Google Teacher Academy 2009 Application Video

I applied to the 2009 Google Teacher Academy this year. I decided to make my "Classroom Innovation" video about the success I have had with the Construct a Laptop project I devised and have been using with the Kindergarten and First grade students this year in an effort to increase student independence during computer lessons. The responses so far have been very positive. With any luck I will be headed to Washington DC in December to take part in this exciting workshop.

I <3 Apple Remote Desktop

This morning I was reminded of how much I love Apple's Remote Desktop because of the way it simplifies managing a large group of Macs.

I run a Self-Cleaning Oven Model on the student Macs at work. Basically, when the user logs out the contents of her or his /Users directory is copied to /tmp and a new copy of the template is copied into place. If a student leaves folders all over the desktop or otherwise modifies the configuration everything is put back into place. This ensures consistency for each user of the computer.

I ran into an issue where TextEdit, which I use with the third grade, was configured for plain text rather than Rich Text Format and I needed to change this preference. Since the self-cleaning oven is launched with a logout hook it is a pain to turn off the hook, make the changes, copy the new template to /var/root and repeat this many times. Enter Remote Desktop: in twenty minutes I copied the TextEdit preference into five User directories as well as the "golden master" templates in /var/root and had TextEdit configured.

Next I needed to deal with an issue with the LaunchServices and quarantine feature in OS X 10.5.x. When an application is downloaded from the Internet the system flags it. When the user opens the application for the first time she or he is warned it came from the Internet and is she or he certain she or he wants to open it. Again, the self-cleaning oven resets the user's directory after every use, so it is a pain to affect this change. It is also a pain for Kindergarteners to click through two separate dialog boxes to get a webpage open. I found a one-line UNIX command that would remove the quarantine from all the applications. I put it in a three line shell script, copied it to the clients, and ran it. In the end I had no more dialog boxes to click through before the web page opened.

I finished up my Remote Desktop adventure this morning by updating Flash. Between the shell script and the Flash update I put in half an hour of work. If I had to touch each computer it certainly would have taken much longer to do this manually. Here's to saving time!

Construct a Laptop Project

Last school year I had Kindergarten and first grade students still asking me what the password was for their computer accounts, despite it being the end of the school year and their passwords being "k" or "1," respectively. Inspired by Amy Tiemann's Laptop Club for elementary students, I conceived a lesson that I worked on with the Kindergarten and first grade students the first two computer lessons of the school year. I hoped this lesson would encourage more independence during computer time.

I started with photos of a MacBook keyboard from Apple's web site and took screenshots of the class and individual folders where the students save their work and inserted them into a photo of the MacBook's screen bezel.

For the first lesson I used the SmartBoard and a NoteBook file that also had a picture of the keyboard. Students took turns dragging the appropriate label (power button, Return key, volume buttons, K) to the proper place on the keyboard. Then I had the students return to their desks. I gave them each a copy of the MacBook keyboard photo. I then asked them to use a different color crayon for each key, and as I colored them in on the SmartBoard the students also colored in the important keys that they needed to know to operate the computer.

The next lesson concentrated on the important folders these students needed to know. The grade level folder is automounted for the students when they login. We colored in the folder, which lives in the Dock next to the Trash can. Then the students found their class folder and colored it, too. Finally, they found the folder with their name on it and colored it in.

With a colored keyboard and screen, I provided each student with a manila folder. They used their glue sticks to paste the two pieces of paper into the folder, like the example from a Kindergarten student pictured above.

As a group we decided we would call these laptops our "maps." They will help the students remember the location of the important keys. I bring these laptops along to the Kindergarten and first grade classes, along with a cart of real MacBooks. Before every lesson I hand out the laptop maps and we review the important keys we will be using: the "K" or "1" key for their password, the Return key, the volume keys. I have them put their finger on the appropriate key or item in the Dock. As we encounter new important keys we can highlight them on our paper laptop keyboards. For example, when quitting Childsplay, which I use with the Kindergarten students, one must press the "Y" key to confirm that one wants to quit the program. In this week's lesson we drew an outline around the "Y" key on their keyboards to remind them of the location of that key and the importance of the key.

Already this map laptop had proven very valuable in my efforts to increase the independence of the students during computer lessons. When students shout out, "What's my password?" I can direct them to their map laptops to find the answer to their question. The flexibility of being able to "update" the images as we encounter new important keys makes this a powerful teaching tool.

Keyboarding

As part of the Responsive Classroom approach I started the school year asking the students what their hope for computer class was this year. I got many responses from the third, fourth, and fifth grades that they wanted to get better at keyboarding or become better typers. At first I thought they were paying me lip service: I mentioned to the students Type to Learn 4, the keyboarding program we use, and I thought that they were just humoring me by saying they wanted to be better at keyboarding.

However, as the number of students who wanted to become better at keyboarding increased, I realized that the student might truly have this hope. Reflecting on the issue, I realized that many of these students are already using computers at home. They are writing emails and instant messaging each other. Especially with IM, being able to keyboard fast and accurately is a skill that is truly important to these students. They really want to become better keyboarders because the skill is meaningful to them.

I look forward to helping instruct the students in proper keyboarding techniques and to provide them with additional opportunities to keyboard. Besides Type to Learn 4, I like using Dance Mat Typing, FingerJig and Type Racer

RemoteCam on the Newton

Yesterday I was looking through the Flickr Newton Pool when I came across an interesting image of a Connectix QuickCam hooked to an eMate 300, part of an imaginary security system a creative child assembled. This brought back memories of a combination Mac application and Newton package called RemoteCam. There is precious little information about this program; I did find some information about it at Newton AtMark, a Japanese site, but the link to the RemoteCam software was dead. I happened to have downloaded RemoteCam years ago after I first got my MessagePad 2100. Today I decided to give it a whirl.

First, I dusted off my PowerBook 3400c, which has the serial and ADB ports I needed to run the camera. Normally I run Rhapsody DR2 on this PowerBook, but it also has Mac OS 8.1 installed on it.



I set up a temporary network to get the RemoteCam application and the QuickCam installer from my PowerBook G4 to the 3400c. I already had an AirPort wireless network with one of the base stations acting as a WDS remote. I hooked a switch to that AirPort and was able to connect to the Public folder on my PowerBook G4 running OS X 10.5.8.



It took some googling, but I eventually tracked down the drivers needed for the QuickCam. I chose to install the slightly older 2.1.2 version as the site where I downloaded it mentioned that this version corrected issues with the PowerBook 3400.



Once I had all the software installed, I went about getting the camera working. I could not get it to focus, and after a while I just got a scrambled image. I found a helpful page that taught me how to disassemble the QuickCam. When I opened it up out fell the SMD transistor mentioned on the page. Since I can't solder, I tried rubber banding the transistor back on the board. Success! I was able to get a good image, I freed up the lens and was able to focus the camera, and I was in business!



I opened the RemoteCam application on the 3400c.



I changed the window size to 320 X 240 and aimed the camera at myself.



Finally, I configured both the Mac and Newton to look to the appropriate IP addresses so I could connect the Newton to the Mac. With the application running on the Mac, I opened RemoteCam on the Newton and initiated a connection. Success! I was streaming video wirelessly from the Mac to the Newton!



Unfortunately, Jolon Faichney's web site where he hosted RemoteCam is no longer online. RemoteCam is not on UNNA. If people are interested in trying this out for themselves, I can try to arrange to get this interesting program included on UNNA.

Autism Breakthrough: Girl's Writings Explain Her Behavior and Feelings - ABC News

Autism Breakthrough: Girl's Writings Explain Her Behavior and Feelings - ABC News

My friend Carol shared this inspiring video with me about how a 13 year old autistic girl learned to communicate through the use of technology.

When I worked with an Autism Spectrum program I also found technologies could help similar students to communicate.

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SBM Utilities for Newton Released to Community

Big news on the NewtonTalk Network: a registration code generator for SBM Utilities for the Newton OS is now available! Frank Gruendel, Newton hardware guru, posted this to the list:

I wish there was a way to purchase SBM utilities which was never released and is now not supported.

Thanks to the efforts of Martin Hahn the author of SBM Utilities (and a lot of other useful Newton software) has released the program he used for creating registration codes for SBM Utilities. True to form, it is a Newton program. As of a moment ago you can find it here:

http://www.pda-soft.de/common/download/SBM_Utils_Reg_Code_Creation.zip

To quote the author: "This program is a gift to the Newton fans."

SBM Utilities can be found here:

http://www.softwarebueromueller.de/englisch/newton/sbmutils/

It seems that this page hasn't been updated for some time, but it seems that after this generous gift there's no longer any need to click on the Kagi link...

Although to the best of my knowledge Holger Mueller hasn't explicitly said so, I think it goes without saying that we can't expect him to spend time and money anymore on supporting this useful application.

Please keep in mind that there's no need to thank me. All I did to make this happen was exchange a couple of mails with Martin Hahn and upload the zip file to my site. If you feel inclined to thank anybody, you had better direct this to Martin and Holger.

Have fun. I am proud of being a member of a community whose members can make things like this happen.

I used Simon Bell's Newton Connection for Mac OS X to load both SBM Utilities and the RegCode package onto my MessagePad 2100. When you open the RegCode package you can either enter your name as shown on the Newton's Owner Card, or you can enter the serial number that SBM Utilities generates when you open that package. Either way the package generates a registration code that serializes SBM Utilities.

Once loaded I opened SBM Utilities and ran the Doctor component, shown in the top image at the lower right corner. The package scanned both the internal store and my PCMCIA linear flash code and checked the integrity of the soups. Everything checked out alright.

It is very nice to finally have a serialized, working copy of this wonderful utility for the Newton MessagePad. While I have not run into any significant issues so far on any of my Newtons, it is reassuring to have such a great tool available should the need arise.