Wednesday, 12th December 2007

Today, everyone in the class opted by completing a short Photo Story 2 publication related to Christmas. Photo Story 2 is a free Microsoft programme that can be downloaded from the site and enables people to create a story with a variety of images, narration and music. I thoroughly enjoyed working with this programme also for the fact that I love the theme we were working with, and managed to introduce the well-known poem by Clement C. Moore into my presentation. I am also thinking of downloading this programme at home, as it can be very benefitial and interesting.

"Happy Christmas to all,
and to all a Good night!"

('Twas the night before Christmas, by Clement C. Moore)

Monday, 10th December 2007

Today, we completed a very small investigation about Copyright infringements, which covered how images and sources can be utilized without breaking the Copyright Law. This project was very enlightening, for I was not aware that the regular images that come up in the various search engines have such specific Laws. Also, because I discovered what these laws actually are. Certain URLs allow the reproduction of their images, however with some restrictions. These restrictions were fundamentally:

• Must be utilized for educational purposes only
• Proper Reference must be included
• The content may no tbe modified

I believe that I was quite focused on my task today, and managed to complete the work early. Next lesson, where we will be focusing on the new Microsoft Publisher, my aim is to be equally motivated and involved in the work, such as I was today.

Wednesday, 5th December 2007

Today, we completed a lesson plan by Microsoft Office that taught us the various steps to complete a graph/ chart in the new Microsoft Excell Office 2007 programme. In my opinion, this type of programmes are absolutely necessary, since we do not thoroughly know how to function with the new Microsoft Excell.

2nd Unit - Wednesday 5th December 2007

Wednesday, 28th November 2007

As previously planned, today was in fact the last day of the I.T course as well as the due date of the entire project. As I had posted on my blog, today I did the corrections and went through the entire project. I improved on a number of things, and made some hyperlinks for referencing. I must say that I enjoyed this project because it was educational, as it taught the students to look at business and safety from another point of view. I am also of the opinion that this project was relatively successful. I was on task at most times, and therefore never struggled on any point of the project.

Monday, 26th November 2007

Today, I finally completed my project: Investigate, Plan, Create, Evaluate. However, in the last I.T class, day 28, I plan to complete all my suggested corrections . I am also going to go through the work that I already did.

Monday, 26th November 2007 - at home

Today, I completed the create and evaluate. In the create section, however, I made some modifications in relation to my plan. I happened to remove the number 000 when in emergency situation, thinking that maybe it wouldn't contibute a lot for the noticing of the emergency.

Monday, 26th November 2007

In class today, I got up to the stage where I was almost completing the Create section. Unfortunately, I did not accomplish this goal, as I started by completing my Flowchart, something that I had not previously completed. However, I plan to finish this section as well as the evaluate section after school at home. Obviously, the due date of the project is on the 28 November (Wednesday) and I plan only to go over my whole project on this class period. I believe that I worked extremely effectively today, and managed to complete a lot of work. I will post a message on the afternoon, to describe the work done.

Monday, 21st November 2007

In this day, all the class presented their ideas for their product. I presented my idea, being that it is a wrist pager that vibrtates, beeps, displays a red light and shows the number 000. My product received the following feedback:

1. Would it be easy to use?

Yes, it would be relatively easy to use and to understand, as it contains many features that help an individual know whether their in danger or not.

2. Is it practical?

It is practical because it is placed around the wrist or ankle, not bethering too much.

3. Is it realistic?

It is not very realistic, as a device with so many features wouldn't cost so little to the public.

4. Would it be affordable?

It would be completely affordable to the public, as it only costs 5€ per day for such an effective product.

5. Is it durable?

It is durable because its design contains satellite methods instead of being a simple device.

6. Would it be effective?

It would definetly be effective, as it vibrates, beeps, shows a red light and shows an emergency number. Therefore, the person will undoubtedly notice the signal. Nonetheless, maybe such a complicated design would not be necessary, as in the Guincho beach there aren't many severe sudden storms.

Any one else that wishes to comment on my presentation, is free to do so and contact me.

Wednesday, 16th November 2007

Today, I happened to be absent from school for I was ill. However, I managed to complete some work at home. I improved point 10 of the plan section. I plan to complete the create section in this weekend, and the evaluation throughout the week.

Wednesday, 14th November 2007

Today, I discussed the Investigation section of my project with Ms. Dietrich and made some inmprovements on several points that I made. However, I was able to achieve level 6 (out of six) and am very proud of my accomplishement. Apart from this, today, I made some advancements to the powerpoint presentation to present my design of the plan section. Conversely, I did not manage to finish this. I believe I was on task today, and advanced on the Investigate section (as it was today that I managed to actually go through this with my teacher).

Monday, 12th November 2007

In this day, an extremely different and interesting event occureed. Today, Ms. Oldsen, senior school librarian, taught year 10 how to evaluate a web site (URL) by looking at the content, the register and the author of the text. This, I believe will be extremely beneficial for me, as well as for my fellow classmates as source analysis is a very important detail of a high number of courses, such as History and Scientific research. This skill is also applied for many careers, amongst these, journalism, archeology, crimininology, literature analogy, etc. As well as, you can apply this form of evaluation to documents, fact books and other sources.

Wednesday, 7th November 2007

Today, I believe that I was concentrated on my task and managed to complete a large amount of work. I started to work on my oral presentation on Microsoft powerpoint, as well as adding some extra information to the first section of PLAN.

Monday, 5th of November 2007

Today, I have completed the first point of the plan section and started the flowchart on Microsoft Visio. I believe the work that I did today was extremely effective as I was concentarted on the task and really got in the idea of the project. My aim for next class is that I am as concentarted as I was today and manage to complete a large amount of work. Personally, I am prefering teh Plan section to the investigate section, as I can put more creativity and individual ideas into it. The following diagram is an example of my work in class

Monday, 22nd October 2007

Today (as I completed the Investigate section yesterday), I started point 1 of the plan part

Wednesday, 17th Octobe 2007

As I previously stated, the due date of the project was planned to be today. As most students hadn't yet finished the Investigate section, a few more days were given, in order to have good (and not rushed) pieces of work produced. I have completed all the minor sections of the Investigate. Nevrtheless, I wished to improve on these today. I must admit, that today I wasn't totally on task and hence didn't not produce much improvement on the project (just a relatively small amount of work). During the rest of the week, I will complete the project totally, and finally give it in on Monday (22nd of October). I am aiming for a high quality work, thereby not rushing it over one day.

Monday, 15th October 2007

As I said yesterday, I was planning on completing the project today. As I wasn't very focused on the task today, I was not able to do so. I wich to finally complete this today at home, in order to, on wednesday (due date), be able to do the referencing of the whole section.

Sunday, 15th October 2007

Today, I have worked on the final points on the investigation. I have just written the main points and researched for each section. Nevertheless, I did not finish my work. My aim is that I complete my work tomorrow (Monday). I will still have to do point 8 in class, as it is one of my classmates that has the information needed.

Wednesday, 10th October 2007

Today, I felt that I should start to investigate and research for point 6, instead of finally completing point 5 (Researching number systems), as I already have all the information and a mind plan for this point. I therefore, started point 6, which is investigating means of communication by touch. In my opinion, I was on task today. However, I did not complete both the points I started and I think I could have made an advancement on the project.

Monday, 8th October 2007

Today I started to write up point 5 of the Investigate section, which is Investigating number systems. I was not able ot finish this, however I believe that I advanced quite a lot on it, being able to have finished the section on the Decimal Number System. I was planning to have completed this point today, and to have gone one to point 6. Despite the fact that I didn't finish this, I believe that I worked well and never got off task. My aim is that next lesson (Wednesday) I finally complete point 5 and point 6.

Wednesday, 3rd October 2007

Today, I was able to begin and complete point 4 (Investigate current methods or systems other areas). This point was quite straightforward and fairly easy, as people that have observed referees, for example, can recognize these methods. For this reason, a lot of investigation was not necessary. I also started to research information for point 5 (Investigate number systems). I have searched mainly in www.wikipedia.org and am planning to complete this point next lesson (Monday, 8th)

Tuesday, 2nd October

Today, I finally completed everything in point 2 (Communication at sea) and finished point 3 which is basically the research of different systems of communication employed by lifeguards. I found the work of point 3 very interesting and fun to do. It was especially interesting, because I was researching things I have witnessed in real life!


(picture of light house - point 2)

Wednesday, 26th September

As the Investigate section of the project is due on the 3rd of October (the coming Wednesday). Therefore, I had to work hard on the task. Today, however, I feel I could have done better, as I didn't concentrate on my task and didn't get much work done. I regret this, nevertheless, but my aim is that next class I will have completed until at least point 4.

• http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blcoston.htm
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code

Monday, 23rd September

Today, I worked on the second task on the investigate section. In my opinion, this task was very interesting to learn about, for I did not know how communication at sea was done, and especially how it worked (relating to the design of the devices). The following sites were ones that I used throughout this lesson:

• http://hmsbelfast.iwm.org.uk/upload/pdf/signal.pdf
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semaphore

I believe that I was on task, as I spent the whole lesson working at my best, and I did not get distracted. I think that I developed a great deal on project. Nevertheless, I did not manage to complete this task for lack of time. My aim is that next lesson I can complete the second task and at least get half way through the third one. More information on the project I am currently working on is on the following blog

• http://year10itblog.blogspot.com

Wednesday, 19th September

Today, I managed to complete my timeline. I think I was on task, since I did not speak to my friends of an unrelated situation and I worked thoroughly for the whole time.

Monday, 17th September 2007

Today, the 17th of September, I continued with my timeline on the history of communication. My aim is that next lesson I can complete the timeline with the most facts and detail I can get. I believe I was on task today, as I was always working and looking for information on the various records of communication.

Wednesday, 12th September 2007

Today, the class worked on the Communication in History Timeline researching various URL's and coming to a positive result. I found the use of the search engines very easy in this subject, as several good sites were presented to me. While doing my timeline I found that the most useful web sites I went to were the following:

- http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl_history_of_communication.htm

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_communication_technology

In this class I learnt the many forms of premature communication used by the Ancient Greeks, Egyptians, Phoneicians, Sumerians, Chinese, etc. Throughout the research for this assignment I also acknowledged how, if only a slight difference had occured throughout history, our life as humans from the XXI century could be totally different.

Design Brief

Year 10 Unit of Work - Communicating Information
( Duration : 12 Weeks )
Investigate
 Research the history of communicating information and produce a
timeline of landmark developments
 Research current methods of communication employed at sea
 Research current methods of communication employed by lifeguards
 Research methods or systems from other areas ( e.g. tic-tac, sign
language ) which could be adapted or replicated
 Investigate different number systems ( binary, octal, etc. ) to
ascertain how many instructions could be generated for certain
methods of communication
 Research alternative methods of communicating information other
than visual or audible
 Investigate different methods of 2-Way communication
 Find contact details of beach guard service at Guincho
 Record research findings in your Process Journal
Challenge
Create a new method of communication that could be used by
beach guards or the general public. The system should be cheap
to produce, easy to learn but complex enough to communicate a
range of instructions. The system can be visual, audible, sensory,
or a combination of these
Problem
Guincho is considered both one of the best and most dangerous
windsurfing beaches in the world. How can we better
communicate to people, once in the sea, about changes in
weather and sea conditions?
once in the sea, about changes in weather and sea conditions?
Evaluate
 Comment on the effectiveness of the solution using the feedback from
the class and Guincho contact person
 State any problems you encountered and how you managed to solve
these
 Suggest ways ( if any ) that the solution could be improved
 Did the final solution differ from the actual design? If so, why were
these changes necessary?
 Comment on your own performance in the task

Monday, 10th of September 2007

Today, the tenth of September, year 10 visited the blog made for information on the project. The blog is named http://year10itblog.blogspot.com and it features the design brief of the project, the project completion guide, the Investigation help sheet and an example of a process journal. After this I started the project by searching in a Search Engine (Google and Ask.com) and I obtained the following sources.

Introduction

My name is Carolina and I am a year 10 student at St. Dominics International School, Portugal. Currently, I am taking an Information Technology course which will take all first term. Our first project is an investigation for safety processes on dangerous beaches such as Guincho. This investigation will be held throughout the first eight weeks of the first term. Every lesson, a new posting will be made with information on my project. This blog will be used as a progress journal.