End of November, 2012!

Wow!  We start December tomorrow - hard to believe.  We spent our final week of November using SlideRocket, continuing our Google Search Skills, and beginning an evaluating of online video editing sites.  For this week's blog post please respond to the following:

• Answer these questions related to searching in Google via different types of media:

1.  Your friend was telling you about this new term for a kind of urban protest graffiti called "Yarnbombing". Despite the name, the friend said it is a completely light-hearted, non-violent art form, but you do not understand what it is.

Of the following four choices, which is the most efficient way to find recent News articles about yarnbombing?

[yarnbombing news article]
[yarnbombing] then click News in the left menu
[i would like to find news articles about yarnbombing]
[what are some recent publications about yarnbombing]

2.  You would like to learn or perfect a skill.  Decide what you'd like to learn and find a video teaching you that skill.  Link your video in this week's blog post.

3.  Your mom loves Hummel figurines.  First, find some news about Hummel and locate two places you can purchase these figurines.  Tell us what you found in this week's blog post.

• Write a one paragraph review of SlideRocket.  I am looking for pros and cons, and an overall opinion of the site.  
• Tell us the online video editing site you are evaluating and include a link to it.  What is your first impression of the site?
• Finally, the week is done.  How did yours go?  Reflect on the last week of November.

Test

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Friday, November 16

Thanks for a great week!  You truly are a great group and I am lucky to have the opportunity to get to know you.  This week, we spent a good amount of time working with presentation tools.  I hope you have found the sites we've explored to be ones you might find useful for another purpose.  You had an opportunity to check out a few of your classmates' Prezis.  Write a short paragraph telling what you liked and disliked about Prezi.  We also continued learning about various Google search tools.  This week you were asked to watch the video titled "Finding Text on a Web Page" Then practice what you learned by answering and trying the following:

• What are two things you learned from this video?

• In 2006, Ms. Makovec completed the Berbee Derby 5k race.  What was her time?

• Find how many people from Verona ran the Madison Half Marathon in 2012.

• Using the data in the US Geological Survey's list of historic world earthquakes, when was the last time an earthquake hit our area?  Describe how you found your answer.

Finally, and as always my favorite part to read, please write a short recap of your week overall.  Have a great weekend!

A Sample of an Embedded Prezi

Friday, November 9, 2012

The first week of the second quarter is complete.  Most of you had a little break, which I hope you enjoyed.  Sorry Joselyn, I know you had to be here for testing.  Next year, you might get an extra day off - well, the rumor is that you might not - sorry :(  In any case, I hope testing went quickly and that you did well.

The election is also complete!  I don't know about you, but I won't miss the continual advertisements, phone calls and emails.  I did have fun watching the results and was amazed how quickly they can determine the results.  What did you think of the election?

You will want to make sure your blog is complete.  Here is what you need:

• An embedded Animoto video (be sure you included a link in Moodle as well)
• An embedded Google Form asking your blog readers to provide input on your blog or to gather some data about your readers.  You need to ask at least three questions of your readers
• Your News Forum responses
• In two sentences summarize “The Art of Keyword Searches.”  
• Then try this:
• You received this letter from a friend.    Hi, I am a chef and a food blogger. Recently, I wanted to write about this really yummy French sandwich with tuna and peppers and anchovies and stuff called a Pom Mignon, or something like that. For the life of me, I don’t know precisely what it is called. I spent half an hour last night typing every possible spelling I could think of into Google, but could not find it. What do I do now?   Thank you,  L.  Given what you know about this problem, what query would you use to solve it?  What is the name of the sandwich?
• After watching “Word Order Matters” write about the three most important things you learned from this short video clip. 
• Compare the results for two variations of a query. Do the non-ad results for two variations differ from each other?   Which of the following searches result in different results?  Open two new tabs with Google search in each, so you can compare the following searches.
• [cars][the cars]
• [flower spider] [spider flower] 
• [Adobe Acrobat] [adobe acrobat]
• [who] [the who] [a who]
• [150 computer] [$150 computer]
• [% students paying off college loans] [students paying off college loans]
• Find Ms. Makovec on twitter?  Her twitter handle is makovect.  What search query did you use?
• And, as always, add a few sentences recapping your week.  Enjoy your weekend!

Try our slideshow maker at Animoto.

Friday, November 2

A short week! I hope your week went well. I can definitely feel the end of quarter stress in many of my classes. Hard to believe how quickly time has gone. This week we began focusing less on desktop applications and more on Web 2.0 applications. One of your assignments this week was to begin exploring Google Search tools. Specifically, you were to:

• Watch two videos found in Section 5 of Moodle. They are titled "How Does Google Work?" and "Filter Image Results by Color." 
• In your own words, and a maximum of three sentences, tell me how Google Search works. 
• Practice your image search skills by locating images of the field at Miller Park. Search for Miller Park or Milwaukee Brewers and use the paint chips to narrow your search results. What color paint chip would you choose? 
• You are looking for a new phone case and only want orange. After seeing orange phone cases, you change your mind and now want to see those that are red. How would you change the results to show you red? 
• What is yarnbombing? Find out by looking at images.

What did you think of the VoiceThread project?  Of all that we viewed, which one stands out most in your mind and why?

Take a moment to add a paragraph reflecting on your week overall.  Finally, in a new blog post, be sure to embed your Animoto video.