There is a way to change the Student Permissions to allow this, however; they then have access to all of the files within that course.  This includes any database records, back-ups and general files related to the course itself.  I do not feel that this is the best option as students should not be allowed to access this information.

The idea was raised that you could create a course strictly for Forums.  This would then allow students to access the course and browse all of the files without much of a security threat as there would not be a gradebook or other files that they can get to.  Again, I do not feel this is the way to go as the students may still remove or delete files that need to be kept on the server for the course to run properly.  I could see this being an option only if the students are to sign an SLA or are given a course in file management.  Just a thought.

One work around that I was able to find, was to create a photo database (or use an existing one such as Flickr) then have then continue to use the URL upload option.  This will at least give users a direct link to the picture without causing any security issues.  Lastly, they can paste the picture into a Word document and upload that as an attachment.  I know these are not ideal circumstances since the idea is to have the picture show within a forum, but a couple extra clicks should not be too detrimental to their Moodle experience.

*holding head in disgust*

Computer Info. Tech.

This is true joy of life-being used for a purpose that is recognized by yourself as a mighty one … instead of being a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

- George Bernard Shaw

That’s profound stuff…

Disclaimer: This is for the purposes of generating discussion within a community of teachers. It does not reflect the views of any school districts implied within.

One of the primary complaints I hear from teachers about integrating new technologies and 21^st century skills into their classroom is that while administrator say they want to see these things, District or Network policies often prevent their use. When teachers try to make changes to these limitations, they meet little real support. Frustrated, they return to their classroom bubble and break out the composition books, colored pencils, or overhead projectors.

Blogging is a perfect example of this frustration voiced by many teachers. Originally, we in the education community were given Edublogs.org as the official answer to our desire to have students blog.  Signing up students with no email account was difficult, but after discovering a somewhat shady work around using gmail, teachers were able to sign up classes. Edublogs is now a pay platform with a lot of intrusive advertising if you don’t pay, and the email work around no longer works. Then, we were told to try 21 classes, which turned out to be very limited, unless your district subscribes for you. Of course, that’s not going to happen.

Last year, Blogger became the official platform for Team blogs and was seen as the ideal solution.  For once, students didn’t need an email to sign up. You could create an account and be blogging in five minutes. Then, in April of 2010, Google began requiring SMS verification for accounts, and cell phones are banned in school. Also, many students do not have one. We may get Google Apps someday, but that’s not likely to happen before Spring of 2011, and it may never if our district decides to pull a “San Diego”. Meanwhile, Kidblogs has been put forth as a possible solution, but what happens when that avenue dries up? Not that it’s a particularly good solution. It has that lame edu-quality to it that all “school-safe” things have. You know the quality I’m talking about… It’s a bit campy, like a classroom newsletter in Comic Sans, and makes any kid over 11 years old not want to touch it with a ten-foot mouse cord. Yeah, that quality. This doesn’t even take into account all of the social networking and micro-blogging services that are blocked. Now we (the edu-community at large) are trying to develop campy edu-versions of those as well.

So, here’s the question. Do you think we should have to resort to generic edu-versions of the tools we want to teach our students to use responsibly? Is it just better for the peace of mind of admin, parents, and ourselves to stay in our bubble, or is this a form of oppression? Do you think we’re missing the real power of these tools by hobbling them to exist only within our network walls? What about email? Have you ever been in the lab with a class, ready to use a great tool, only to remember that it requires email verification? Should our students have school email? Do we need to protect them from that or is it as ridiculous as denying them a pencil in today’s digital environment?

Long time – no post.

As you may or may not know, I teach seventh and eighth grad CIT.  My class is essentially charged with the mission of providing a transition point between the Elementary “Computer” classes and the High School’s Business, Technology, & Graphic Arts departments.  A lot of students want to do things with computers for a career, but most are confused when they see the HS course selection guide for the first time and see no category for computer classes.  They’re really floored when they see that “Technology” means “Shop”

Anyway, needles to say, my favorite part of my curriculum is the Introduction to Design, which introduces:

• Graphic Design – Art Department
• Photography / Photoshop – Technology Department
• Web Design & Publishing – Business Department

I’m always looking for new resources with which to challenge & inspire these kids. Most of these make use of the Adobe Creative Suite.  If you don’t have access to these applications there are open source alternatives (listed below).

Official Curricular Goodness

These resources may or may not have been posted elsewhere on my blog, but I felt it was necessary to mention them:

• Foundations of Design series from Adobe

Teacher’s in the trenches

These resources come from various blogs and articles posted by teachers who are really teaching design.

• Scott Waldman’s product design lessons.
  • Sneaker Templates
  • Other Templates
• Courtney Reckord’s Design Class Ning
• Understanding Graphic Design (slideshare)

Fillers, Tutorials, & Random Squishieness

These resources keep my students engaged in design when they can’t come up with their own ideas but want to “do something cool in Adobe ___”.

• PSD Tuts +
• Vector Tuts +
• Active Tuts +
• Create a Photoshop Turducken
• Layers Magazine

For more, or just to keep up on what I’m finding on a daily basis: http://delicious.com/mrwalters.

Check out the following tags: design, tutorials, typography, & workflow.

My Stuff.

Okay, so my stuff is really just a bunch of other people’s stuff collected in one place.  I’ve added my own twists to it, and it’s constantly being updated:  http://mrwalters.wikispaces.com/Graphic+Design+Project

I enter the dojo, and remove my shoes at the door.  After changing into my Gi, I make a standing bow to enter the mat.   A few minutes before class time my classmates and I warm up and formally seat ourselves (seiza) along the Shimoza in quiet meditation to rid our minds of the day’s problems and prepare for study.

As I sit, practicing deep abdominal breathing, and taking in the smells, sounds, and sights of the moment, My peripheral vision notes my my instructor as he makes his way onto the mat.  He seats himself facing the Kamiza, slapping back his hakama as he does so. We formally bow in, a process which ends with our saying “Onegai shimasu,” Loosely translated “Please give me your instruction.”

All of this takes place before a single piece of technique is demonstrated or any kata performed. Is this some religious observance? No. We bow as a sign of respect for our classmates, our teacher, and our discipline, among other things.  Of course this observance is so much more.  I would rather miss Aikido altogether than come late and miss bowing in.  This is not simply etiquette.  It’s part of the aesthetic of what we’re doing.  It puts us in the right frame of mind. As a designer, I would say that this is one of those moments where form is as important as function.

There are numerous times in life where this is true as well.  You could be the best at your job, with more technical skill that all of your colleagues combined, but if you do not abide by the ettiquette established in your workplace , you’re more likely to be canned than advanced.  Life is a series of conventional and ceremonial observances.  This is how we live.

“Playing School”

Near the end of last school year, our faculty attended a professional development round table, either in a faculty meeting or in-service (I can’t remember which) that discussed our grading practices. Basically, the question that drove our discussion was “should we penalize students in terms of grades for their unwillingness to play school?” It was pointed out to us, in other words, that we had many students who understood the material perfectly well, but they were failing multiple disciplines due to their refusal to:

• Respect the teacher
• Turn in assignments (at all not just on time)
• Work in class

This meeting was precipitated by our exceptionally high retention rate, and the general tone suggested that if fewer teachers were so nit-picky, we would have a lot more students passing.

Time to reflect

At the time, I was sold completely on the idea of grading on content more than context.  Even though, I have perhaps 2-4 students /  year who score below an 83% in Computer Information Technology, I started to look at my own grading practices.  I would say that the scoring breakdown for my class is about 40% product and 60% process.  A big part of process in tech is “procedures” and “professionalism”. Basically, students who come in (often from other districts) who can barely type, but follow all of the procedures, work hard, and improve will pass.  The students, who may or may not know what they’re doing, that refuse to work and blow off their lab periods, will ultimately fail.

Since that fateful meeting, I’ve been looking at my scoring practices and trying to determine how they can be changed.  I’ve been struggling to do so, though, and I can’t figure out why.  I consider myself a radical constructivist, and I’ve never struggled with changing teaching practices before…

Then, last week it hit me, like mune-tsuki!  Procedures and professionalism are just as if not more important than products. I’m certified in BCIT and my course falls under the Business umbrella.  If my students can’t “play school“, how can I expect them to “play office” or “play life“, for that matter?

My mentor (yes, I am in my 9th year of teaching, but he’ll always be my mentor), Tony Bachman, begins each year with a brief trip around the globe in terms of school rules. Highlights include school rules in the Japanese classroom, which actually includes bows and cleanup chores, much like my Aikido dojo; The Chinese classroom, which includes obeying the teacher without question; and a throwback to the 80′s with the Soviet Classroom.  He does this, on one hand, to show how non-invasive his expectations for conduct are.  Ultimately, though, it should develop a cultural awareness that different morays of behavior are expected in different contexts.  This is a classroom, and while it is positioned in the middle of this great democracy, you are still expected to recognize that it is indeed a place of learning and scholarly behavior is expected.

The more I think of this whole “playing school” discussion, the more I am convinced that our expectations are not too high for student behavior, but are perhaps too low across the board. Is it any wonder that we have advanced level students blowing off standardized tests because they’re smart enough to know the results have no consequences for them personally? If our students aren’t ready to excel in the 21st Century global business place, it’s not likely because of their lack of computer and math skills, but rather becuase of a lack of social awareness, let alone social ettiquette.

This last October, Lanette and I had a discussion about my increasing lack of physical activity. I used to work out somewhat regularly at a local health club that shut down suddenly amid much controversy. Though I am not in the worst shape, walking into a gym or fitness club feels like giving a speech in my underwear to me. It doesn’t matter whether anyone is looking at me or not, I feel like an impostor when I walk into a health club. The new place my wife works out just wasn’t doing it for me, and I felt ever more awkward when I went there.

In the midst of our discussion, a light went on in my head. I’ve dreamed for most of my adult life of taking a Japanese martial art, at least one on this incredibly broad and inclusive list (note: broad and inclusive used sarcastically here).

• Kenjitsu
• Iaido
• Kendo

You see the unifying theme here? Basically, I wanted to “play Samurai”, and this workout deal was my “in”. I shared this list with Lanette and, with here enthusiastic encouragement, began searching for a local dojo. I spent October and November searching the Internet, using every possible search term I could; asking friends and acquaintances; and posting pleas on twitter. I also trolled a lot of martial arts forums. When all was said and done, I came to the unfortunate conclusion that not a single one of these arts was practiced closer than 40 miles (about 60 minutes driving) from my house. This was not an acceptable commute.

Aikido

By late November, with Lanette’s patience wearing thin, I finally found Susquehanna Aikido. No Aikido, was no on my expansive list, but Aikido does do bokken work, which was what I most wanted. Incidentally, it is less than 10 minutes from my house. I began participating there, about thrice a week in late November, and I’ll take my first test at the end of this month.

I really enjoy Aikido, the club, and all of the people I work out with. Lanette has supported my endeavor with surprising enthusiasm. I’m occasionally disappointed at how little we do actually work with bokuto, but I understand that Aikido is more focused on practical defense, and sword work is probably not high on that list. Also, as silly of a thing as it may be, I’m really bummed that we don’t wear the Hakama in Aikido until we reach black belt, which takes about 8-10 years to attain, from what I understand. I know, it’s just pleated pants that look a lot like a dress, but the hakama was almost as important as the sword to me.

The Kicker

Okay, here’s the kicker. The other day I was tinkering around with Google Maps on my Iphone, and for what ever reason I entered the search term, “Iaido”. This was a bad idea. A little dot popped up on the map, not miles away in Mechanicsburg, PA or Kensington, MD. No it was 5 minutes from my house in New Salem! Arrgh! The place had no web site, and is only listed as “Ki Karate” in the Phone book, mentioning nothing about Iaido. I pass it daily on my way to work, and never once did I notice the large white letters “Iaido” in the window. I called the place and found out what I would need to buy and when they met, and my disappointment grew. I’m not sure what’s the most frustrating / disappointing…

• The fact that the classes meet the same time as my Aikido weapons class (my favorite part of Aikido),
• The fact that the initial equipment investment will never be approved in light of what I already spent on Aikido, or
• The fact that I was so close to having exactly what I wanted.

The bottom line is, I really enjoy Aikido, and I’m not likely to quit anytime soon. I just wish I had the unlimited time and resources ($) now to practice two arts. I really need to be content in what I have and what I’m doing.

I probably will take Iaido at some point, likely in the distant future.  For now, I will concentrate on Aikido.  My mind and body have all the coordination of a clumsy 2-year-old, and I need to remedy that before I consider branching out.  Besides, all of the instructors at my dojo are excellent and worthy of respect.  The atmosphere is supportive. My fellow kyu are all dedicated and friendly. Most of all, when I am there, I am truly present in the moment with what I am doing.  I don’t clock-watch.  I don’t think about my grocery list or what I did in class this morning.  That alone is worth the price of membership.

More often than not, over the last year, when I go online looking for a book, I seem to perpetually find myself facing no options to buy it new from the company I went to in the first place.  Typically, I’m using Amazon, and I get the message that I can buy it from some third-party seller, who may or may not be reputable.  I’ve assumed, perhaps erroniously, that it’s just because I’m looking for old books that weren’t that popular.

A recent experience

Recently, I finished the last book in the Tales of the Otori, and I decided I want to read the prequel, “Heaven’s Net is Wide”, which came out in September of ’08.  That’s las Fall, kids.  Anyway, once again, the standard buying option is not available! http://tinyurl.com/ykwrtyu While looking at this, somewhat in disbelief because i know this to be a popular series, I did note that the Kindle version was available.  Further investigation revealed many other titles I’ve sought of late are also only available for the Kindle… A disturbing trend, perhaps.

Now, I wish to temper my words at this point, as I don’t want to sound like an alarmist conspiracy-theorist.  I do want to say, as a web-designer, computer teacher, online facilitator,and iPhone user, I take great pleasure and solace in being able to relax with the printed page.  There’s something about a real book that NO gadget will EVER replace.  The more Amazon offers books on Kindle only, the more I’ll take my money elsewhere…

In the constant effort to improve my own work and provide great examples for students, I find myself often on the look out for good design examples.  I’ll be giving a shout-out to everything from my church’s new web site to the new Themes and Styles available in MS Word of all places.

LWCC York’s new FAQ page

http://www.lwccyork.com/pages/page.asp?page_id=70814

The sheer brilliance here comes from the amazing use of awkward silence.  Just click on the page and enjoy for 2 or 3 minutes.  This isn’t simply a brilliant concept rendered with great design and amazing flash coding, it’s also a great example of fabulous video editing.

Wow, that’s a lot of positive adjectives… I hope I have some left for the rest.

Styles & Themes in Word 07

Yeah, I’m not a big MS Office fan by any means.  In fact, the only thing that brought me back out of Linux and into Windows at home was Adobe CS4 (that and the fact that Dansguardian kept going buggy on me).  Anyway, despite my general lack of enthusiasm about Office products, I was delighted to discover that the core applications in the suite now contain new Themes and Styles that make it easier to use really sound design techniques.

The styles can be found under the Home tab on the ribbon and contain elements lik “h1″, “h2″, “quote”, and so on, much like the styles found in Web and Print design applications.  The themes, found under the Page Layout tab are like a quick style sheet that can be applied to your document to quickly change the look of Headings (“h1″, “h2″, etc) and other various styles in addition to shapes, text boxes, headers, footers and other page elements.  Not only is this great design, particularly for Microsoft, but it will also help ease the transition to tools like blogs and wikis that control text using styles and themes.

Perhaps Microsoft learned something while trying to copy Adobe’s Creative Suite with Microsoft Expression.

Drops Like Stars

Rob Bell’s new book may not technically be much on substance.  The actual content is sparse at best. It is, however, a brilliant example of stunning print design.

I looked at this volume at my local Borders store recently.  I didn’t spring for the 39.95 cover price, but I did consider it.  If I knew the proceeds were going to some urban mission project or something, I’d probably buy it for my classroom.

I don’t know whether to attribute the amazing design found in Bell’s books to Zondervan, Flannel, or Bell, himself, but I am never disappointed by sheer beauty of these sparce designs.

The challenge I so often face in trying to improve student designs is explaining the less-is-more concept.  This book, though it is rich in art and photography, is not cluttered, crowded, or busy.

Great Shirts… Glitchy Web Site

http://shop.ugmonk.com/

A colleague familiar with my love of design forwarded this site to me last week.  If I could bring myself to drop $24.00 for a shirt, I’d be all over these… or rather, they would be all over me…  Either way, I’m just impressed that anyone is even making shirts this cool.  Typically, I find t-shirts in general to be a bit over-trendy and unnecessarily indulgent when it comes to design elements.

I was pretty disappointed, though , that the style sheet for the web site didn’t load when I pulled it up.  I assume the site looks better than what I’m currently seeing in my browser.