Artificial Leaf, DC Power Supplied Homes, LED lights, Solar Panels

After looking more and more into the idea of the Artifical Leaf by Dr. Daniel Nocera the concept of cheaper energy may become a reality when his patents are approved. I've been doing research on using a DC power supply in place of some AC power in a home to save money. Next year during home school I'm hoping to implement this idea with my 2 sons. With the recent up grades in LED lighting and Solar Panels a DC powered home is becoming a reality.

Here is an article covering the basics of using already existing camping and car style DC systems in your home.

http://inexpensivehomebuilding.blogspot.com/2007/06/how-to-make-12v-dc-power-system-easy-as.html

This Blog covers some of the advantages and disadvantages of using DC power.

http://chrisgammell.com/2008/06/12/can-dc-power-an-entire-home/

Existing LED lights that replace the Floresent bulbs in your home are expensive because each one requires a converter to convert AC < DC in each bulb. Here is an example of existing DC power source in your home using a phone line 40 -70V.

http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-get-free-electricity-from-phone-jack-127041/

USB cables and your computer can already distinguish the amount of power needed to operate different devices so why not use them in your home. Here is a USB fridge.-

http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-make-usb-mini-fridge-159116/view/

I hope to add more as I research more.

Interactive Learning and Survival- Little Fox's Webinar

This webinar by Edutopia focuses on the brain and why basically entertainment always wins over boring educational material. It's all about "Making Learning Stick!" That's what it's all about. We need to rethink and involve our students in education not just read about it. Stimulating Curiosity and Discovery is the key.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMZnfFD1maU&feature=relmfu

After getting a few more phone calls this week about 4 more children I maybe getting to raise because my sister's a drug addict it made me really think. After growing up myself as a welfare child with parents addicted to drugs this week reminded me how hard it is to focus on learning when the world around you is so dangerous and falling apart. "What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."(James 4:14b) I can remember all the bad things why not the good sometimes.

Edutopia my Professional Organizations

Edutopia by George Lucas is my choice. Not just because he made Star Wars the greatest movie ever made! :) I picked it because it incorporates Active Play, Vygotsky's "Zone of Proximal Development", Scaffolding, Piaget's "Play as Assimilation", Social Play and Creative Play and Learning at all ages. (Frost) I've already begun using this site to learn more about how people learn. One example is there article on how NASA is turning it's technology inward towards education with STEM. With the motivation of the Space Race of the 1960's NASA is finally getting the hint we need to focus on here in order to learn more about space and science. Learning should be as fun and entertaining as going on an adventure. To explore and discover as during the "Age of Discovery" with ships and The New World. As teachers we must move outside the just the face-to-face education and embrace learning as a skill not just something a classroom only activity.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/blended-online-learning-heather-wolpert-gawron

Skype, gmail chat, Elluminate with Amy and Peaches

Me, Peaches, and Amy were finally able to link up and Skype online. We discussed everything from what our favorite technology was, the final unit project, and computer technology in general. Not to mention we talked for almost 30 minute covering our careers and use of technology. None of us had a webcam but all 3 of us had pictures on Skype. I took a screen shot that I will delete later. I'm never one much on displaying personal info and at 1st was a little skeptical about Skyping.

In the end though I had a good time and it was really nice to actually talk to fellow students. It give the class the personal touch. I kind of wish we would have done this at the beginning of the course rather than the end. :( This might be one of the 1st classes where I can honestly say I"m going to miss my online companions. Soldiers in the trenches who survived this class! I learned a lot thought and I hope to use a lot of the technology from this class in the near future. Overall this online Skype session made me really miss going to a classroom to learn and getting to know the people a little better.

I set up an Elluminate session also but no one showed. :( I really like the technology that Elluminate program but for the amount I'll be using it I'll just stick with the 30 day trial for now. I posted a powerpoint presentation and really, really like that I was able to display my desktop. I have to figure out how to do that on xfire, gmail or some other free program. I know I pinch pennies and make them scream.

Cyberbulling

Cyber Bullys come in all shapes and sizes. After playing online multiplayer shooter games I've encountered a number of cyber bullys that do everything from try to track down your physical address to ping your IP address and try to hack your firewall. All this just over games online. I cannot imagine the amount of cyberbulling that goes on in place like school with access to facebook and other social networking sites now available. I know in the gaming PC community crashing servers, hacking, and hurassing PVP(Player vs. Player) type games can get pretty bad. The key point is never share personal information and utilize different gaming accounts to prevent cyberbulling. I read a few articles on cyberbullys on the web. Here is one that caught my attention about how we focus so much on getting the newest best technology but fail to realize what dangers it puts us in. The Aricle is called "Parents spending more on technology but forgetting safety." We teach our kids about being safe crossing the street but give them a cell phone and are shocked to hear they are getting illegal images, annoying phone calls, and taking pictures of things they shouldn't. In this article it says "33% of parents closely monitor their kid’s use of the internet and one quarter of parents admitting they haven’t spoken to their kids recently about who they should share their mobile number with."(Cyberbullyforum) Another article I glanced at was Psychology of Cyberspace. I hope to read it more extensively when I find the time. This article is about the ego and cyberspace and social interaction. I know a lot of use base our social standing in our comminity and it directly impacts our ego. This can be used for good and bad. Good to encourage learning, communication and understanding. The bad to attack and anti-socialize others. I hope to write more on it later after I find the time to read some of its article in depth.

Week 11- Evaluating my Own Blogs

Beautifu Posts, Perfect in every way, Should be a Journalist! "Do I get an A?" Just Kidding while reading through the Rubics Assignment I'm beginning to think grades are not as important as skills.

I noticed I usually write about ideas and concepts but I don't always complete the idea. I don't always summarize what I've written about to give the readers closure. I could also include More Open ended questions to get the reader to think about the ideas I'm writing about more. I have noticed a change in my posts over time. My more recent posts do focus more on a complete idea rather than just random thoughts. My composition has improved. I've started to use a lot more picture references, videos, and support for my writings.

As I reflect back on my 1st post about "SimulationEducation - Hands on Approach to Learning" I'm approaching a half circle. The thought of creating a Hands on Approach to learning by facilitating is becoming an tangable Idea. I lay awake at night as my mind races though how to reach students, how to engage them and utilize there full potential. How to reach children suffering from ADHD, Social Anziety's, and Learning Disabilities. I'm develping the weapons to fight this War against illiteracy, poverty, and "this person is a lost cause" concept.

Through Webquests I've learned how to focus on creativity to challenge students. I've learned to use games to teach and strengthen skills. Someday I still hope to make them. I've learned to use co-operative documents using PBworks. I've even gotten a 1st hand glimps of one being used in an acually classroom my 6th grade son is in. They are using items I'm learning about in this class to teach. He is now in AP Reading and AP Math based on these concepts. I hope to teach him using Podcasts and Vodcasts a new concept I had never done before this class.

I've come across teacher that are working on the same ideas and through there creations and examples I hope to make my own. The Flipped Classroom is one area I'll be revisiting. The concept of using the classroom to syncronizing online learning at home. I'm currently looking over the idea of creating a Rubics. I love the idea of using a Rubics rather than grades. Rubics focus more on the skills learned, kind of a "G0 or NO GO" concept the Army uses.

I know my writings are not as creative or narrative as some in this classroom's blogs I've read. I need to work on that. I've learned a lot so far focusing on skill rather than grades. I hope to learn more even beyond this class or blogs I've written. If I use blogs I'll make them internal in my classroom and not public.

Robotic Legos Teach Elementary School Students STEM Skills

Robotic Legos Teach Elementary School Students STEM Skills

In order to motivate students you must create a learning environment they can understand and want to be a part of. What better way than using toys, especially Legos. Lego's have come a long way from just using them like blocks.

Lego's by Age
For ages Preschool to 8th I recommend using Lego Education website. It provides Legos in prepackaged sets to teach primarily robotics and a lot more.

Beginning with Robotics
LEGO® Education WeDo

Intermediate
LEGO® Education

Advanced
LEGO® MINDSTORMS® Education
Mindstorm site

Here is some Ideas about the Intermediate set used to teach Physics and gear ratios. Here is some ways to Use this set to teach renewable energy. If you click on select curriculum you can gear different aspects of the project to fit different age groups. Legos are perfect for teaching engineering.

Legos for Mathmatics
Legos are excellent for teaching math concepts like addition, subtraction, fractions, geometry, and many more. In an article called LEGO Math Activities By Teri Ann Berg Olsen she points out 22 Lesson Ideas you can use to teach math with Legos. She didn't even go into using Lego's to teach Scale Modeling, Perimeter, or Area. WierdRichard is a great site to look over for math subject ideas with Legos

Youtube like Legos are great for Learning. If there are still any doubts just sit down with a set of Lego's for 15 minutes and before you know it your creativity and creations will turn into hours of learning. The problem is you may find yourself forgetting about your other duties or goals.