What is Moodle you ask? Well it is a free open source online classroom management software (similar to the $$$ BlackBoard software - same concept, except free). Moodle is an acronym for modular object-oriented dynamic learning environment that was developed in Australia by a graduate student for his thesis. Today, the world has embraced the software for its utility and in Colombia there are 1,318 registered Moodle Sites. People who use Moodle are called Moodlers.
As a high school science teacher, I found Moodle invaluable for lesson planning but the real value for me was in creating quizzes and exams which my students took online. The best part was the scores were calculated when the students clicked on the submit all and finish button. The students knew their grades when they left the classroom and I had no grading to do that evening (a true win-win situation). Even better, the exam software (adaptive mode) allows students to reattempt a question if they get it incorrect the first time so they can receive partial credit instead of a zero (the students love this feature).
Many web hosting companies support Moodle and will install it for free. There are even sites that host Moodle for free such as www.keytoschool.com - Kudos to these folks! If you are a fan of SecondLife or OpenSim, then you will love Sloodle, which is a merge between this virtual world of Avatars with Moodle. I have seen my students using SecondLife when it first hit the internet and they were thrilled. Now with Moodle, I can see the possibilities are endless and will make learning even more fun and interactive.
For more information, please go directly to MoodleMoot Colombia http://www.moodlemoot.org.co/2011/
Khan Academy
khanacademy.org
Armed with just a graphics tablet and the internet with a desire to help tutor his far away nieces and nephews, Sal Kahn created a successful site that won him $2 million from Google. His videos are around 10 minutes and are produced using a graphics tablet that shows Sal sketching in different colors to help you understand the concepts similar to a coach drawing a strategy for his players to follow. His voice is reassuring and even if he makes a mistake, he will correct it on the fly without editing, which makes it more realistic. Currently the videos are in English, but translations are in the works. The site is free and the classes range from algebra to venture capital and include SAT and GMAT prep. Sal even has software for free that keeps track of your performance and you can earn badges with scientific themes such as the earth badge and moon badge.
Here is a sample video on the scale of the earth and sun that demonstrates his successful teaching style.
Keep track of your progress as you watch and learn from these videos by taking computer-generated questions. If you obtain 10 correct questions in a row, you advance to the next level. Everything is date and time stamped to help you see your achievement and show your parents and teachers.
60 Semifinalists to be announced on Monday, May 9th
The official Google Science Fair statement indicates to check back on Monday, May 9th to find out which projects were selected as semi-finalists and to vote for your favorites.
There will be 3 finalist winners, one in each age category 13-14, 15-16, 17-18. One of of the 3 finalist winners will be selected as the Grand Prize winner and will include a National Geographic expedition to the Galápagos Islands.
Well at least go and check-out the semi-finalists and vote for your favorite science fair project in the People's Choice Awards.
Presentations
You are giving a presentation but would like to walk around and control the keyboard remotely, so what can you do to achieve this? If you have a Wiimote lying around the house you have your solution. Just download Darwiin remote from the web (it's free!) and install it, open it and you are ready to begin. You will have to sync your Wiimote by clicking on the Darwiin remote software find Wiimote button. Then press buttons 1 & 2 together on your Wiimote so Darwiin remote software can connect to your Wiimote.
Darwiin remote screenshots
Initial Darwiin remote screen
Press on find Wiimote button (bottom center) and then press buttons 1 & 2 on your Wiimote to allow the Wiimote to be discovered and be connected.
Keymapping (selected by clicking on the drop down menu and clicking on preferences)
This is where you match your Wiimote buttons to your computer's keyboard keys (or multiple key hits) so you can control your computer remotely.
No scripting like in GlovePie (for PCs) is necessary to do this and it is fairly easy and intuitive. By default, many of the keys match the keyboard (unlike the screenshot) which may mean no new keymapping is necessary if you just need the basics like left arrow and right arrow.
Many have found the Wiimote very useful for presentations including using keyboard shortcuts for Google Earth, Google SketchUp, DJing (WiiJing), and of course for just advancing powerpoint (Keynote) slides. Here is an example of controlling Google SketchUp with the Wiimote.
Wii remotes (or wiimotes) have many uses for teaching. They are fun to use and inexpensive (about US$50 new) and you don't need the Wii console. With basic skills, anyone can quickly make an interactive white board with just a wiimote, an infrared (IR) pen, Bluetooth and some free software. For presentations, one can use another wiimote to advance slides, zoom in or out or any feature you wish to incorporate to control your presentation remotely.
The wiimote has built-in accelerometers that can measure acceleration in 3 planes (X,Y,Z) and the new wiimotes (motion plus) incorporate gyroscopes in 3 planes that increase the sensitivity. With free software such as GlovePIE for Windows and DarwiinRemote for Macs, anyone can program wiimote buttons to emulate mouse and key hits (or multiple key hits) very easily. Thus you can configure your wiimote buttons to your favorite keyboard shortcuts to allow remote operation. If you are a little more advanced, you can program acceleration data to trigger key hits as well. Google SketchUp with its many options is a great example of how well a wiimote works as a remote.
In the next blog, I will mention more (it seems unlimited) applications for the wii to make teaching more interesting.
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