M. Riley Huston
How to get different outcomes by password (right or wrong)
May 3rd
This how-to is a bit more complex than the previous post. I am using an If/else statement to play different movie clips, while making other movie clips invisible. You may have to study this example and a few like it in order to make it fit your own project. This is one of many ways to do this:
land.landraw.password_mc.submitpassword_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, testpass);
var textpass:String = new String();
function testpass(event:MouseEvent):void
{
textpass = land.landraw.password_mc.password.text;
if (textpass == “gadus”)
{
land.landraw.rightpassword.gotoAndPlay(2);
land.landraw.password_mc.alpha = 0;
land.landraw.penguinstill.alpha = 0;
}
else
{
land.landraw.wrongpassword.gotoAndPlay(2);
land.landraw.password_mc.alpha = 0;
land.landraw.penguinstill.alpha = 0;
}
}
land.landraw.rightcontinue.addEventListener (MouseEvent.CLICK, onRightcontinueClick);
function onRightcontinueClick (event: MouseEvent) : void {
land.landraw.rightpassword.gotoAndStop(1);
land.landraw.wrongpassword.gotoAndStop(1);
land.landraw.password_mc.alpha = 1;
land.landraw.penguinstill.alpha = 1;
}
How to go to the next frame at the end of a mc
May 3rd
This is very light on the coding, but was very useful for me. I used this in transitional frames.
For example… I have 3 frames on my timeline and I want the first one to be a button to take you to the second frame and the second frame would play a mc that takes you to the third frame… I coded the button to play the next frame. On frame 2 I had a mc… at the end of the timeline within the mc I put…
stop();
MovieClip(parent).nextFrame();
It will take you to the third frame on the main timeline. I used this to play transitions and it worked well. It is very easy to do. And if it was within another movie clip the coding would be:
MovieClip(parent.parent).nextFrame();
Mobile Power Source: nPower PEG
May 3rd
This doesn’t necessarily deal with mobile application design directly, however it offers affordances to design for applications to be used in rural areas. It solves a problem we as designers like to ignore, about how useful something can be based on power accessibility. This device uses kinetic energy to charge mobile phones, gps, camera, etc.
Skinput
May 3rd
As designers one of our responsibilities is to appropriate technology. This is great technology that gives designers another surface for design. Watch the video at the bottom of the article.
http://www.gizmag.com/skinput-body-touchscreen-keypad/14408/
How do blind people use mobile phones?
May 3rd
How do blind people use mobile phones?
Throughout the last couple of years the question of graphic design for the blind has come up several times in our classes. I think mobile technology could also play a major role in people with blindness’ everyday interaction. After researching this semester about user-centric design theories, I think it would be interesting to see what kind of solution we could come up with if we had to design for the blind. We would no longer be designing the look, but the graphic elements could still play a part. For example, the wireframe would have to take advantage of button size and the sound affordance of the iphone.
AR Examples and how it works
May 3rd
This is a website of creations dealing with augmented reality. It is augmented reality for use with windows but none the less shows examples of what AR is capable of: from video games to 3D info graphics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItOtTdhDoto
This is the same information in video form on youtube to see how it works.
Interview with an experienced teacher
Mar 2nd
1.) How does using a required textbook or standardized tests enable or disable teaching (specifically science at the high school level)?
Textbooks can be useful tools when used as a reference for information versus utilized as the sole provider for learning activities. Subjects, such as biology, are fairly intensive in vocabulary and textbooks are often necessary to get this information. Having students just read a chapter out of the textbook and complete questions is not an effective way to teach or instruct students on material. You have a diverse range of learners in any given classroom and their learning needs must be addressed.
Standardized testing is a tough topic in the educational world…. Standardized tests kind of level the playing field. For example, we know that hypothetically, all students that take biology in North Carolina are being taught the same curriculum and are being ultimately assessed the same way in the form of a End-of-course test at the end of the semester. It does not mandate what instructional strategies are used to teach the curriculum, but even know schools are encouraging teachers that teach the same subject to collaborate on developing common classroom activities.
On the other hand, standardized tests severely limit outside topics of interests. Meaning that teachers are usually on a strict timeline to teach all the material needed for the students to be competent on the end-of-course test. This limits a lot of creative projects, and allowing for a lot of student ownership on the subject.
2) What ways could you encourage students to pursue information taught in class when they are not in school? (how would you motivate or inspire a high school student to learn about symbiosis?)
There is not a specific answer to this question. There is not one proven method of capturing students’ interests and making them want to explore topics beyond the classroom. One thing educators have to consider is how to take the curriculum and make it relevant to the students. Tie the concepts in with current, real world examples or relate it to activities that they are interested in. Additionally, teachers should be enthusiastic in their teaching. If a teacher is not enthusiastic about the material they are covering, that lack of interest can be transferred to the students.
3) Does homework, in the traditional sense, have downfalls (traditional, meaning: read a chapter and answer questions)? What kind of homework might you assign for learning about symbiosis?
Unfortunately there are some cases where homework is abused by teachers. With standardized curriculum, teachers often find themselves struggling to stay on track to have all curriculum covered before testing occurs. Homework can then turn into “self-guided” learning for the student where the student pretty much has to teach themselves concepts, outside of class time, using an assignment made up by the teacher. When the student does not comprehend they then receive a poor grade on their homework and this can cause frustration and discouragement for students. Homework was originally designed as a reinforcement….some type of evening activity that would help students practice material taught in class. There is no research that finds that homework helps students comprehend concepts any better, especially traditional paper and book assignments. A cool alternative, maybe for symbiosis, is having the students to go out in their neighborhood, or if they are able take a trip to a park and take observations on relationships around them and describe the type of relationship that exists between then organisms that they encounter. Assign something to get them out and looking at the world around them to actually apply the concept being taught.
4) Do you think symbiosis is one of the more important topics of high school level biology? Why or why not?
I think that symbiosis is an important topic within the biology curriculum. I think understanding biological concepts has a lot to do with understanding relationships among organisms. Keep in mind that in North Carolina we have standardized curriculum and that there is a statewide standardized test associated with the course, so teachers don’t really have a lot of freedom to decide where to place emphasis (or importance) in regards to concepts. We spend the majority of our the year preparing our students to obtain mastery on the state level exam.
5) Do you think the current grading scale enables or disables students? Do you think students would be inspired to do activities if they are not graded?
Grades offer motivation to students. I know there is an alternative argument that grades can also discourage students, but if we did not assign grades then how would we hold them accountable for doing assignments? Unfortunately, in today’s culture if the teacher does not provide adequate justification and reinforcement (i.e. grades) for a given assessment (assignment, project, test, etc.) then most students will not bother participating. Grades should not be the sole focus in terms of assessing student learning, and furthermore should not be utilized in such a way as to punish students i.e. assigning a student a grade based on their classroom behavior is not acceptable.
6) If you were teaching the topic of “relationships within nature,” at what point would you consider your teachings successful for the students? More specifically, are there any tasks you would aim to teach the students to accomplish upon completion of the lesson?
Ultimately, as a teacher you want your students to reach a level of higher thinking… for example in the case of teaching students about relationships in nature, I’d like for my students to be able to take a sample ecosystem and describe to me the various relationships that are within this population, discuss factors that may impact the relationships within this ecosystem, and given its current situation maybe predict what will happen to the relationships within a given span of time.
The “learning outcomes” for any lesson are usually specific to the teacher, the learners involved, and any mandated curriculum that must be covered. Ultimately you want the students to be able to apply the information versus just a simple recall of facts.
Learning Tasks
Feb 23rd
An application that teaches students about ecology; specifically, relationships in nature and symbiosis. It works as a mobile application as well as through a textbook (using both; combining as augmented reality).
The student/user should be able to identify specific relationships in nature
They should be able to explain this phenomena to their classmates through recording digitally and discussion
They should be able to apply the knowledge in class to nature (and test it with mobile device)
They should be able to compare the different kind of relationships in nature and identify why they are different
They should develop other ways of identifying relationships
They should fully understand the relationships in nature and apply those to all interactions. Also know why it is important to learn in this way and how that can be applied to other subject matter.
Questions from the T-Mobile lecture
Feb 19th
I am interested in the circumstances for pursuing a project. The lecture stated that something has to be viable, feasible, and desirable. What defines Feasibility? I am working on a project where an element has to do with plant identification. Specifically, I want the device to detect an individual leaf, then define the species. What if the best solution for a problem lies in technology that does not exist yet? Is a project then abandoned or not developed, or does the project get retrofitted from the best solution to something that can be supported by current technology? The reason I ask these questions is because most new technology is developed for specific projects. A project that operates on the brink of technology provides a new baseline for progress but may not be feasible.
Outdoor Classroom: Who? Wha?
Feb 16th
Who: This application at full use is targeting late middle to early high school students. However, when being used in basic form it could be used by anyone interested in nature or learning about survival.
What: Application that teaches students about ecology. It could possibly be something very specific: learning about a particular species of tree and all the organisms associated. It would work as a mobile app as well as through a textbook (using both combined into augmented reality).
When: During school or after school (homework)
Where: In school or classroom, or outside in the woods or backyard
Why: The current learning situation isn’t fun and it is not as interesting as it could be.
How: Using augmented reality for identification of plants and animals/insects. Using augmented animation placement with the textbook. Textbook lists facts, users post video/pictures/notes.
ideas
Feb 9th
-Nature Walk application to identify plants
-similar application… survival oriented
-live sports status
-real life textbook
…more to come…
