Year 10 Computing at St Philip's College
a unit of work and lessons on blogs – what are they, creating and maintaining your own student blog, learning about some of the social implications and considerations of blogs. This is a self guided introduction to blogs and blogging for studentsAdobe Flash CS4 – getting started
Adobe Flash CS4 logo
Adobe Flash CS4 is a multimedia authoring program used to create web applications, games, movies, and content for mobile phones and other embedded devices. It features support for vector and raster graphics, a scripting language called ActionScript and bi-directional streaming of audio and video.
1. The self guided tutorials are saved as Adobe Acrobat PDF documents and are stored on the College network on the Class drive, here: Class\Year 10\Computing\Adobe CS4\FlashCS4
You should follow these in order – start with Chapter 1. Ensure you read the background information as well doing each step in the self-guided instructions.
2. Please note that the self guided tutorials ask you to open files that are on a CD. These files have been placed on the College Network, here: Class\Year 10\Computing\Adobe CS4\FlashCS4
3. Save all your completed work with the lesson name and your name in the file name here: Class\Year 10\Computing\10COMA student work or here Class\Year 10\Computing\10COMB student work
Task 12 – copyright
Copyright: the exclusive right to make copies, license, and otherwise exploit a literary, musical, or artistic work, whether printed, audio, video, etc.: works granted such right by law on or after January 1, 1978, are protected for the lifetime of the author or creator and for a period of 50 years after his or her death.
Intellectual Property: property that results from original creative thought, such as patents, copyright material, and trademarks.
Information Ethics: is the field that investigates the ethical issues arising from the development and application of information technologies.
Task 12. Watch this video about copyright.
Write a posting in your blog about why it important to follow copyright laws. Answer the following: why is the creator of a piece of art interested in copyright laws? What would you feel if you saw the photograph you took for photo class on someone’s blog? Would you feel any different if they cited your work? Explain your feelings.
There are two excellent citation makers, Noodletools and Easybib. Try them both . Locate how to make a citation for the MLA format. Write the URL for this site on your planner or other homework helper. USE IT when you have to create a “works cited” list.
Using Del.icio.us – a helpful hint
Have a look at this small tool that adds a bookmarklet to you browser and makes it very easy to add a bookmark to your Del.icou.us account. Instructions:
Internet Explorer (Easy)
- Make sure your “Links Toolbar” is visible. If it is not, right click on any part of the menu bar and make sure “Links” is checked.
- Click here to install the bookmarklets.
Task 11 – Del.icio.us social bookmarking site
Del.icio.us is an online “favorites” or “bookmarks” site which allows you to save the websites that are useful for you – for fun, for school or other activities or interests. Each time you go to a website you like, think others will like or wish to remember for later, you can save it to your Del.icio.us account, give it a ‘tag’ [a label that helps you to identify what is on that website] so you can find it later. One way you could use it for school could be as a kind of “works cited” link.
Task 12:
Part A: choose 3 websites of interest – either for a class, or of something of interest to you – and post it on your del.icio.us. Give them tags.
Part B: Blog about why delicious might be useful for:
- school
- your club, sports team, or other group
- special sites of interest to you.
Include in the comments of this post the answer to this question: Delicious is a bookmark ’sharing’ site. Why is it useful to look at other people’s bookmarks? Be sure to include your delicious URL so others can sign on and share your bookmarks.
Task 10 – tagging your posts
Task 9 – Some fun!: create an avatar for your blog
Create an avatar — a representation of yourself. Go to http://avatars.yahoo.com/ , design an avatar [representing you or a younger version of yourself] with a school, library, or classroom background. (You will have to set up an account if you don’t use Yahoo!) Save your avatar and export to your blog. Please ensure that your avatar is sensible, tasteful and appropriate for use in class!
Task 8 – visitor counter for your page
How about putting a counter on your blog which keeps track of the number of visitors to your blogs?
- Google Analytics
- FreeStats
- StatCounter – one of the easiest to setup
Task 7 – add some information your page header
Please add the following text to your page header (make sure the link is a live link – see earlier explanation):
Task 6 – adding a poll (survey) to your blog
Please create a survey on your for readers of your blog to complete – you can choose=any topic you like, but it would make sense to choose a topic related to what your blog is about. Make sure it is ‘appropriate’ content and questions for class.
You’ll start by going to the Layout | Page Elements tab for your blog:
Click the “Add a Page Element” link that appears in the sidebar for your layout. You’ll get a popup window with all the different types of page elements you can add to your blog.Using the ‘Basics’ list look for the one called “Poll” and click on “Add to Blog.”
The poll settings let you enter the question you want to ask, and the possible answers you want to allow. You can enter as few or as many possible answers as you like; if you need more than are shown, just click the “add another answer” link.
By default, polls are set to run for a week before they stop accepting new votes, but you can change this time frame by entering a new date in the settings. You can also check the option to allow people to vote for multiple answers, if appropriate.
Once you’ve saved your poll, it will appear on your blog. The “Vote” button will cast a vote for whatever option is selected, and will display the current tally of all votes. You can also click “Show Results” to see what votes have already been cast without making a vote of your own.
Make sure you write a posting explaining what your survey/poll is about. When the poll is finished write a posting about the results.
Task 5 – create a list of other student blogs
Task 4 – blog title refinement, link on this blog; review of other student blogs
1 (b). Please ensure that your blog is showing up in the column on the right of this page in the list of Year 10 Computing Student Blogs. If is it is not please leave the full URL in the comments of Task 2
Task 3 – developing your blog
Task 2 – choose you Blog title and URL and then create it
You should watch thevideo on how to setup a blog using Blogger – see the 3rd column of this blog
PLEASE READ: Safe and Responsible Blogging
Guidelines for safe and responsible blogging:
First the Do’s:
- Conduct yourself in a manner reflective of a representative of this school.
- Treat your blog as a classroom space. It is not a place for personal and private issues that are not related to school topics.
- Strive to write respectfully and do not be rude. Blogs are about ideas but agree or disagree with the idea, not the person.
- Make specific suggestions and back up your opinions with facts.
- If you should come across anything online that makes you feel uncomfortable or afraid, minimize your screen immediately and report to your teacher.
- Do ask for permission to use any files that were created and owned by others, including photos, audio and video clips, etc.
And then the Do Not’s:
- Do not post or give out your family name, password, home address, phone number or any personal information that would give information that would help someone directly locate or contact you in person. They se this same guideline when referring to class members.
- Do not post anything that you would not want your family, your teachers, your friends to read. Use correct English and be aware that everything you post is a reflection of you. You are an ambassador for elementary blogging.
- Don’t always believe everything you read online. You need to make a judgment about whether it can be trusted.
Year 10 Computing at St Philip's College 