly enter the conditional IF statement of =IF((I23=AK23),"CORRECT!","Keep Trying ...") into cell J23. Test that this "23rd" row question is working properly by entering a fictitious answer like "Elm Creek" in the Answer Key cell of AK23. Test that case sensitivity is not going to be an issue by entering in the "ANSWERS" cell I23, such variations as "ELM creek", "elm creek", or "ELM CREEK". These variations should produce a "CORRECT!" display whereas entries such as  "ElmCreek" or "Elm  Creek" (with two spaces between the words) or a blank entry, should display " Keep Trying ..." when entered. Once this IF statement has been checked and one is confident that the process works properly, one can simply click on cell J23 to highlight it and drag the bottom right corner "handle" down  through the length of the quiz. An alternative is to click on cell J23 to highlight the cell and drag down column J for 30 rows or so. Once this area has been highlighted, one can click on "Edit/Fill/Down" menu items to fill each of these cells in column J with the corresponding IF statement which compares, for example, the question in row 35 with the "ANSWERS" in cell I35 with the correct answer in AK35 through the conditional IF statement:  =IF((I35=AK35),"CORRECT!","Keep Trying ...").

Hiding information from "prying eyes"
Often one encounters inquisitive quiz-takers who are familiar with spreadsheets. With the columns I, J & K somewhat "exposed", as they are right now with a column width of 20, one could click in any of the cells J23-J43 and gain insight as to where the answers are located in the QUIZ-sheet. For example, if one clicked in cell J43, the editing field would reveal the contents of this cell and display the conditional IF command =IF((I43=AK43),"CORRECT!","Keep Trying ..."). The "prying eyes" type of individual would be quick to realize that s/he could enter the "guess" in I43 but there must be some information in cell AK43 that might be useful. To reduce this opportunity of discovery, I purposely collapse or severely reduce the width of column J so that one will have difficulty clicking with any cell in this column. To do so I begin by selecting columns I, J & K by clicking and dragging across the top of these 3 columns. When all 3 columns are highlighted, one should click on the "Format/Column/Width" menu items and enter the value 16 to reduce the column width of all three columns from 20 to 16 units.

Next one will attempt to "hide" column J by reducing the column width severely so that users are unable to click within this column. To do so, click on column J to highlight just this column. Next click on the "Format/Column/Width" menu items and enter the value .1 (decimal 1). When this column collapse to a column width of one-tenth of a unit, not only is it impossible to click within it, the feedback message which actually is in column J, automatically spills across into column K.

The next step involves hiding the Answer Key in column AK. To do so one can click on column AK in the title area at the top to highlight the entire column. Next click the "Format/Cells" menu items and click on the "Font" tab. Click on the drop-down list box arrow to the right of "Automatic" to show the possible font colours. Select the "white" colour in the bottom right corner of the top display of colours. When one clicks "OK" and anywhere outside the AK column, the answers disappear because they are displayed as white text on a white background. Those that want to go a step further to reduce anyone discovering the answers could also use the technique illustrated in the paragraph above and set the column width of the AK answer key to one-tent (.1) of a unit.

Hopefully this article, together with the Excel Quiz spreadsheet freebie, will help students and staff prepare feedback-generating quizzes that can be used in a variety of educational settings.

[Table of Contents]

Canadian National Marsville Project for Middle Years

by Brian Metcalfe - Technology Education

This year, teachers from Faraday, Lord Nelson and Shaughnessy Park Schools are sending their middle years students to Mars. The Marsville Project challenges Grade 6 - 8 students from across the country to plan the first habitation of Mars by building habitats and life-support systems to address one particular aspect of survival on the Red Planet. Details regarding the Canadian National Marsville Mission are located at: http://marsville.enoreo.on.ca/

Since January students have been engaged in astronaut training to determine if they have "the right stuff". Each team must complete the following tasks:

• create a team web site for the project
• create a team mission patch
• work on a Canadian Science and Technology Challenge
• design and construct a life-support system for the team
• work with other teams that are creating the same life-support  system
• discuss your ideas with other participants across the country
• prepare for the link-up day event at Maples Collegiate on April 23, 2004.

Marsville, the Cosmic Village, was originally developed by the Challenger Centre for Space Science Education. The organization was founded by their family members of the Challenger 51-L crew to continue the crew's educational mission to teach, to explore and to inspire. The purpose of the Canadian National Marsville Program is to create a positive vision for young Canadians of the technological society they will inherit in the 21st century. While the primary educational thrust of Marsville is math, science and technology, the project uses a cross-curricular holistic approach integrating a variety of disciplines.

Although teachers are too late to catch this year's "shuttle", they are encouraged to enter a note in next year's planner to investigate the Marsville web site in December in preparation for the "lift-off" in early January, 2005.

[Table of Contents]

Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth is offering a one-day introduction to the ESRI Geographic Information Systems software.

Please register online at the Year-at-a-Glance website:   http://www2.edu.gov.mb.ca/yag/

[Table of Contents]

GIS Software - Workshops for French Immersion Teachers

by Brian Metcalfe - Technology Education

To: Divisional ICT consultants

Re: GIS Software - Workshops for French Immersion teachers

Dear Colleagues:

Following the announcement of the availability of a French version of GIS software for schools last January, many schools have shown an interest and asked for the software. Those who have not may still do so by phoning Candace Lipischak at 945-2076

Workshops on the pedagogical use of GIS Software in the Social Studies curriculum will be held shortly for French Immersion teachers. Two dates have been selected: Friday, April 16 will focus on elementary and middle years (grades 4-S1) and Wednesday, April 21 will focus on the integration of GIS at the high school level (S2-S4).

Teachers may register by using the online workshop registration system of the Bureau de l'éducation française at www.ateliers.mb.ca Divisional workshops may be held upon request by contacting the ICT or Social studies consultants. Please note that BEF does not cover expenses for transportation, meals or substitutes for any workshops.

For any inquiries about these workshops or about GIS software, please contact Michelle Larose-Kuzenko at 945-6683 or Cécile Alarie-Skene at 945-3529 or toll free at 1-800-282-8069, extension 6916.
 

Michelle Larose-Kuzenko		Cécile Alarie-Skene
Consultant		Consultant
Information and Communication Technologies		Social Studies

[Table of Contents]

Science Fair E-mail Chain Hoax

by Brian Metcalfe - Technology Education

Recently, as one of ten e-mail recipients, I received the following message from an educator in our Division who was keen on helping out a student conduct data for a Science Fair project.

Hi!  This is for a school science fair project so if you could do this
it would be greatly appreciated.
1. Copy and paste this letter into a new email (PLEASE do NOT hit
"Forward"),
2. then read the list of names. If your name is on the list,
put a star * next to it. 
3. If not, then add your name (in alphabetical order, put no star.) 
4. Send it to ten people and send it back to the person who
sent it to you. 
5. Put your name in the subject box! You'll see what happens
- it's kind of cool! 

  Please keep this going. Don't MESS it up, please!

Ann** Aaron* Alan* Alexander Alison Annettee Bethany Bob Brock Candy Carol* Cindy Coleen Colin . . . Robin* Roger Shelley Shona Stacey Stephanie Susan* Takara Tirrell* Tracy* Von Yolanda

-- Teacher Alert -- E-mail Chain Can Be Disastrous   Over the years, various teachers have attempted to help students who have wanted to gain a perspective of how fast e-mail can spread. Many of these chain messages indicate that recipients are to e-mail the sponsoring teacher indicating the city, sate and country of the recipient so that the class can plot the data on a map. Then each recipient is asked to forward the message on to everyone in his/her address book. Fortunately some wiser teachers have indicated in the original message that the e-mail activity is only to run for a specified week or so. However, regardless of whether the dates were specified or not, many caring recipients continue to e-mail the teacher, beyond the dates specified, so that the children can plot one more location on the world map. Unfortunately many of these well-intentioned teachers have had their e-mail accounts suspended because their local mail server became swamped with the volume of incoming e-mail within one or two days of the start of the project.

When I first looked over this message I thought that it was a survey experiment to determine which were the most common first names. However since there was no information as to how to contact the supposed original student, I became somewhat skeptical..

As I have indicated in past "Bits and Bytes" articles on hoaxes, I strongly recommend that Internet e-mail users ALWAYS validate claims before sending on a "chain-like" message. To test the validity of this e-mail request, I copied a unique character string from the letter and added words that I thought might assist and entered the following into the Google search at: http://www.google.com/  As a habit, I included the + symbol to indicate that I wanted to retrieve web pages where all three components resided.

+email +"If your name is on the list" +"Science Fair"

This search indicated a number of web sites or LISTSERVs that had participated in perpetuating this chain mail process. When I added the word "hoax" to the search string as follows,

+hoax +email +"If your name is on the list" +"Science Fair" 

I got the following two hits which indicate that this Science Fair chain-letter is nothing more than a hoax.

• Urban Legends & Folklore -  http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_name_survey.htm

• HoaxBusters - http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/HBChainLetters.shtml 
  which leads to the "NEW" Science Fair Project Chain.
  

Remember, chain-letter hoaxes always try to elicit sympathy from the recipient. However as a responsible
Internet e-mail user, ALWAYS validate the claim before sending out e-mail to multiple recipients. 

[Table of Contents]

Food for Thought:  Technology Upgrade

forwarded by Allan Appel - Technology Instructor at the University of Winnipeg

To: All Staff
From: Tech Support

Management has determined that there is no longer any need for network or software applications support. The goal is to remove all computers by Dec. 31, 2004.

Instead, everyone will be provided with an Etch-A-Sketch. There are many sound reasons for doing this:

1. No OS problems.
2. No technical glitches keeping work from being done.
3. No more wasted time reading and writing emails.

Frequently Asked Questions for Etch-A-Sketch Technical Support:

Q. My Etch-A-Sketch has all of these funny little lines all over the screen.
A. Pick it up and shake it.

Q. How do I turn my Etch-A-Sketch off?
A. Pick it up and shake it.

Q. What's the shortcut for Undo?
A. Pick it up and shake it.

Q. How do I create a New Document window?
A. Pick it up and shake it.

Q. How do I set the background and foreground to the same color?
A. Pick it up and shake it.

Q. What is the proper procedure for rebooting my Etch-A- Sketch?
A. Pick it up and shake it.

Q. How do I delete a document on my Etch-A-Sketch?
A. Pick it up and shake it.

Q. How do I save my Etch-A-Sketch document?
A. Don't shake it.

Resource Sites:

   - Etch-a-Sketch Web Site at: http://www.etch-a-sketch.com/
   - How does an Etch-a-Sketch work? at: http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/question317.htm

[Table of Contents]

Freebie Favourites

by Brian Metcalfe - Technology Education