Table of Contents - Vol. 23 No. 3 - February 2007
Pearls of URLs
by Brian Metcalfe - Educational Technology
The Winnipeg School Division's web site has been reviewed over the past year, and a new look and structure are being introduced for the general public. On-line users who enter the following address or whose old bookmark/favorite of http://www.wsd1.org pointed to the Winnipeg School Division's web site are now automatically re-directed to a new temporary web address of http://ww.wsd1.org where the following new banner greets them:
Over the next few months the Division's internal (or
Intranet) "Staff Resources" web page and links will be reviewed and updated.
Once the new "Staff Resources" web pages are
introduced, they will be available from both home and one's work site. To
support this future access for staff, a staff login to the "Staff Resources"
pages is being introduced.
As one who regularly navigates to the "Staff Resources" page to find features such as "Educational Technology Ideas", the Divisional "E-mail Address Book", "E-mail - Web Messaging", "Internet Safety" or "Report Support", I quickly used the first procedure identified to gain access to this familiar web page. However, I soon became frustrated when I was asked to supply my e-mail account name and password every time I wished to access the "Staff Resources" page from the new public WSD web page. My solution to speed up this process was to use the web address identified previously as option #2 above. Once the familiar "Staff Resources" web page was displayed, I created a folder as part of my browser's "Favorites". To do so, I selected the following menu items in Internet Explorer ... "Favorites" -> "Add to Favorites" and then I clicked the "New Folder" button. When prompted, I entered the folder name as "! WSD Staff Resources" (without quotes). It is important to use a character like an exclamation mark as the first character in the folder name. Next I clicked the "OK" button to proceed. The "Name" field automatically displayed "Staff Resources" since this was the name of the web page currently being displayed. Clicking the "OK" button to enter this web page resource as one of my "Favorites" completed the task. To check out the process, I clicked on the browser's "Favorites" menu item to display a long list of all my popular web resources. When I selected the "Organize Favorites" option, I did not immediately find the "Staff Resources" web entry until I scrolled down through all my previously-created Favorites. Since "! WSD Staff Resources" was the last folder entered, it was positioned at the bottom of the list. If you are like me and visit this on-line resource quite frequently, you prefer to have such web resource entry near the top of one's Favorite list to avoid having to scroll down a long list every time you wish to re-visit such a resource. There are two possible ways to re-organize one's Favorites so that popular and frequently accessed ones near the bottom of the list can be positioned for ease-of-use near the top. The more tedious process involves selecting the menu items "Favorites" and "Organize Favorites". Next scroll down to the bottom of the list of Favorites. Click on the Favorite web resource name you wish to reposition and drag this entry up to the top of the Favorites list. If you hold the mouse button down (in a sustained-drag process), the Favorites list will begin scrolling as you move to the top of the "Organize Favorites" window. Through the drag process, one can reposition a Favorite closer to the top of the list. One must be very careful when one releases the button after the drag as it is easy to "drop" your popular Favorite within a previously-created folder as opposed to a location between successively alphabetized folders. This process takes a steady hand and patience.
Now whenever I wish to navigate to the "Staff Resources" page, I simply click the "Favorites" menu and select the "Staff Resources" web page which is a sub-entry of the "! WSD Staff Resources" folder. I save time because this entry is near the top of my Favorite list so I do not have to scroll or search for it. More importantly, I am automatically transferred to one of my often-used web pages without slowing down to enter either my staff login name or password. Photo Story - Getting the most value for a limited investmentby Brian Metcalfe - Technology Education
Today educators are finding themselves pulled in so many different directions and with so many new pressures. Each month seems to bring additional demands as new curricula are released, new reporting procedures are enhanced and teachers are challenged with taking on more and more responsibilities that in past have been assumed by parents. It is no wonder that educators, who are soon to be exposed to the Literacy with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Across the Curriculum ,are posing this familiar question ... "If I have a limited amount
of time,
However I believe today that Logo never caught on with the vast majority of educators because they were either asking or thinking about the time commitment and either vocalized or thought ... "If I have a limited amount
of time, Twenty years ago, if I was asked this question I would have had to advise educators that the one program that they should learn, that would give them the most payback for the investment of learning time, would have been to learn to use a word processor. Those who learned the AppleWorks word processor never looked back because the application empowered teachers and the consistent "look and feel" of the word processor easily transferred to the accompanying database and spreadsheet modules. Thankfully many educators who were caught in a time crunch 20 years ago did learn to use a word processor and unfortunately the number of educators that saw the potential for problem solving using Logo diminished over time. However this same question has just as much relevance today as it had 20 years ago. "If I have a limited amount
of time, If I was in a school that had access to Windows XP computers, a digital camera, and a microphone, I would have to say that Microsoft's "Photo Story 3" freeware would be my first choice as an application that pays back teachers with a multitude of dividends for an initial small investment of learning time. This application, with its very easy learning curve, has the potential to be used as a creativity tool in meeting many descriptors in the "Produce to Show Understanding" section of both the "Student Friendly Version of the Literacy with ICT Continuum" and the respective developmental snapshots. Without a doubt "Photo Story 3" can be used as the key software application for creating digital stories. Readers are encouraged to view the wealth of digital stories that were created by staff and grade 4-6 students during our Gifted and Talented initiative last year. One can view this "Digital Storytelling" resource by visiting the link below: http://www.wsd1.org/digitalstorytelling/
However, I must caution new users of "Photo Story 3" to not get caught up introducing the variety of optional special effects, transitions between pictures or customizing motion. In our Digital Storytelling initiative last year, James Gray, Middle Years Language Arts Consultant, constantly reminded students and staff that digital storytelling is "all about the story ... not the software". As an educator, who is quick to embrace technology, I found myself focussing on the digital storytelling process rather than the product. Educators, and students, who are introduced to the "Photo Story 3" for the first time are amazed at the quality of digital products that can be produced by following the five basic steps list below:
Last year as James and I encouraged Grades 4-6 students and teachers create digital stories in our technology education lab, we witnessed them become engaged in their learning. Not only did they produce digital stories but I soon realized that they were meeting many of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) descriptors identified in the Emerging, Developing, Transitioning and Expanding Learners snapshots. Following the convention established in the December, 2006 issue of "Bits and Bytes", I will highlight, in yellow, all relevant ICT descriptors to help on-line readers focus on "Literacy with ICT Across the Curriculum" as noted below:
Plan and Question: P-1.2
follows given plans Gather and Make Sense: G-1.1 finds
and collects information (text, images, data, audio, video) from given media
sources Produce to Show Understanding: Pr-1.1
participates in establishing criteria for student-created electronic work Communicate: C-1.1 displays and/or discusses electronic work Reflect: R-1.1
participates in guided conferences to think about using ICT to learn Ethics and Responsibility: E-1.1
respects ICT equipment and personal technology space of other ICT users Collaboration: Co-1.1 works with others in teacher-directed learning tasks using ICT and assists others with ICT knowledge and procedures Motivation and Confidence: M-1.1
demonstrates confidence and self-motivation while doing ICT tasks alone and
with others Without a doubt, I think that when the "Photo Story 3" freeware is used for digital storytelling, educators and students have the potential opportunity to learn the most. Good stories transfer to a wide range of opportunities throughout many areas of the K-12 curriculum so the teacher potentially gains much from learning how to use the software. However educators and students have used "Photo Story 3" in a multitude of ways including:
So, in answer to the question ... "If I have a limited amount
of time, ... the answer is, in my option, "Photo Story 3" for Windows XP computers. Food for Thought: "I am thankful for ...."forwarded by my cousin B. Smith of Santa Cruz, California
Don't get "hooked" on phishing ...by Brian Metcalfe - Technology Education
New Zealand's "Digital Strategy" web site defines "phishing" as:
Every so often I get an unsolicited e-mail message sent to me that directs me to confirm or update profiles at various banking or credit institutions. Obviously, if you were sent e-mail from a bank where you did not do business, you would indeed be suspicious. However, there are ingenious scammers on the Internet that do their best to replicate web pages of legitimate banks in order to gain access to private information. For example, I recently received the following e-mail as "bait":
Dear TD Canada Trust customer, TD Canada Trust Protection Department requests you to start the client details confirmation procedure. By clicking on the link at the bottom of this letter you will get all necessary instructions how to start and complete the confirmation procedure. The following steps are to be taken by all customers of the TD Canada Trust. TD Canada Trust Protection Department apologizes for the inconveniences caused to you, and is very grateful for your cooperation. To start the confirmation procedure, click the following link: http://easyweb.tdcanatrust.com/e-bankingidentifier77424324657/index.jsp TD Group Financial Services site - Copyright © TD First let me begin by stating that I have modified the above "phishing" web site address so that I do not inadvertently advertise this illegal activity. However, if you are reading this article on-line, you can replicate the process that I used to discover some irregularities. Begin, by making certain that the "Status Bar" is turned on in Internet Explorer. For example, start up the IE browser, click the "View" menu, and toggle on the "Status Bar ". This action will place an empty area just above the Taskbar at the bottom of the screen. Those familiar with the "Status Bar" know that this area normally displays at the bottom left, the web address of the next web page to be visited. For example, if one was currently viewing the new Winnipeg School Division's web page and moved one's mouse to hover over the "sfe" link in the top right corner, the "Status Bar" would display the "sfe" web address of http://sfe.wsd1.org. Furthermore, if one chose to click on this "sfe" link, the "Status Bar" would display a "locked padlock" icon at the bottom right to indicate that one is attempting to access a secure site such as a banking institution or one in which confidential information is being transmitted as in the case of our Smart Find Express absence reporting system. To illustrate an irregularity that I observed in the "phishing" e-mail, on-line readers should move their mouse over the fictional "easy web" address above without clicking on it. Although the TD Canada Trust web site address (that the mouse is hovering over) appears to look legitimate, investigate the actual web site that one will visit if one clicks on this "phishing" link. When I first examined this potential link, I noticed from the address that I was going to visit a web site in New Zealand since the letters "nz" were located as part of the Internet web site address. Immediately I wondered why a Canadian bank would be outsourcing its tasks to New Zealand. Those that are investigating my on-line "experiment" will note that the "Status Bar" predicts that one will visit http://www.wsd1.org/bitsbytes/Default.htm when one clicks on the "easy web" phishing link and if you do so you are harmlessly transferred to my "Bits and Bytes" introductory web page. The question that is often asked is how would the "phishing" scammers gain any information from an individual? First, one has to understand that phishing e-mails are often sent to large lists of people. This spamming practice works on the assumption that some percentage of the recipients will actually have an account with the real organization. On receipt of the above e-mail, an individual who did use the services of TD Canada Trust, may have clicked on the "easy web" address . S/he would be transferred to a web page that, for all intents and purposes, looked exactly like the TD Canada Trust legitimate on-line logon web site. However, rather than being legitimate and located in Toronto, the web destination would be illegitimate and, in this case, located in New Zealand. When such a person follows the steps indicated in this "phishing" memo, on-line users are transferred to New Zealand where the unsuspecting victim enters his/her correct access number and password. When the "login" button is pressed, the scammers automatically transfer the legitimate access number, with its corresponding password, to their own database. Probably one would then be prompted with a polite screen warning indicating that an error in transmission had been encountered and that the individual would have to re-enter the access code and password. The scammer's software would then automatically transfer the individual to the legitimate TD Canada Trust web site where one would reenter the access code and password and carry on doing on-line business as normal. However, because the scammers now have a copy of the access code and its corresponding passwords, they can return at their leisure to gain valuable information about your identity and banking practices. So don't respond or take action on any e-mails that are supposedly sent out from banking institutions otherwise you may get "hooked" and "reeled in". Who will I pick next? "The Hat" freebie makes it easy!by Brian Metcalfe - Educational Technology
Rhonda Morrissette, Librarian at the Winnipeg Adult Education Centre,
recently sent me an e-mail asking if I was aware of any software that
allowed a teacher to enter a class list of students and then have the
computer randomly select the next class member to answer a question or
do a task. Apparently one of Rhonda's colleagues had recently attended a
workshop where Ruth Sutton spoke about this software which randomly
selected students from a class list. Apparently educators had found that
older students, especially boys, were reluctant to answer the teacher
because it was "not cool". However, they would answer the computer.
"The Hat" freebie, which readers can download in the next section, is really very easy to use. A teacher can enter the names of students to create a specific class list. One simply clicks the "Shuffle" button at the bottom to begin the randomizing function. After one feels that the class list has been shuffled thoroughly, one can click the "Shuffle" button to stop the process. The individual students in class will be displayed in a random order ready to meet the assigned tasks of the teacher. If you are a junior or senior high teacher, who teaches different classes, you would be wise to create a class list and then click the "Export to File" button to save this class list as a text file (for example, 8-16.txt or Grade9Science.txt). If different class lists are created and exported as text files, it is a simple process at the start of a new class to click the "Import from File" button, navigate to the appropriate class list text file and once the new class is displayed, click the "Shuffle" button to determine "who is next?". This application should reduce teacher's stress level because every student knows that the computer never plays favourites.
by Brian Metcalfe - Educational Technology
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I
prefer the second process that is quicker and much more reliable. To move
the previously identified folder "! WSD Staff Resources", which is at the
bottom of the Favorites list to a position near the top, simply click the
Favorites menu item. When the list of Favorites is displayed, move your
mouse to the right hand side of this list (to avoid inadvertently clicking
on a folder or favorite) to an area on the Favorite list where there is no
text. Next rig
This
same question was asked of me 
A
few days later,
as I was conducting research for another initiative, I happened to locate
an educator's web site that described some freeware that was "Just like
pulling names from a hat to determine a random order for a group of
people, this program generates a random order from a list of any number
of names."
