Digital Media-Content Management Systems

I am busy working on a unit of work that gets students to look at a variety of content management systems. They have to be able to install and configure them, add content and add a variety of extra plugins. Simple as it may sound, you are not one the configuring the server to be able to do what is required.

The three Content Management Systems are:
Wordpress
Joomla
Drupal

I know some people are questioning some of the decisions, however, now thinking it silverstripe could make an appearance.
Update:Currently downloading

This is so the students can start working on there assessment for media this year. They have to be able to talk about various Content Management Systems, what the differences are in installing and setting up.

Each one has had it quirks  from magic_quotes_gpc to date time needed and being able to have rewrite module loaded.

Now I have to figure out what folders and the like require www-data access through chown.

I would like to see what the students come up with, however, I am still wondering what content do I get the students to develop, do I use already existing data, or get the students to create new content and issue them a challenge.

One of my biggest issues has been working through various websites to get this going, though I am understanding a bit more around the workings of ubuntu now with the apache2 and how they use the mods-available.

I need to start looking at how big the project will be and whether the server will be able to cope with the projected load. Luckily there are 12 students in the class, though which each of the three install approx 100meg of data will be copied, this is a 1.2Gig project.

Students will have samba access through there accounts to be able to copy and edit files. though I am unsure how I am going to change the permissions of the folders, this may have to be a teachable exercise in which students will need to have ssh access. Students will have phpmyadmin access to be able to develop databases, though they may need three databases to hold the data from each of the cms. I don't really want them to have it all within one database.

I am disappointed, I have had to restart my server and now lose my uptime stats.

date in mysql

The date format in mysql is a little different,

this xkcd.com comic may help my students

Form class activities

Will be trying this out on Monday with my form class

Smartphones and tablets are great for all sorts of games, and lately we've been thinking about new ways to play. Chrome Super Sync Sports is a new Chrome Experiment that uses the unique features of mobile devices to create a new gaming experience on big and small screens. In this game up to four friends can compete in running, swimming and cycling on a shared computer screen, using their smartphones or tablets as game controllers. 

Popout

To get started, you’ll need a computer and a smartphone or tablet that run a modern browser, like Chrome. Visitchrome.com/supersyncsports on your computer, pick a game and decide if you’re playing solo or with friends. Next, visit g.co/super in Chrome on your smartphone or tablet and type in the unique code shown on your computer screen. You’ve now “super sync”ed your mobile device with your computer, and you’re ready to race!

Use the arrow pad on your smartphone or tablet to select one of 50 athletes and prepare yourself for the competition. The motions you make on your mobile touchscreen will move your athlete on your computer screen. To move your athlete forward and win the race, you need to make the correct gestures as quickly as possible. The better you are, the higher your chances of making it to the global leaderboard. 

Select your athlete by using the keypad arrows on your mobile

Race using your smartphone or tablet touchscreen

Up to four friends can play using a shared screen

Chrome Super Sync Sports is available for Chrome v15 and above, and for Android 4.0+ and iOS 4.3+ devices. It uses the latest modern web technologies, including HTML5 features such as WebSockets for real-time gaming synchronicity on desktop and mobile, and Canvas and CSS3 for rich and engaging visuals. For more detailed information on the technologies used, see the “About” page.

On your marks, get set, race for your place on the World Leaderboard!

Information to Parents from school

Every week our school send home an email to parents about there childs performance during that week. The week for us runs Thursday to Thursday. We are required to submit a rating of 1-5. On Friday through the Student Management System an average is created and emailed out.

Weekly notes has been somewhat of a tradition at our school. It is a great form of communication to parents that do not have to wait for a progress report or Parent Teacher Interviews before finding out that their child has not been preforming to their best in class.

I have seen what is sent out to parents a while ago and thought nothing of it. Now, its another story. There have been a few other schools that have picked up the weekly notes, or as they call it the Fortnightly Progress Report. It is laid up professional, has the information required on it and is received as a PDF. It has an explanation of the weekly notes, the teachers name and its purpose.

Ours has the Name, classes and code of the teacher, the average, however it has this statement at the bottom;

All marks are between 1 and 5 with 1 being poor and 5 being excellent.

Thats it!? That is all the explanation we are giving. What does a 2, 3, or 4 mean. What is poor?

In the other school this is the explanation that is with the weekly notes;

The Fortnightly Progress Grade assesses a student’s application and effort in the core subjects listed below. It may not accurately reflect their academic progress in each subject.
Year 9 & 10 students will receive a grade from 5 (excellent ) to 1 (unsatisfactory) for the current fortnight.
What we see in a student who gains a 5: Stands out in their effort and application
What we see in a student who gains a 4: Consistently applies themselves and makes a good effort
What we see in a student who gains a 3: Fulfils the basic requirements of learning and behaviour
What we see in a student who gains a 2: Reluctant to make the effort required in class
What we see in a student who gains a 1: No inclination to be involved in learning

I think that we need to look at the information and how it is being presented to parents. We are sending a .rtf document to parents everyweek that is merged from the Student Management System and emailed out. As I have been told the system that we are using was originally written for our school to do this, they were once handwritten.

ubuntu design process poster

This is a poster that I am using with my students, also the website that it comes from also has a number of good ideas on it. http://design.canonical.com/2012/11/solving-design-problems/ 

radio station issues

So far we have broadcast two days... not because of a lack of trying, but because the computer that is running it crashed during a windows update and went into the reboot of death. Luckily we have all the music on a separate hard drive and just the operating system and programs sitting on the main hard drive.

A fresh windows xp sp3 install requires 121 updates, which takes a good period of time. Though my other issue was I turned the resolution up and forgot to change it back before going into the room.

The radio station is now back up and working, it now seems that I don't have a student wanting to do the branding of it, so will give it to my year 12 students as a task to do when developing there understanding of digital media.

If it fails again, I am putting ubuntu on it!

Sorting data

Ever want a way to sort over 200 pieces of data quickly. This is a task that I set my students every year. Sorting by lastname. What ways could you think of how to sort the data, what alternative methods could be used. What about the time factor?

mysql lesson failure

Started the students on their mysql journey today. After a period of frustration when they tried logging into the server all at once and having the server lock them out for a minute or so. Once getting over that hurdle and getting them logged in, the next issue was getting them to change there password, as some of the passwords are dictionary terms or only 4 characters the server wouln't let them change, instead I have had to learn how to change the password configuration.

Once into the server, it was create a folder, public_html, seems that some students can't type properly and I have to them show them how to remove a directory.

I am starting to get frustrated by the classroom environment, the monitor is on a good resolution, yet the projector is on the same, which means it is difficult to view. I am starting to think why even have a teachers computer if it is not setup to be any use.

Now onto the mysql intro,

An absolute failure, I forgot what I set the students passwords to...

This has now been fixed and hopefully all things will be go tomorrow. I plan to use my laptop and change the external display to a better resolution. Though the laptop does have an issue with the pwer supply.

Knowledge Digital Media Standard

I am busy reading and developing my understanding around the Digital Media knowledge standard, and wondering of I could develop an assessment that got students to compare Content Management Systems, the resource talks of a gallery for a wordpage. I am wondering if I could take this further.

I am now busy looking at the previous levels to make sure that my ideas and understanding will work, this could be a good way to develop a better understanding of what is required.

Looking at further information I am still working out what is required to be be developed. Just been posted on the group is the indicators of progression what is being looked at level 1, 2 and 3. Though there are a number of examples, non relate to what I am thinking.

Digital Media Standard Level 3

The following are parts of the Digital media standard

Implement complex procedures to produce a specified digital media outcome involves:

• selecting software based on the features of the program(s) that enables the student to effectively demonstrate skills in creating, editing and integrating media types 
• applying a set of complex tools and techniques to present content in a media type 
• applying data integrity and testing procedures to ensure the outcome meets the specifications 
• following legal, ethical and/or moral requirements appropriate to the outcome. 

Skilfully implement complex procedures to produce a specified digital media outcome involves:

• showing accuracy in the application of complex tools, techniques and procedures 
• showing independence with regard to decision making in the selection of software and application of complex tools, techniques and testing procedures. 

Efficiently implement complex procedures to produce a specified digital media outcome involves:

• applying complex tools and techniques, and producing the outcome in a manner that economises the use of resources (eg optimised tool selection, batch processing images, use of master pages, use of libraries, timely production). 

3  Specified digital media outcome refers to a digital media outcome and its relevant specifications.  The specifications must be of sufficient rigour to allow the student to meet the standard.  The specifications need to be agreed prior to the outcome being made.  They may be teacher-given or developed in negotiation with the student.

4 Complex tools and techniques may include:
• Web page design: HyperText Markup Language / Cascading Style Sheets (HTML/CSS), scripting (manipulating content), dynamic data handling, interaction between user and content, multiple device outputs
• Print design: interactivity, form elements, chapters and sections, clipping paths, Extensible Markup Language (XML) content, pre-press, resolutions
• Audio: multiple tracks, manipulating multiple tracks, overlays, equalising
• Motion graphics: complex transitions, multiple tracks, post processing, compression and exporting, onion skinning, rendering
• Image manipulation: colour histograms and adjustments, non destructive editing, pen tools and paths, filter effects, graphic optimisations, colour management and printing, automation scripts.

5 Media types include: text, web languages, audio, video, graphics, animation or still images.

6 Data integrity procedures include checking for the relevance, accuracy, and reliability to ensure the outcome functions as intended.

Digital Media and wordpress

I think there is some confusion around the Level three media standard, especially if you are developing a php/mysql website. It is the link of the info and programming. Creating a dynamic website is one thing, but I don't think it is the answer. It is the design of the overall webpage and wether it will work for its audience. This was one thing that I learnt from the webmeets in Auckland, great programming behind the scenes doesn't mean anything if it doesn't look good. This is where Wordpress/Drupal/silver stripe cone into play. Why develop what already exists. You are developing your media experience, through how a webpage looks and interacts with the user.

I do wonder if people think that wordpress is just a blogging tool and do not realise the power that it has over developing and maintaining content. I for one have used it for portal pages, so it is easy for people to put up content, inform about house points, develop specific pages on teaching and learning. Looking at the showcase on wordpress gives students a idea on what the power of this platform has available. 

A number of years ago I attended a presentation on silverstripe and saw the development of the platform. One thing I think is people install it and see just a basic page, its not until you start working through the themes that you start seeing what can be done. I would love to find a resource on developing wordpress for high school students. 

Doing some research tonight, I found http://www.wpyogi.com/ which looks to have some good tutorials on it, free to download. It is in a git hub format, which is awesome, simple to download and get working.

Now moving into server environment at school, ready to download and see whats available

I found this thread on developing wordpress in schools, some good ideas http://wordpress.org/support/topic/teaching-wordpress-in-highschool

There is this curriculum pack for wordpress http://highschoolwebdesign.com/introduction-to-wordpress-course/

An interesting discussion on presenting wordpress to students http://tommcfarlin.com/wordpress-in-high-school/

But then is it worth going down the wordpress line, I realise that there are other CMS systems and that they should be explored for there advantages and disadvantages. 

Silverstripe - a New Zealand based CMS http://www.silverstripe.org/

Minecraft for RPi

The folks from Mojang have finished the Minecraft: Pi Edition port, and it’s available for download now. For free.

You can see a post from Mojang about the news on their main blog; they’ve also opened up a Pi Edition blog,where you can find download instructions. I know some of you have already downloaded the beta version that was released in December; if you have, you’ll want to replace it with today’s release, which fixes some bugs and has more features.

Athletics Day

Had a good athletics day today, being the person that I am I seem to be given the IT tasks to be completed. This involves calculating the points and results for the school house competition as well as organising who moves on. Normally this has been done in Microsoft Excel, with its limits on how many can open the document as well as getting information out of it has proved difficult, especially trying to get an up to date house points total.

Bring in Google Sheets, incorporating the existing spreadsheet in was pretty easy, however it turns out that there is over 50 sheets, and I found out that there is a limit on how many cells you can have.

We started development using the schools google docs account, however there seems to be a number of errors uploading, updating and downloading information. So back to a traditional google account, that seemed to work a treat.

We also this year had a live points update happening, as students entered the information that was given to us, the points updated through the use of a IF statement, the points then were updated through a SUM FILTER statement. The result was displayed up on a TV outside where it could be seen, though somewhat difficult with sun and cloud.

The students enjoyed developing the information and getting it in, almost all suggestions where acted upon, including giving a device through to the announer so he could give points update.

The House tutors where happy as they could see what was happening throughout the day.

The only person not happy was the event director, this was due to some of the results not being entered. Though in our defence, the information never reached us. Almost all results that were handed to us were processed with 5-10 minutes. Compared to last year we had so much time on our hands. It was a simple and easy to use solution.

We had a comment made to us, its about the results, not the house points, I agree, why waste time calculating points when results are the most needed. That is why we never touched the points all day. The power of the spreadsheet did all the work for us.

Now thursday, this will be a day of finals and some other events. A easy day we hope?

presenting - informing the community

With the changes around the new Zealand curriculum and the development of the digital technologies strands at ncea level 1, 2 and 3. We have a specific programming and computer science strand. With ncea level 2 and 3 looking at python as a preferred language.
The university of otago and the university of Canterbury have been helping provide resources. With the introduction of an online marking program called pycode as a moodle plugin to help students develop there understanding of python. How can the python community help us?

boarders dinner

Can boarders rate their dinner, how about crowdsourcing a rating. This is a project that I am working on giving a student.

The dinners at the boarding hostel are a six week rotation. With the work that was done by http://neverseconds.blogspot.co.uk/ and her story about school dinners I have been thinking. I have a student who needs a project this year on databases, what would happen if he posted the school dinner up, what it was and got his fellow students to rate it. What else could we find out...

I understand there was an issue about the dinners last year, but it was handled the wrong way. This would be hosted on a server within the school, the student would have to create the software/website all by term 2 to get this working.

Rating and a comment would do... though I am wondering if we record ip address just to stop multiple postings during the dinner

Simple enough? This can be a relational database? Based upon the information from the standard http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/nqfdocs/ncea-resource/achievements/2013/as91633.pdf it looks like it will be ok. There is going to be data updated from at least one table. There is going to have to be an edit based upon the information page if he enters something wrong.

How is he going to get access/information to what dinner is? Do we just do dinner or lunch as well?

Do we lock it down to a password or access time?

How the students feeling that day, their attitude, or do we just keep it simple.

Now I need to find out how to submit a photo...
http://www.htmlgoodies.com/beyond/php/article.php/3877766/Web-Developer-How-To-Upload-Images-Using-PHP.htm

Needs to average out the rating, use a star system, what rating, 1-10 or 1-5
http://coursesweb.net/php-mysql/rating-stars-script-ajax-php_s2

specifications, must work on a ipod touch
must be informative,
must be able to see previous meals, though cannot vote for them.
comments are hidden from view
only able to see the rating

'Major flaw' spurs call for IT course review

'Major flaw' spurs call for IT course review

http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/8192851/Major-flaw-spurs-call-for-IT-course-review

New secondary school computing courses designed to create more highly skilled workers are proving too hard for many students and teachers.

Now worried principals are calling for a review of the curriculum as IT experts predict a "major dilemma" ahead unless the training and recruiting of teachers are improved.

Computer course numbers have dropped since the new curriculum was introduced in 2011, mainly because earlier courses, which focused on basic skills, were considered a "bum class" for students wanting to pick up easy NCEA credits.

The new curriculum, which focuses on computer programming and web design, is much more advanced.

As a result, less able students are dropping out, while brighter ones are not signing up because the subject is still considered an easy option.

Secondary Principals' Association president Patrick Walsh backed the call for a curriculum review, saying the courses are too hard and there needs to be a wider range of standards available.

"One teacher in our school, who I would regard as being quite savvy in ICT, has said some of the standards are equivalent to a level 2 paper at university.

"So that's quite out of step with what we would normally expect year 13 students to have to do."

Waikato University computer science PhD student Michael Walmsley Jr said the idea that studying ICT was a "waste of time" or for "geeks and nerds" needed to change.

Students starting secondary school this year have not lived in a world without the internet. Most have been raised with laptops, smartphones, video games and social media.

And, according to Moore's Law, computer technology will quadruple in power by the time these students finish high school in 2017.

"We accept that it's an evolving area of technology, it's really important for our economy," Mr Walmsley said.

The Institute of IT Professionals New Zealand chief executive, Paul Matthews, was on the expert panel that developed the new curriculum.

He said ICT, which is a $19.3 billion industry in New Zealand, was expanding at a rapid rate and that it was essential schools were equipping students with the skills to fill the growing number of jobs.

"The technology industry as a whole is growing at a great pace and the export side of the industry has got massive potential.

"But the No 1 thing that's holding back industry is the fact that we just simply can't get enough people with the right skills."

A major flaw in the implementation of the new curriculum was the lack of resources provided by the Ministry of Education for training and recruiting capable teachers, he said.

Many schools had been unable to offer the new curriculum at all NCEA levels because of a shortage of staff with the skills to teach it.

"We see a major dilemma approaching in that there's not enough teachers now, a bunch of them are retiring and no effort's really gone in to finding more," he said.

- © Fairfax NZ News

minecraft in education

A school make minecraft compulsory in education 
http://www.gizmag.com/compulsory-minecraft-lessons/25781/

A Swedish school has made headlines, first at home and then abroad, by making super-popular build-em-up video game Minecraft compulsory for students aged 13.

Video games don't have to teach reading, writing or arithmetic to be educational. There's a strong argument that the best examples wear their educational merits lightly. Minecraft, which lets players share a procedurally generated world, and fill it with constructions built lovingly and painstakingly out of a variety of texture mapped cubes, is a stellar example. It inspires thought and creativity without repelling players with rote learning, rigid structure, or the fusty whiff of the classroom.

Minecraft's potential to inspire has been widely recognized, of course; not least by its makers, Mojang. Its commitment to a free edition of the game for the cheap-as-chips Raspberry Pi computer, itself an educational tool with enormous potential, has been rightly lauded.

Now, according to Swedish news sources, the Viktor Rydberg school in Stockholm has put Minecraft on the curriculum for its 13-year-old students. "They learn about city planning, environmental issues, getting things done, and even how to plan for the future," Viktor Rydberg teacher Monica Ekman told English-language The Local. "It's not any different from arts or woodcraft," she added.

It's not as if Minecraft has replaced one of the core subjects on the school's timetable. This is merely something the school's students will do for a while when they're 13. But it sounds like Minecraft lessons might be a long-term fixture. "It’s been a great success and we’ll definitely do it again," Ekman said, while also noting that some parents were initially troubled.

It may be an isolated example, but it's fascinating to see the benefits ofMinecraft, or indeed any commercially successful video game, recognized formally by a school – even one in progressive Scandinavia.

Source: The Local

editors comment: I wonder how this could be used in school, I would love to see a copy of what they have planned and how it works.

servers and content management systems

This has been something i have been looking at for a while,

http://codex.wordpress.org/Site_Design_and_Layout
http://codex.wordpress.org/Designing_Headers

I am now looking at this a lot more now as I have been watching a developer at work today while he has been fixing a mobile website that is using jquery mobile. He is using it to display results for a competition that I am currently at.

I think this would be a welcome addition to the media side of the course.

programming and moodle - coderunner

I am waiting for a new version of the programming compiler for moodle, we started using one last year with mixed results as it was for python 2.7.?, however we were programming in python 3.

There is a coding effort going on during these holidays to bring it up to python 3.

http://github.com/trampgeek

hackeducation

This is something that I would like to see more of, http://hackeducation.com/2012/11/27/top-ed-tech-trends-of-2012-learning-to-code/

This is one blog that I will have to follow more of

course confirmation

One of the things most schools do at the beginning of the year is to confirm the subjects that the students are wishing to take. This normally involves every senior student coming into school and saying yes, or ok, I did not get what I aimed for in my previous year and now need to look at an alternative course.

Why is this such a laboursome task. Schools get the results that same time students do, they see that students have obtained the requirements in the subjects, yet they are called in anyway to sign off there course. 

one thing I have worked on for the past two years is a simple course conformation app, it allows students to go in and say yes they have meet the requirements of the course, the students can make the choice and the school can check it against the information they have. You only have to deal with the students who have timetable issues and missed obtaining the grades required. Saves time and energy and you work with the students you need to.

Things I have notice with the schools that have done this. They have good timetable planning, they work as a team from teachers, deans and admin and work before school finishes to plan students courses. They have confidence in the idea. Be it that one of the schools I worked with last year now has removed course confirmation.

Schools that are starting to think outside the box and use technology.