Welcome to Mr. Wong's Info Computer Tech 8 Class!

Click for Course Outline 2018-19 and Intro.  We are working on iMacs.  Watch this video to get started with iMacs or you can follow this PDF.

 

For Word and PowerPoint assignments, you need to reduce your file size.  Under "File" select "Reduce File Size/Compress Pictures", use 96 ppi then "Save".

Some older videos ask you to save to your "Homefolder", please ignore this because it could cause your program to crash.  You always need to save to "Documents", then copy your file to your "Homefolder".

Here is a link to get your Managebac account.  Here's a video on the setup.  If you are having difficulties uploading your TextEdit file, it is likely that you have converted it to an RTFD file.  Here is a video on how to convert it back to an RTF file.

Here is a link on how to install Office 365 on your home computer.

MYP students are supposed to do 10 hours of volunteer work every year.  You can record your volunteer work on Managebac (here is the video).  If you need suggestions for where to volunteer, you can go to this website.  Please check the age requirements because not all of them are for grade 8's and not all volunteer work is in North Van.

Word

Word Assignment 1 - Short Story - Can technology improve meaning to our words?  Click here to download the description.  Your short story should be about 300 (minimum 150) words long.  If you are having difficulty with writing, you can ask me to do only the second part of the assignment; you will start with this document.  Now that you have a wonderful story, it's time to jazz it up with colours and fonts.  Change the font type, font size, colours. We will vary the margins on one paragraph to simulate making a longer quote for research essays.  Make sure you use a lot of adjectives and adverbs because they are good choices for making font changes.  Here is the good exemplar.  Here is a copy of the rubric and the Word version for teachers to modify.  This is a formative assignment and will check to see if you have learned the taught skills.

Here are the short video lessons on the rubric points:

Then submit your dressed up story on Managebac!  Make sure that you give this assignment a meaningful name and that it is different than Word Assignment 1!

Word Assignment 2 - Travel Journal - Do other cultures have similarities or differences from that of Canadians?  Being part of IB, we need to think about more than our immediate community.  This assignment is to write 600 (minimum 300) words and include at least 6 images about a place in the world that you have travelled to or wish to travel to; the main goal is to compare the culture with Canadian culture.  You can write about why you like the place, what you have done there, what you like to eat, what the people are like, what the culture is like such as sports, movies, television, music, theatre, and arts; what the geography is like, and what the climate is like; I am less interested in plain facts.  Images that you should include are maps and flags; other images are at your discretion.  If you have not travelled anywhere, then you can write about any culture in Canada (talk about what most people might know and what people might not know about the culture) - you still need to include 6 images.  Here is the good exemplar; in Word format.  Here is a copy of the rubric and the Word version for teachers to modify.  You will be assessed on Criteria C and D.  If you are unable to write a journal you may use this document to format, but you must ask for permission; the maximum mark is a level 5.

Here are the short video lessons on the rubric points:

Submit your essay on ManageBac when you are done!  Also, submit a TextEdit file in RTF format with links to your images and any sources for copying; here is an exemplar; watch the "saving source links" video if you don't remember how to do this.  Make sure that you give this assignment a meaningful name.

PowerPoint

PowerPoint Assignment 1 - Diversity PSA - Laws do not always address the needs of the minority.  Explore what messages can be said to promote diversity that law may or may not encompass.  Create a "Public Service Announcement" (PSA) about diversity.  Make a minimum of 7 slides and have the slides auto-run in a loop.  At least one slide should be a visual metaphor.  There are many diversity themes, but see me if you have troubles understanding.  Here is a partial exemplar for this assignment.  Here is a copy of the rubric and the Word version for teachers to modifyThis is a formative assignment and will check to see if you have learned the taught skills.

Recently, I have had more students picking themes with dark backgrounds.  It's not usually a problem when presenting with a projector, however, it can cause problems for people viewing on a monitor.  Here's a website with a technical explanation.  Here's a website talking about it for websites.

Here are the short videos that address the rubric:

Submit your PowerPoint on ManageBac when you are done!  Make sure that you give this assignment a meaningful name.

PowerPoint Assignment 2 - Teach Me How to Do Something - In societies, we teach each other things so that we can grow and have more meaningful interactions.  "Teach Me Something I Don't Know".  Create a slideshow to teach the class how to do something that requires at least 8 steps (do a skateboard trick, score a goal in hockey, create a favourite dish, create an elaborate hair style...)  Make sure you get images from different sources (websites).  Make sure you paraphrase and add personal details to each step - it should not be basic information from websites and books.  For instance, talk about overcoming difficult steps, substitute with different ingredients or materials, where common mistakes occur, etc. You can use appropriate animations and transitions but make sure they are fast and that there aren't too many animations on a slide.  There should only be one mouse click per slide.  Practice the presentation, because you will be doing a class presentation.  Here is a copy of the rubric and the Word version for teachers to modify.  You will be assessed on Criteria B and C.

Here is the short video that addresses the rubric:

Here are some tips for giving a great presentation:

  • rehearse, rehearse, and REHEARSE!
  • be relaxed and don't talk too quickly.
  • try to make eye contact with everyone in the audience.
  • speak confidently.
  • use humour only if it is part of your personality.
  • keep the bullet points short (memorize the rest or use presenter view)

Submit your PowerPoint on ManageBac when you are done!  Make sure that you give this assignment a meaningful name.

PhotoShop

Make sure you save the PhotoShop document with the ".psd" extension.  You need to upload the PhotoShop file and a ".jpg".  No upscaling is permitted, only downscaling is allowed.  PhotoShop is rather expensive.  If you need to work at home, you can try downloading a 7 day evaluation copy.  If you need it for longer, try an online version that has most of the functionality:  Photopea.

PhotoShop Assignment 1 - Wacky Faces - Express diversity by blending 2 faces together.  Replace the face in one photo with a face from another photo.  You must use masks to complete this assignment; set opacity on the background to 50% so that you can line up the faces; add a "layer mask" to "reveal all"; then paint the face area black to let the other face show through.  Make sure that you put the opacity back to 100% at the end because this is a test of blending not using the opacity setting!  Challenge yourself by choosing faces that don't line up perfectly and have different skin tones.  The other goal of this assignment is to match skins tones by using brightness, contrast and hue adjustments.  Do not flatten the image or apply layer mask.  Here is a copy of the rubric and the Word version for teachers to modify.  This is a formative assignment and will check to see if you have learned the taught skills.

Here are the skills that you will need:

Submit your PhotoShop image on ManageBac when you are done!  Make sure that you give this assignment a meaningful name.

Student Work

Work by Maddy Work by Francesco Work by Katie Work by Abi Work by Zoey 

PhotoShop Assignment 2 - Diversity Poster - You've used diversity images in your PowerPoint presentation. Now it's time to create your own diversity image using metaphors. Use several different image sources for duplication (at least 6) and use the rubric to include features to enhance your creation; you may want to do a collage to hit all the rubric points.  You should include a high-resolution background image and a text message that promotes accepting diversity.  This assignment is to show that you can duplicate, scale, and rotate objects so make sure you do some scaling and rotation.  Before working on your project, you need to do some research and make a hand-drawn design.  Show me your design and I will initial it then you can start working on it.  Here is a copy of the rubric and the Word version for teachers to modify.  You will be assessed on Criteria A and D.

Here are some ideas to inspire you:

 

Here are the skills that you will need:

Submit your Photoshop image on ManageBac when you are done!  Make sure that you give this assignment a meaningful name.

Coding

Code.org is a good start to understanding what computer programming is.  The only problem is the website is constantly changing.  It's best to sign in with your Google, Facebook, or Microsoft account - that way you don't need a new log-in.  Here are the links to the assignments that you should be trying:  Code.org exercises

Call me over when you complete one of the assignments.  Note that block programming is an introduction - it hides the complexity of programming in languages so you are limited with what you can do with blocks.

Bonus Work

GarageBand - This lesson will show you how to make a ditty (short song) using loops and software instruments.  Here is a link to the musical staff if you are unfamiliar with reading music.  I don't know too much about music theory, but you can construct a sequence of notes using chords - hopefully, music teachers and musicians won't cringe too much.  Try to vary the rhythm so that they aren't all quarter notes.  If you're feeling confident, you can try to do chord progressions:  Autochords, Common Chord Progressions, and Wikipedia.

Here is the video for the project.  Rubric:  create a song with at least 4 bars and 1 Apple loop for bonus marks.

 

 

Additional information