Saturday, October 16, 2010

Web Awareness


Hello All!

            This week our assignment was all about web awareness. Before reading all the information and creating the concept map I knew we had to be careful of what was online but the information presented made me see it in a whole new light. I was taught early about web awareness but now I may have to teach my students about these issues. I need to inform myself of all the dangers out there, and there are many.
            One of the big issues that caught my attention was copyrighting and plagiarism. I know about these issues but throughout my schooling these were not stressed as much as should have been. I know that copy and pasting of websites was acceptable. We were never told to watch were the pictures we used came from. This is something that I need to be aware of and watch for and not allow in my classroom. I will need to educate students about the copyright law and what is and is not allowed.
            Another issue I need to be aware of is the authentic information on the web. I need to ensure that the websites that I use are authentic and reliable. I need to guarantee that my students know how to determine reliable and authentic information on the web. The checklists that were provided in the readings are a good place to start. 

Monday, October 4, 2010

Searching the net assignment.

This week our assignment was to select a grade and subject that we could see ourselves teaching and create an activity based on resources that we found on internet. During class we were given some hints on how to do an effective internet search which made the assignment that much easier.


Title of Activity
Cretaceous Crime Scene

Reference
Layton, J. (2010). How Crime Scene Investigation Works. Retrieved from: http://science.howstuffworks.com/csi.htm

Royal Tyrrell Museum. (2006). Cretaceous Crime Scene. Retrieved from: http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/seccs/index.html

Grade Level
 Grade 6 Science Topic D: Evidence and Investigation

Description of activity
            The first website is a overview of what crime scene investigators do. It outlines the process. The second website is an interactive website that allows students to go on and complete an investigation. This activity can be used at the end of the unit to integrate everything they have learned. This is a comprehensive site that allows students to go on look at and analyze evidence, eliminate suspects and finally make an arrest. Students will have to record their observations as they go along and come up with a motive.

General Learner Expectations
6-8 Apply observation and inference skills to recognize and interpret patterns and to distinguish a specific pattern from a group of similar patterns.  
6-9 Apply knowledge of the properties and interactions of materials to the investigation and identification of a material sample.

Specific Learner Expectations
2. Observe a set of footprints, and infer the direction and speed of travel.
3. Recognize that evidence found at the scene of an activity may have unique characteristics that allow an investigator to make inferences about the participants and the nature of the activity, and give examples of how specific evidence may be used.
4. Investigate evidence and link it to a possible source; e.g., by:
classifying footprints, tire prints and soil samples from a variety of locations
analyzing the ink from different pens, using paper chromatography
analyzing handwriting samples to identify the handwriting of a specific person
comparing samples of fabric
    classifying fingerprints collected from a variety of surfaces.

List of the most relevant ICT outcomes
C.1 - Students will access, use and communicate information from a variety of technologies.
            2.1 access and retrieve appropriate information from the Internet by using a specific search path or from given uniform resource locations (URLs)

F.2 - Students will understand the role of technology as it applies to self, work and society.
2.2            identify the role technology plays in a variety of careers

Rationale for computer integration
            I have chosen this activity because it is interactive. The first website will allow students to get a sense of putting all the pieces of the unit together. After students have gone through what a real crime scene looks like they will be able to go onto the second website where they will complete an investigation. It will be fun and engaging and will allow students to use the knowledge they have gained during the unit. Students will be able to see some of what is needed when completing an investigation. They will look at the technology involved in being a crime scene analyst. This is a good website because it relates to dinosaurs and not a gruesome crime scene.