January 30th

Hello and welcome to (or back) to Comm Tech! 

This semester you will have class Monday, Wednesday, every other Friday with me until the end of term I. Once term I is complete, you will have a programming portion of the course taught by Mr. Pfisterer. Those of you taking the course everyday during period 3 will have Mr. Pfisterer Tuesday, Thursday, every other Friday as well. To begin the course I will go over the syllabus, I will have you complete a google survey, set-up your blog, and create your own google survey to find out how people around you are communicating. After you set-up your survey, you can send it to each other and complete each other's surveys. For Monday, I'd like you to have at least 25 people fill out your survey.

This is how today's class outline will look:
Part 1: Setting up a Google Survey 
Part 2: Complete the google survey I sent you, and send your own to your classmates here.

Part 3: Set- up your blog/answering questions
Part 4: Respond to the surveys that were sent to you!

 For those of you who took the course last semester, in lieu of setting up your blog, I'd like you to enhance your blog by choosing a new layout, display picture, etc. If you have the time, you could create a new avatar from bitstrips.com for your display picture!

I will demonstrate how to set-up a blog and I have posted step-by-step instructions below.

Once you have completed your blog, I'd like you to answer the following questions as your first post:
 1. What blogging experience, if any, do you have?

2. Do you generally read blogs, if so, what are they about? 

3. Please answer, in 3-5 sentences, why you took this course and what you are most looking forward to.

4. Post a link to a blog that interests you by

Steps for setting up your blog

1.      Sign into your Rockway Google Apps Account

2.      Click on Blogger (it will be in a drop down menu at the top of your screen).

3.      Choose a Blogger Profile (not a Google + profile).

4.      Your display name should be your first name and last initial, i.e. TraceyM (you should unclick receive announcements to avoid annoying spam).

5.      You have now created a Blogger Dashboard, this is where you can add other blogs to your reading list. Click Create new blog.

6.      The title of your blog should be first name and last intial, commtech12, i.e. Traceymcommtech12

7.      The address should be the same as your title.

8.      Choose your layout.

Congratulations! You have set up your blog. Now take the time to do the following:

1.Cuztomize your blog by choosing a layout of your preference. Change the colours and make it your own. Fill out your blogger profile ( don't give away any personal information including your full name).

2. Take a photo using photobooth and upload as your display picture. Play with the different settings!

January 24th

This is a reminder that your Culminating Activity must be submitted by January 28th (absolutely no later). I have uploaded the rubric to google docs if you do not have a hard copy. I have checked and there is GIMP on the library computers.

January 21st

Hello and welcome to the last class of term! And the last class for some of you.

    There are a significant amount of you who did not submit proposal's for your Scratch project. This is not acceptable. Your project's proposal is worth 10 out of the 55 marks on your rubric-this needs to be posted to your blog/shared with me on google docs immediately. As mentioned in class on Friday, I will be deducting 15% from people who did not submit their full project to me by Friday. This project was due upon returning from the break. (This does not include the few of you who asked me to look over your projects, of which I sent you all an e-mail).

Due to no Gimp in the lab last week, I will extend your Gimp culminating activity due date. You can submit your project until January 28th. This is a firm deadline as I can not accept projects from first semester during second semester. Please see the rubric I handed out in class for specifications.

January 18th

Today I will be away for the first 30 minutes of class. Please continue working on your project and I will answer your questions when I return. DO NOT FORGET TO UPLOAD YOUR FINAL SCRATCH PROJECT TO THE ROCKWAY SCRATCH SITE. There are WAY too many of you who have not done this, so please do so a.s.a.p. as I will be returning your mark on Monday. As for the final project you are currently working on, you will submit this project on Monday. The absolute last day I will accept this project is Monday, January 28th.  I will not accept anything in second term that was from first term. Please note that you need to submit all assignment to pass the course. I have spoke to a few of your individually who have had technical problems with your projects (you know who you are).

January 9th

Today we will be introduced do a new program, GIMP. Gimp is an image retouching and graphics editing program used to edit images and create media designs. It has many of the same functions as Adobe photoshop, with a few differences. Knowledge of these programs will be essential in any jobs in the Communications field, and can be applied in many different circumstances.

 Today, all logos, digital media, advertisements, etc. are used with graphics editing programs. We manipulate images into different layers, so that we have the ability to edit any part of an image. Marketing and advertisements are famous for these, as highlighted in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOBMbHbXVOg

Before we learn how to use this software, it's important to note it's implications. We'll watch this video together in class:

Killing Us Softly 4

For your summative project, you will create a double sided name card with GIMP and a double sided postcard. You will use a photograph that you have taken (either today or one previous in the course (from the photography or light painting units)) and incorporate it into the card. You will need to demonstrate knowledge of technical specifications (layers, opacity, etc.), visual appeal, readability, incorporation of photo and more. I will demonstrate the program for you in class today, and hand out a rubric. You will have the remaining 5 classes to complete this (although it should only take you 4). Please be thorough on your choice of font, colours, etc. 

January 7th, 2013

Happy New Year!

 Today will be a mix of activities as we have a lot of catching up to do before we can start our final project of the semester (and year for some of you!). At the beginning of class I will send around a checklist for uploaded projects to the Scratch website. Everyone in this class has at least 1 outstanding project (this may include people who uploaded their projects but did not include a name). Be sure to go through all of these projects and upload them to the Scratch website. In "project notes" be sure to ADD YOUR NAME. I can't mark these until I have everyone's so it is important to do this today.

Alphabet Game
Debugging Exercise (this does not need to be uploaded to Scratch, you only need to submit the sheet)
Monkey Game
3 Scene Story
Rock, Paper, Scissors
Final Project

After this, be sure that you are up to date with all the blog posts from the Scratch unit. There were blog posts on November 14th, November 26th, November 28th, December 3rd, and your Scratch final project proposal. I will not point out to you which ones you are missing, just double check all of these for yourself. Once you are finished, e-mail me a link to your blog to prove that you have done this.


AFTER YOU HAVE COMPLETED ALL OF THE ABOVE.....

All About Phising

Have you ever received a text or email message asking for personal information? This is likely a phishing attempt (watch the video) - a fraudulent email trying to trick you into giving away private information like your password.

Today we will learn about Phishing and how to protect ourselves.

Please proceed to the phishing tutorial and proceed at your own pace. IT IS NOT A RACE! You will be tested on your understanding, so don't rush through!

Phishing Tutorial

Once you have completed the tutorial, answer the following questions on your blog, in complete sentences.

1. What is phishing?
2. What are some of the tricks phishers use to get you to reveal your personal information?
3. How can you protect yourself against phishing?

Once finished, play this online phishing game to test your knowledge.
Phishing Game


Take the phishing quiz to test what you've learned.