Name: “EM” Emily Michels
June 16, 20056:06 AM
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(1) Focus of your portfolio: The goal of SED 514 is to equip teachers with technical and pedagogical skills to enhance teaching and learning. You will prepare a 514-portfolio (electronic or paper) of your work, illustrating how computer technologies can be used to improve the teaching and learning of a particular unit within your discipline. By the time you are done with this class, you will have collected and developed resources that will benefit you and your students. Please note that many of the activities in this portfolio may be also used as artifacts for your professional teaching portfolio (PDP) .Complete the title page of the portfolio that includes you’re a photograph of you, your name, school, subject taught, and topic for portfolio.
Identify the subject and topic for which your 514-portfolio will be developed. Briefly describe the significance of this topic with respect to your curriculum.
Name / Subject taught / topic(s) for portfolio
Emily Michels / Art / Animation / Computer Graphics
I’m interested in teaching Art and the Computer – dealing mostly with Computer Graphics but with a major LEAN towards animation, because that is my specialty. Research and assignments for this class will also feature this LEAN towards animation – not just because that’s my specialty, but because that’s what floats my boat. I’ve written everything to (hopefully) entertain you, because for me, anything that’s funny beats everything that isn’t. – and that’s my two cents - Em
(2) Documenting your work with screen capture: Screen capture programs allow the user to take pictures of anything on their screen and save them as graphics files. Download a screen capture program for your home computer(SCREENPRINT32) and use it to take pictures of items required in this portfolio.Demonstrate competency with a screen-capture utility by inserting a .jpg file of keyboard shortcuts, contextual help menu, of the operating system you are using. Note that virtually all programs and operating systems have help menus and keyboard shorcuts. Consult these electronic help menus when you need to know how to perform a particular operation.
PC shortcuts
PC shortcuts, continued…
(3) Backing-up and transporting your files: Always backup your files!!! You can: (a) save them on USB drive or portable hard drive, (b) upload (ftp) them to your CSUN account (uDrive), (c) move them to an Internet hard drive, or (d) send them as attached files accompanying email messages. Do one of the following:Save your work to your uDrive. The uDrive is an extra storage area that provides additional disk space for campus users who wish to store their desktop files and folders on a remote server. Include a screen capture.
(4) Learning about your students. Most secondary school teachers must learn the names of 150-200 students at the beginning of each academic year. This formidable task is made much easier using a photographic seating chart. *TPE-tip Teachers may use photographic seating charts, combined with student information surveys to learn about their students early in the semester (TPE 8). Make certain to check with your school regarding policies for photographing students.
Use a digital camera to make a seating chart for one of the classes you teach or for this class at CSUN.
Animation Greats Seating Chart
Chuck Jones /
June Foray /
John Lasseter /
Bob Clampett
Lucy van Pelt /
Bill Peet /
Don Hertzfeldt /
Faith Hubley
Lotte Reiniger /
Tim Burton /
Petunia /
John Kricfalusi
Nick Park /
Maggie Simpson /
Mike Judge /
Seth MacFarlane
Jay Ward /
Brad Bird /
Mary Blair /
Tex Avery
(5) Searching / Identifying Plagiarism. The ease of information access can accelerate the learning process, but it can also be counter-productive by facilitating plagiarism. Discuss the importance of intellectual honesty with your students and illustrate how you can easily identify work plaigiarized from sites on the Internet.
Using an advanced search engine with Boolean search features (such as Altavista), find text from one of your students or from a website related to your field that appears to be plagiarized. Copy and paste the text and the URLs of both pieces in question. Alternatively, you may wish to use an online plagiarism detection service such as tunitin.com
The Paper turned in: (My son’s)
Captain James Cook was born on October 27, 1728, in Marton North Yorkshire. Cook was the second son of James Cook Senior, and Grace Cook. As a teenager, Cook apprenticed aboard coal-carrying ships, and spent his free time studying Math and Navigation. Then, in 1755, Cook joined the Royal Navy at the age of 26. Cook served under Captain Palliser who recognized Cook’s potential, and taught him navigation, charting, and drawing coastal profiles. In May 5 1768, after his service in the navy was over, Cook was appointed to command an expedition to Tahiti to observe the passage of Venus across the face of the sun. Precise measurements of this event were needed to determine the distance between the Earth and the Sun. After almost a year of sailing, Cook’s ship, the Endeavor,reached Tahiti. There, the crew made camp and the passage of Venus was observed. From here, the Endeavor sailed west to Australia and New Zealand. After Cook reached Australia, he made maps and drawings that provided Europe with knowledge of the wide variety of Australian coasts and wildlife. Cook returned to England in July 1771. A year after his first journey, the Royal Navy promoted Cook to Captain and gave him a new mission, determine whether legends of a large land mass between New Zealand and South America were true or not. By January, Cook had made it to the waters just North of Antarctica. However, as Cook sailed up to 75 miles away from Antarctica, large amounts of pack ice forced Cook to turn east toward New Zealand Although Cook never found this legendary land mass, he discovered many new islands in Polynesia. Cook arrived home in July 1775. Almost a year later, the royal navy asked Cook to determine whether or not the North West Passage, a mythical waterway that many believed cut through North America, existed. Cook accepted, and began his journey by sailing east towards North America, stopping at three islands in Polynesia. As he neared North America, Cook discovered Hawaii. Soon, Cook discovered that the Hawaiians believed he was a God whose visit had been predicted to the day. Then, Cook sailed north along the coast of what would become British Columbia. Then he sailed through the Bering Strait, and into the Arctic Ocean. However, pack ice prevented Cook from going very far, and he returned to Hawaii, but this time, he would not leave. Cook had overstayed his welcome, and in February 14, 1779, Cook was killed in a fight with the Hawaiians over the theft of a boat.
The Results:
Although I received happy results, this work still could have been plagiarized from a book, which are still in existence. I can see how over the years, using something like “Turn it in” to enter all of my student writing will free my brain up from the déjà vu experience of, “Hmmm, haven’t I read this before?”
(6) History of computers / graphic search engines. Answer the following questions using information from technology education websites or other online resources. Make certain that all information is in your own words. No credit can be given for information that is identical to that of another student or a web page.Contributors to the development of the computer: Select five individuals who have made significant contributions to the development of the computer. List the contribution(s) of each individual and briefly describe its importance. See technology education websites. Use a graphic search engine to find pictures of each.
Computer Generations: Computer historians have classified computers into "generations" in an effort to identify the major technological advances upon which the computers are built. Briefly identify the major features of each of the first five generations of computers. See technology education websites. Use a graphic search engine to find pictures of each.
I know that officially, the 5 generations of computers deals with the advances of the device itself that betters the computer for mainstream society. 1st generation, 1940-56 used vacuum tubes; 2nd grneration switched to transistors – 1956-63; 3rd generation came up with integrated circuits – 1964-71; 4th generation utilizes a microprocessor – 1971-present; and 5th generation will be characterized by artificial intelligence – a complex ideology bringing forth many classic sci-fi/horror films & tv shows. Actually, I believe my own computer has artificial intelligence, but I won’t get into that right now or my work might mysteriously “vanish.” ;-)
I have chosen to research 5 generations of computers with a slant that is pertinent to computer graphics & animation and – to give you something a little different to read.
Photo / Contributions to the development of computer/ These men came up with the 1st electronic, digital computer called the ABC computer (Atanosoff, Berry Computer). They built it at Iowa State University from 1937 – 1942. They won a court case between their computer and the ENIAC as being the first (electronic) computer (1973). Of course, I obtained this info from the Iowa State University website – so who do you think they’re going to believe?
Of course this computer is important to us, because it was the first. It was huge, ran on vacuum tubes, worked extremely slow, and had no monitor or printout options. It was so huge, it was dismantled and discarded. Now, the university has a replica. Yay, Iowa.
On the plus side, it had separate memory vs. computing capabilities, parallel processing and regenerative memory.
/ This is John Whitney, computer animation pioneer and more. During WWII, Whitney worked w/hi speed missile photography at Lockheed. He realized that the targeting elements inweapons calculated trajectories & produced linear numerical equivalents – which could then be used for plotting graphics. Using war surplus computer mechanisms, he built his own “cam machine.” This pioneered the concept of “motion control.” Among his many films and inventions, he created the title design for Hitchcock’s Vertigo with Saul Bass. As early as 1960, his computerized motion control set-up allowed him to make innovative designs and animated metamorphoses of text & still images. His film reel Catalog became a pop classic “psychedelica” of the 1960’s. Yeah, baby!
/ This is Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computers in 1976. Also important – (actually MORE important, to me) Steve co-founded Pixar Animation studios in 1986. This year, Pixar merged with the Walt Disney Company & Steve serves on their board of directors. What would Walt say? His frozen head is probably rolling in its freezer.
/ This is Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computers who created the Apple I and II computers in the mid-1970s – 2 of the first most popular personal computers. This inventor was involved in an accident in the early 80s and seems to have never fully recovered. His story would make a great “Rockumentary.”
/ This is John Lasseter, co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios in 1986. Lasseter began as a Disney animator in 1979 and was fired in 1983. He joined the computer division of Lucasfilm and together with Jobs, turned it into Pixar Animation. I know this is hero worship, but with the dawn of horrible, lifeless, robotlike computer animation – this former Disney employee breathed life, spontaneity and fun into the medium. While I was an animation student at UCLA during this time, I had to suffer through hours and hours of SUPER boring computer animation reels with that HORRIBLE song from Ferris Bueller’s Day Outwith the computer voice saying, “Oh yeah” ad nauseum. I thought I was going to die if I had to animate in a world like this. Then, among these lousy reels came Luxo Jr. It was only a desk lamp – but it animated with more human-like qualities than ANYTHING out there! Pixar created masterpieces by marrying the computer programmer with the cartoon animator. Genius. Now, with Pixar controlling Disney – Lasseter calls the shots – now he IS Disney. Wow. He’s gotta just constantly chuckle that they fired him and now he’s the boss. What a great, great step forward for Disney!
Again, poor Walt’s head is rolling in it’s freezer.
Now, for the computers.
Gen / Photo of key component / FeaturesFirst
/ / The Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC) was the first electronic digital computer. It was created by John Atanasoff & built between 1937-42 by Clifford Berry. It used binary arithmetic, regenerative memory, parallel processing and had a separation between memory & computing capabilities.Second / / 1951 Whirlwind Computer – the 1st to display real time video on a large oscilloscope screen. The original computer filled 4 floors of a 2 story building. The processor used 18,000 vacuum tubes burning up 50 watts each. Programs had to be short because of tube burnouts. **For animation geeks** The most famous program written for the Whirlwind was the bouncing ball routine – the 1st basic exercise in any animation class is the bouncing ball routine.
Third / / 1975 Altair 8800 – the 1st consumer computer. It came as a kit & had to be assembled - $395.
It had no keyboard, monitor, printer or mouse – only toggles to enter programs or data. It had an 8” floppy disk drive.
Fourth / / 1976 Apple I – came in a wood case. It had a CPU speed of 1MHz, onboard RAM of 8kb & a maximum RAM of 32kb.
Fifth / / The 1986 MacIntosh Plus had a CPU speed of 8 MHz. It had a ROM of 128 kB and a RAM of 1MB. It came with a 9” built-in monitor w/ a max resolution of 1 bit 512 X 342. It allowed a variety of peripherals and basically shaped the way personal computers are developed for the public.
Today / / Today, the iMAC of 2006 can run the Apple as well as a Windows platform. It has a CPU speed of 2.0 GHz, ROM of 1MB, RAM of 667 MHz and comes with a video screen w/ a VRAM of 128 MB and a resolution of 24 bit 1440x900/1680x1050.
(7) Making computers accessible to students: Given the importance of computers in business and society, it is important that we provide students who have special needs access via specialized software and hardware. Describe three data input or output devices, or three OS or software options that may be used to make computers more accessible to students with specific physical handicaps. *TPE-tip If you have students with special needs in your class, you may wish to develop lesson plans illustrating how you have made your curriculum accessible to them using adaptive hardware and/or software. (TPE4)
Experiment with the universal access features associated with your computer's operating system and research third-party hardware and software solutions for those with special needs. Describe three hardware or software solutions and explain how they may help students with specific special needs.
The MAC has more universal access features than the PC. This is what my computer has:
Oh my GOSH! Section one is so very LONG that I can’t even find all the research I did on ergonomically designed keyboards, foot pedals & voice activated software. Just for section 1 I: revamped my system files to be more orderly – thank you! Even my desktop just has a few folders that will lead me to everything else; I downloaded & figured out how to set up a connection for my Udrive at CSUN – which slows my computer down to a CRAWL, ugh; downloaded a screen capture program; figured out how to painstakingly cut my graphics down in size so that I don’t blow rooms of computers up with my Animation Greats Seating Chart; how to cut them down further by saving them to the Web; Figuring out all the pixel, table & cell set-ups for creating my own Website with Netscape – all this and more – just for Assignment 1 – and it took the entire Summer semester! Yikes! I told you my computer is slow from the udrive!
Anyway, back to foot pedals & such.
Ergonomically designed keyboards can be good, but they can cause more problems in other areas. Check out this site:
Foot pedals can be used to replace keys and functions to free up the hands.
Voice Recognition software can replace keyboard functions by speaking the functions to the computer.
(8) Computer knowledge. Teachers should be conversant with computer terminology and concepts that pertain to the use of technology in their classrooms.Review the list of computer terms and concepts for educators and then take this online quiz. Retake the quiz until you understand the terms and concepts and score 90% or better. Include a screen shot of your first and final test results. *TPE-tip If you have access to an online test-generation system such as WebCT, Blackboard, or Quizmaker, you may wish to develop online self-quizes for your students. (TPE2, TPE3)
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