A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Today we learned how to create an Infographic.   An infographic is a visual representation of information, data or knowledge.  It is designed to present information quickly and clearly.  Anybody who looks at Twitter or Facebook is accustomed to seeing infograpghics in their feed. I usually see them in the context of college football teams trying to promote themselves or a player on their team.
Here is one from Boston College on the right




Infograpghics also can and should be used in an academic setting.  Here is an infographic I made of a scholarly article written by Dr Pierce.  I created the infographic using Canva.  Canva is a "freemium" model platform that allows you to make infographics among other items such as brochures or flyers. Although I am not sure that an infographic can or should replace a scholarly article, it does allow the student to get a quick peek at the "highlights" of the article. Perhaps encouraging the student to read further.  If not, at least he was able to garner some information from something he might have never read before.

On a side note, I plan to use infographics in a couple of classes.  I am doing a Business Law unit on different types of crimes and it might be fun to create an infographic on different types of crimes.

I also teach a Desktop Multimedia class so they also will be getting a dose of Canva too

Numbers 1.6 Online T-Test Calculator

Today we learned how to use an online test calculator to analyze student data.  We were given 4th grade reading results from all 50 states.  We compared Hispanic reading levels to African-American reading levels in 2013.  According to the statistics, the mean score for Hispanic 4th graders was 208.97 while the mean score for African-American 4th graders was 204.67.  I put all the Hispanic scores in group 1 and all the African-American scores in group 2.  Using the online T-Test calculator, I was able to formulate the mean, standard deviation, and standard error for both groups.  More importantly, I was able to obtain a P value of .00184 which showed that our numbers correlate. The online calculator was much easier to use than Excel or Google sheets.  However, I am glad that we learned how to use them as no we know what is happening "behind the scenes"

This project is most closely related to ISTE-2  design and develop digital learning experiences and assessments.  We learned how to assess data which could lead us to best classroom practices.

Numbers 1.5 Dependent and Independent Variables

Today we learned about dependent and independent variables. We were given a scenario where students first took a pre-survey and then sat through an information session about the Ebola Virus and then took a post-survey.  From the face of it, it would seem that students should be able to better perform on the post-survey than the pre-survey. Well, let's take a look at some statistics.  First we need to identify the variables.  An independent variable is the factor that causes change.  In this case, the independent variable was the intervention or the lesson the students were given.  The dependent variable is the item that changes.  In this case, it would be the test scores of the students

Click to see the data set and equations used to formulate the TTest

Looking at our statistics, you can see that the TTest scores (in yellow) are very high.  This would signal that there was not a significant difference between test scores. Over 100 surveys were given which is enough for a valid test.  In fact, looking at the averages for each test question, you could see that in some cases the scores actually decreased.  A teacher looking at these scores would have to reflect on how this material was presented to the class. 

This project is most closely related to ISTE-2  design and develop digital learning experiences and assessments.  We learned how to assess data which could lead us to best classroom practices.

Making Animated GIF Files

Instead of making my Prezi presentation for class, I have decided to teach myself how to make animated GIF files.  Generally speaking, an animated GIF is a graphic image on a web page that moves.  Usually when we see them on the web, they are very funny.  As a teacher, I like to use them as part of an anticipatory set.  GIF files are generally 2-5 seconds long but can be as long as you want. (provided you have the right software).  Lets get one thing out of the way , as stupid as it sounds, the man who created them says it is pronounced as JIF

There are many free sites to create GIF's. I used www.makeagif.com.  This site allows you to create GIF's from images, webcams, YouTube videos, or your own video files.  Of course, they have upgrades available for a price.  Here are some cool GIF's that other teachers have used..Feel free to steal





Here is an animated GIF that I made using MakeaGif.com that I will use on my Business Law blog when we introduce court trials

YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH

Of course as anyone who reads this blog, I would want to use it for football.  I was a little disappointed in the quality of the video. Also I would want to know if there is a mechanism to slow down the graphic.  That will be an assignment for GIF's 2.0

The project is most closely matches ISTE- 1 Facilitate  and inspire student learning and creativity