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Table of Contents - Vol. 20 No. 8 - May 2004

  1. Pearls of URLs
    This monthly item will highlight Internet web sites which are considered "gems" by educators.
  2. Notes and Quotes
    This regular column provides information on a potpourri of technological "tidbits".
  3. Marsville ... a thematic unit for students with "the right stuff"
    Brian Metcalfe, of Technology Education, describes an innovative project which has been dubbed "The Ultimate Field Trip". This thematic unit, engages students as they work through the Marsville curriculum . Communication, cooperation and problem-solving are enhanced as students communicate with team members using the Internet. Teachers are encouraged to view this article on-line to examine the wealth of links which support this endeavour and the photos taken on "Link-Up Day".
  4. Are We Being Diligent? - a homework assignment for all educators
    John Silver, of St. John's High School, raises an important issue which deals with the need to teach students how to identify Internet sites which have a bias. Although our Division , through filtering software, attempts to block racist and inappropriate web sites, students need to learn the higher order thinking skills to view all information in a critical and discriminating manner.
  5. "All the Web" - Checking for web site bias by association
    Following up on John's previous article, Brian Metcalfe shares a web resource that Joyce Wong originally shared with our South District technology support teachers. Using the "All the Web" resource, Internet users can gain a broader perspective of hidden biases on web sites based on other resources  that are linked to them.
  6. A Sheepish Story
    A tongue-in-cheek story about a technologically-connected consultant.

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Pearls of URLs
Through her SCHLIB listserv, Margaret Stimson of Pembina Trails, suggests that readers may wish to examine the following educational web sites which have been nominated for the 2004 "Webby Awards":

     BBC - Human Body at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody
     Halifax Explosion at: http://www.cbc.ca/halifaxexplosion
     NationalGeographic.com Education at: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/education
     Newseum - The Interactive Museum of News at: http://www.newseum.org
     Shakespeare: Subject to Change at: http://www.ciconline.org/bdp1/

"Bits and Bytes" is an educational publication for the students and staff of the Winnipeg School Division
Brian Metcalfe - Editor: bitsandbytes@wsd1.org                                                   Copyright © 2004 (ISSN 1195-5864)
Last revision date: May 12, 2004                                                                     Information has been shared with 420

Notes and Quotes

by Brian Metcalfe  - Technology Education


"Undeliverable Mail" & "Virus in your e-mail" Messages
Recently have you been receiving e-mail messages that claim that a previously sent e-mail message was undeliverable because it contained a virus? Yet when you examine the portion of the message not only does it look unfamiliar but you don't recognize the recipient's email address as well. Arnel Jajalla, of Information Systems,  recommends that one peruses the information on the following web page at: http://www.cc.utu.fi/english/email/undeliverable.html to better understand how one's e-mail address can be forged by both viruses and spammers.

"The Learning Zone" from Manitoba Hydro at: http://www.learningzone.hydro.mb.ca
Heather Closen, the Divisional Wellness Coordinator, shared this educational web site with me. This four-part resource includes "The Electric Universe", "The Schoolhouse", "Kid's Zone" and "Energy Underground" which will provide a multi-faceted resource for students from Kindergarten to High School as well as assist teachers in planning activities both in and out of the classroom. 

Microsoft Teacher Training Initiative - July 5-9, 2004 at: http://www.manace.ca/
 The purpose of these two-day workshops is to assist educators in integrating the use of technology into their teaching. Each workshop will present guided lessons on educational use of applications such as word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, etc. The proposed topics for this summer are in MS Training but each trainer will decide which of these lessons he or she is most comfortable using. Participants will receive copies of Windows 2003 and Office Suite for their own use. Registration for each course is $25.00 which includes breakfast and lunch each day. Register on-line at the ManACE web site.

Science and Technology Awareness Summer Institutes - July 5-9, 2004 at:
http://www.manace.ca/SummerInstitutes.htm
 The Manitoba Association for Computing Educators, the Educators of Information Technology and Business and MindSet, the Manitoba Network for Science and Technology, offer exciting summer professional development for educators to expose them to cutting edge science and technology. MindSet Summer Institutes increase educators’ awareness of the rate of change in science and technology. Other organizations, such as businesses and professional organization, leaders in their sectors, share their expertise and time to provide information about changes in their areas. All 2 day workshops are $25 and includes a breakfast and a lunch. Register on-line at the ManACE web site.

Quote of the Month
"An understanding heart is everything in a teacher, and cannot be esteemed highly enough. One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feeling. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.  -- Carl Jung

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Marsville ... a thematic unit for students with "the right stuff"

by Brian Metcalfe - Technology Education

On Friday, April 24, 2004, I was lucky enough to visit Mars. In reality, I visited Maples Collegiate in the Seven Oaks School Division, where Jeff Cieszecki and a team of visionaries transformed a school gymnasium into the Martian Gusev Crater. Shortly after 9:00 a.m., shuttle transports (school buses) from a variety of school divisions began arriving and deploying their precious cargos including astronauts, life support system solutions, construction materials including panels of pre-cut vapour barrier, box fans, electrical cords, and rolls of duct tape. Although each team may have had different components which they would need to assemble with two other teams to form a life-sustaining habitat, all teams arrived with enthusiasm. After all, today was Link-Up Day, a culmination of an adventure that began on January 26, 2004 in which Grade 5 and 6 students were engaged in a thematic learning experience about Mars through problem-solving and collaboration.

To put this three month journey in perspective, I encourage you to review an introduction I wrote for "Bits and Bytes" in March entitled "Canadian National Marsville Project for Middle Years". This article described how students and staff from Faraday, Lord Nelson, and Shaughnessy Park Schools were preparing to send their students off into space.

Phase One - Preparation for Mars
The Mission Training Coordinator (teacher) began by dividing their classroom of students into three or four distinct habitat teams. Each team of 6-8 students had to first decide on a team name, then determine which individual would take on the roles of Project Manager, Project Specialist, Project Engineer, Research Analysts(s), Material Specialist, Communication Specialist, Public Affairs Officer, Quality Controller, and Time Keeper. Each team member had an alias and completed a brief resume which was uploaded to a central computer with a list of teams from across Canada.

For example, Evelin Anderson's class at Faraday School was broken up into "The Asteroids", "Space Commandos", and the "Solar Kids" teams. Danya Jaworsky from Lord Nelson School had her class divided into "Team Opportunity", "Mars Bars", and "Team Spirit E". At Shaughnessy Park School, Trevor Chartrand, who was a student teacher working with Rob Yuzark's class, divided the students into "Spirits of Mars", "Sytris Major", and "Cerberus" teams. Each individual team was challenged to investigate a particular life-support system on the Red Planet including: Air Supply, Communications, Energy Supply, Food Production and Delivery, Health and Recreation, Temperature Control, Transportation, Waste Management, Water Supply and the Marsville Rover.

Each team began by designing a mission patch which was shared on the team's web site along with each team member's alias and brief resume. No clipart of any kind was allowed on the patch and a written description outlining the design features, in two languages, was posted to each team's web page. To find out which team created the various patches which follow, on-line viewers can pass their mouse over the patch and the team name will appear. Double-clicking on the thumb-nail image will present a larger image for viewing.

After all team patches were created and displayed on their individual web sites, teams from across Canada had an opportunity to vote on the best patch design from each Canadian site.

To help the Mission Training Coordinators (teachers), a Schedule of Activities was provided on the Marsville web site at: http://marsville.enoreo.on.ca/  In addition to their initial training, educators are provided with a wealth of resources on this web site. Since this endeavour is cross-curricular, many traditional class and subject activities can be integrated into this Marsville approach. I spoke to a number of educators on Link-Up Day who told me how their colleagues helped to integrate Marsville learning opportunities into a variety of subject areas. One Physical Education teacher indicated how his students prepared for the rigors of space by recording the food eaten each day and compared it to the Canada Food Guide. Students were encouraged to conduct a fitness pre-test and to document the increase in their strength, flexibility, and endurance. Another educator indicated how her students worked with a French teacher to translate their mission patch descriptions into a second language. The Public Affairs Officer on each of the three teams at Faraday School were encouraged to create a "news release" describing their Marsville progress. A sample of one report, which was included in the April 2004 issue of the "Faraday Flyer", is provided below:

The Asteroids

For these last few months we have been working on our Marsville Project. We have worked on the Internet and have been searching for information and looking at different patches to see which one we wanted to vote for. All the people in our group helped to make a patch. Our patch has a cartoon character on it. He is holding a Canadian flag. Everyone in my group had to write a description in two different languages. We also did lots of experiments and lots of testing. Everyone enjoyed what we have been doing because it is lots of fun. We are learning a lot about Mars. My group chose the Transportation Life Support System for our project. Please check out our web page on the Faraday School Website.
- Mr. Kevin Allard - Public Affairs Officer - [Source: "Faraday Flyer" - April 2004 Newsletter]

It is of course evident that students become quite proficient using technology for communication. Not only does each student acquire an e-mail account for communicating with other astronauts and any mentors, s/he is also able to read and post messages in a special Marsville discussion group.

Phase Two - Link-Up Day
As a former Mathematics and Computer Science teacher, who has always had an interest in problem solving, I am fascinated by the cooperative engineering that Marsville students must employ as they build a habitat cube out of heavy gauge clear plastic film. Imagine the challenges involved in building a habitat cube out of a limited amount of vapour barrier? Now, add a challenge that only one-third of each habitat crew attend the same school and each team can bring only a third of the vapour barrier needed for the habitat.

Each habitat team in a classroom is partnered with two other teams from two other schools. Together these three teams form a "habitat crew" which is responsible for designing and building their habitat on Mars. To add another degree of challenge, all communication is to be carried out with the other two teams electronically since the entire crew will meet face-to-face for the first time on Link-Up Day. I talked to one principal who indicated that his Grade 6 students were extremely proficient sending e-mail messages with attached habitat sketches designed in Paint. As Link-Up Day fast approached, one team even utilized a telephone to place a conference call and followed up by using a FAX to get last-minute habitat details out to crew members. One Mission Training Coordinator (teacher) indicated that the key to her crew's success on Link-Up Day was that the three teams had worked together extremely well at their remote sites and had sent out clear instructions detailing responsibilities for all team members on Link-Up Day.

The left image below illustrates the single habitat recommended in the Marsville plans. The right image illustrates a "birds-eye view" of how the plan was modified on Mars so that the twelve habitat crews forming up the colony could be inter-connected in three groups of four habitats.

 

To gain a better perspective of the habitat creation process on Link-Up Day, on-line viewers can use the arrows to navigate through the images below:

.

-- Touchdown on Mars on April 24, 2004 at 09:20. --

In conclusion, I'd recommend that interested on-line viewers investigate the additional photos in the gallery of Link-Up Day images taken across Canada.

If, as an educator,  you want an "out-of-this-world" experience and believe that your students have "the right stuff" make sure you consider Marsville next Fall.

[Editor's Comment: Educators are encouraged to view this article on-line so that they can explore the wealth of Internet-connected links that are embedded within this story.]

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Are We Being Diligent? - A homework assignment for all educators

by John Silver - St. John's High School

So here we are. We have traveled many "miles” in the last ten years in our school division, technologically speaking, and have seen many great things become run of the mill. The excitement of dial up modems to the internet; the excitement of the first graphic user interface to make the Internet a thing of wonder, beauty and simplicity; going to a DSL line and now getting on and routinely switching back and forth from word processor to Internet and back effortlessly as we check our latest facts on a project.

In terms of the computers we used, we have gone from Apple IIe’s to our ridiculously fast machines of today. Teachers soon became excited about the presentation of the material, with the students using word processing, desktop publishing and graphic software. Sometimes the message was not looked at as closely as what the look was.

After the wonder of the process wore off a bit for teachers, the "P” word raised its ugly head. Yes it is possible to get a paper from the Internet, reformat it and hand it in with your name on it. It is possible to do it quickly. Luckily there is software handy for checking the process of "Googling" as well as, hopefully, the idea that teachers are very aware of the writing style of their students and the quality of their ideas.

So now that we have traveled this technological road and have filled in some of the potholes along the way, we can relax. Right?

Unfortunately not so. We now have to be able to teach the students at a very early age about evaluation of sites and information where they get their ideas from, or their ideas fleshed out.

In talking to my good friend, Bruce Young, who is always thinking outside the box, I was introduced to a topic I have had interest in for years. Who is developing the site that we visit? As an example he gave me a little bit of information and I was able to find out the rest. He had me do a search for Martin Luther King. He stated he had been at a presentation in which the speaker had used this as an example. When you are at home and you go to the site www.martinlutherking.org, it seems to be what you think it should be at first glance. However if you do two things you will see why it is important to have students be diligent about things like agendas, when it comes to ideas.

First click on the link which states:

Bring the Dream to life in your town!
Download flyers to pass out at your school.

Clicking in that link will bring you to:

Bring the Dream to Life (pdf version)

If you simply check the link on that you will see that it takes you to www.duke.org. For many of you thinking that it is from Duke University, you are wrong. It is actually taking you to David Duke’s site, the leader of the KKK for many years. In fact the Martin Luther King site is set up by Duke and his followers to get the hate message out there.

In the Winnipeg School Division we cannot get to those sites as they have rightfully been identified as hate sites, but our students are able to get to those sites at home. We have to be able to teach this skill to them better than simply stating, "The Division doesn’t allow us to go there".

Readers who are viewing this article on-line, using Divisional Internet access, may find that web sites included in this article and the next  are filtered or blocked due to their hatred and racist bias.

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"All the Web" - Checking for web site bias by association

by Brian Metcalfe - Technology Education

In the May 2002 issue of "Bits and Bytes", I wrote an article entitled "Web Research - Critical Questions for Critical Thinkers". This article presented some strategies that Alan November, an internationally known leader in educational technology, shared regarding strategies that all students should acquire and practice when conducting web research. I was fortunate enough to attend Alan's presentation in the Seven Oaks School Division in April, 2002.

Interestingly enough, it was Alan November who more recently was a keynote speaker at the "SchoolNet's Network of Innovative Schools Institute" in Calgary last November. Bruce Young (identified in the previous article), of the Louis Riel School Division and Joyce Wong, our South District Support Teacher, both attended this institute and were impressed with Alan's description of how Internet researchers could use the "All the Web" tool at: http://www.alltheweb.com to help validate web site claims and assist with uncovering any bias.

"All the Web" is a remarkable tool which provides a more expansive look at a web site resource based on its associated links. For example, if one was to view an individual dressed in a new suit and tie in a courtroom, one might assume the individual to be a businessman. However, if one saw the same individual dressed in a motorcycle jacket and wearing colours, one's opinion might change somewhat. In addition, if this same individual was surrounded by several tough-looking colleagues all wearing a death's head logo, one would undoubtedly begin to question the "business" responsibilities of this individual. In other words, one's opinion can be influenced greatly by the company one keeps. This is also true for Internet sites. Although an initial web site, investigated in isolation, may promote a bias which may not initially be detected, one can gain a much broader perspective when one can determine which external web sites link to this initial site and/or which external web sites contain the actual web site's name.

For example, when one visits "All the Web", enters a web site address (such as the Winnipeg School Division's URL, as shown), selects the "Web" tab and clicks the "Search" button, one is provided with the following five options:

1.   Find all external web pages that link to "http://www.wsd1.org"
2.   Find all external web pages that contain the term "http://www.wsd1.org"
3.   Find all web pages indexed under "http://www.wsd1.org"
4.   Discover who owns "http://www.wsd1.org"
5.   See how "http://www.wsd1.org" used to look

When one clicks on the first option, one is not surprised to find 49 external web pages linking back to our Divisional web page including the following: "Child Guidance Clinic"; "U of M - Education - Computer Lab"; "Tec Voc High School"; "the People's Paths home page"; "Manitoba Education"; "Canadian Association of Communicators in Education"; "Manitoba Association of School Trustees"; "Network of Innovative Schools"; "Manitoba Library Association Consortium", etc. An Internet researcher might infer that all these credible external links indicate that our Divisional web site is a respected and valuable asset in the educational sector.

The second option provides 1,155 web pages that contain references to pages or resources within the Winnipeg School Division web site. Some of these results include: "The Marianna High School" in Florida linking back to a "Bits and Bytes" article on tessellations; "Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth" linking back to "Manitoba Day at General Wolfe School", "Sandy Run Middle School" in Dresher, Pennsylvania linking back to "Ancient Egypt" web information on "LitOnLine" from Stanley Knowles School; "Nebraska Catalyst Project" linking back to our "Technology Lesson Plans" which are part of our Divisional "Technology Skills Continuum Guide"; etc. Once again, this sampling tends to validate the wide range of educational information and resources that students and staff have willingly shared through our Divisional web site.

The third option, using the Winnipeg School Division's web address, includes 5,871 indexed web pages, many from individual schools and web resources that make up our Divisional web site.

The fourth option, generates a random number which viewers must enter in the domain lookup field. The results display the official owner of the web site with the owner's address.

The last option allows one to view cached pages of the web site in question. Viewers can examine pages showing how our Divisional web site has changed over the years 1998-2003.

How can "All the Web" assist Internet researchers?
When Joyce Wong returned from her Calgary conference, she immediately created a PowerPoint presentation entitled "The Internet: Truth or Bias". Following up on Alan November's strategy, Joyce described a scenario in which a young student might initially visit the www.martinlutherking.org web site and think that it might be an appropriate web resource to gain insight into the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. However when this URL was entered into the "All the Web" resource, one quickly learned that there tended to be two distinct groups that linked to this site. The first group, which composed about 15% of the total, were web sites focusing on "Evaluating Internet Resources". The approximately 85% remaining web pages were identified with titles such as "Jew Watch", "Mein Kampf", "National Socialism", "White Nationalist", "Hate groups and the issues of free speech", etc. If you are judged by the company you keep, then this "All the Web" tool indicates quite handily that the overwhelming majority of the web pages linked to the www.martinlutherking.org web site are ones with a definite racial bias and hatred.

I agree with John Silver, in the previous article, that teachers do need to assist students in making wise choices. I believe that "All the Web" can be used to provide students and, in fact, all web researchers, with a tool to determine if through web link associations any web sites biases can be detected. Alan November states that "Too many young people believe if they see it on the Internet, it must be true." As responsible educators we must share tools like "All the Web" so that our students do not fall into this trap.

Web Sites worth visiting:

          - The Web -- Teaching Zack to Think at: http://www.anovember.com/articles/zack.html
          - Evaluating Information on the Web at:
             http://www.library.drexel.edu/research/tutorials/webeval/contents.html
             In particular this section on "Objectivity" is particularly relevant as it challenges viewers
             to examine different Martin Luther King web sites to determine if they are free of bias
             or distortion at: http://www.library.drexel.edu/research/tutorials/webeval/objectivity1.html
          - Grammar of the Internet at: http://www.edrenplanners.com/infolit/
          - Evaluating Internet Resources at: http://www.tomsnyder.com/enews/articles/2002-09-A.asp

[Editor's Update: When Joyce Wong shared her PowerPoint presentation 'The Internet: Truth or Bias" upon her return from Calgary in October 2003, she was able to utilize "All the Web" to identify all the racist web sites associated with the www.martinlutherking.org web site. Shortly after Joyce demonstrated how this "Martin Luther King" site was linked to a wide variety of hate web sites, this racist web site was filtered and blocked to Winnipeg School Division Internet users. However when preparing this article in early May 2004, I found that steps have been taken so that when this URL was entered into "All the Web", the results now state "No web pages found that match your query." I do not know what modifications were made between October and May but I was still able to still find all the racist sites that link to the www.martinlutherking.org web site by using the "link" function in Google. If "link:http://www.martinlutherking.org" (without quotes) is entered into the Google search field, 317 web sites connect to it with the vast majority having a definite racial bias.]

 

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A Sheepish Story

Source: http://www.tech-sol.net/humor/people142.htm

A shepherd was herding his flock in a remote pasture when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of a dust cloud towards him. The driver, a young man in a Broni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the shepherd, "If I tell you exactly how many sheep you have in your flock, will you give me one?"

The shepherd looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing flock and calmly answers, "Sure. Why not?"

The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects it to his AT&T cell phone, surfs to a NASA page on the internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite navigation system to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo. The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany. Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses a MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with hundreds of complex formulas. He uploads all of this data via an email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response. Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns to the shepherd and says, "You have exactly 1586 sheep."

"That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my sheep." says the shepherd. He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car. Then the shepherd says to the young man, "Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my sheep?"

The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, "Okay, why not?" "You're a consultant." says the shepherd.

"Wow! That's correct," says the yuppie, "but how did you guess that?"

"No guessing required." answered the shepherd. "You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew; to a question I never asked; and you don't know crap about my business... now give me back my dog."

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