PLTW Application continued

Ok, so the application is pretty much functional, with the exception of aggregating the "Applied tech courses taken" data as a number. It is a pretty neat little beast. Check out the preview here

http://www.fhs.d211.org/departments/appliedtech/mkarasch/pltw/application.asp

A nice form to grade the essays

A report of the students who qualify based on all of the criteria.

HOT FRIES!

Paper Tyrant.

I suggested to Mr. Wedoff today that I become a paper tyrant. I was going to say "Paper Nazi" but I'd rather not refer to myself as a Nazi. I gave him a hard time about printing out things for his students that are all sitting in front of a computer. HAR!

PLTW Application

We decided to create an online application for PLTW. I created it today, and an associated database to go along with it. Check it out and give me some dummy data here:

http://www.fhs.d211.org/departments/appliedtech/mkarasch/pltw/application.asp

Best of the Blog!

I reviewed the top blogs from the various "Best of" compilations today. There were some interesting items.

http://www.alistapart.com/ was really neat, as they make some interesting comparisons about the web. They talk about how people try to make websites, shoehorned into design concepts from video, books, tv, posters, etc. Many times these fail, because the web is distinctly NOT the same.

What I really liked was how they compared it to architecture. That the architect designs the structure that will be used, and it is the builder, and eventually the people who occupy it to define the content and use the building to it's fullest. Those users really help it grow and the architect themselves are uninvolved after the initial build.

It was certainly an interesting take.

Amazon Kindle

The e-reader Kindle from Amazon is a success out of the gate! This is exciting, since Sony's e-reader was a bit of a flop. I'm ready. Lets switch all textbooks to electronic format tomorrow. $500 a student. How much do we currently spend on textbooks for 6 subjects?

By the by, a nice review of the kindle

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/our-kindle-verdict/amazon-kindle-real+life-review-verdict-lightweight-long-lasting-and-easy-to-grip-in-bed-325939.php

Competition breeds excellence.

I have come to the realization that the only thing that will compell me to blog consistently, is competition. I was hoping for some people to blog often, so I would feel compelled to post MORE often, but alas, in current company, I have no rival. So I will look outward for a worthy (but not TOO worthy opponent who posts on a semi-regular basis that I can try and best.)

Back from break!

Back from Thanksgiving with some fresh ideas!

I was in Boston, and I saw a neat system in practice that I had been toying with in theory. MythTV is a linux-based DVR, and it can broadcast over the intranet to any connected PC. What a great idea for a school to keep all of their videos/audio so that students could access it at any time. No worrying about who has what dvd or vhs checked out, or if multiple people need it. I suppose united streaming does this to some extent, but this could have anything we want on it.

Spent today showing Steve Elza how to use the Student Inquiry system to look up a person who emailed him wanting work done on their car, and gave no information except their name, and that they had a son who went to Fremd. We used student inquiry to look up the last name, pull up info on the student, and grab the parent's email address. Whew.

Data Driven 2

It appears that along with tech coach, I have also become honorary proofreader for the department. It's a job I enjoy. I proofread a letter of recommendation today, and another grant proposal for spring compressors.

We also worked on the shopbot today to develop a plan for a heart shaped jewelry box for an alumni. I spent some time looking for a picture to show the box, but this was the closest I could find. Ours didn't have the nice inlay, but it was pretty sweet just the same.

Data driven

Paul is working on a grant for some calipers and engineering measuring equipment. He asked me to grab some data from a survey that we have going for the PLTW program.

I pulled down and aggregated the data today during 2nd hour. The numbers are small, but impressive. 93% of the kids who took the survey at Fremd were interested in pursuing engineering in college.

Mike's Blog

The Tech Coordinator has a nice blog here:

http://fremdit.blogspot.com/

Quote of the day

Mike: I'll see if if Colin can help with the projector...

Mike: Colin gave me the finger...

More thoughts about the rubric.

We aren't sure yet if this is something that would be filled out by a student, or filled out by a teacher. Some things would have to be filled out by the teacher, for example, the evaluation of a written sample.

Perhaps one idea is to have multiple documents, one that students (or parents) would fill out, and give them an idea of how likely it is that their student would be accepted to the program.

Quick Turn Around

Yesterday, my Department Chair, Paul Hardy, asked me to convert a form from excel into a web-based application. Done and done.

http://www.fhs.d211.org/departments/appliedtech/mkarasch/pltw/rubric.asp

First Post!

First!

This blog will detail the daily (optimistic) exploits of the technology coach supreme, Mike Karasch!