eInstruction entry?

I do believe our school might be able to win this contest, however the Staples contest would still be our best chance. We could make a parody video of a popular song that would be entertaining, yet envisions the use of technology in the classroom. I am sure some students taking comm-tech wouldn't mind helping in order to win prizes worth $75,000. Also, judging from the videos already uploaded for the contest on http://2010classroommakeover.shycast.com/, we have a good chance in winning this as the other videos aren't really funny or entertaining.
Parody of a rap song would be nice.

Future Shop Contest

Although I believe there is no harm in applying for this contest, I do believe we do not have a great chance of winning. This is because Future Shop is looking for schools which are in-need or show potential to do better if more resources were available. Our school is well-off, has enough computers and even though they are slow, they still manage to get the work done. We could try and explain how we could technically improve as a school with a new computer lab, however, I believe our school is quite respected academically either way.

Staples Contest

I believe our school would have a very high chance in winning this contest. On our 500 word essay, we can make many valid points to how our school is very environmentally friendly. The SWITCH club at our school- which uses solar energy to generate power for our school- can be our ticket in winning this competition. With SWITCH being a major point, we could also include our gardening club as well as many other "preserving environment" contests that Mackenzie students take part in.

Project Two!

1) Netbook Cart Team                                -2

2) In Depth Software Development           -1 (HIGH PRIORITY)

3) Web 2.0 Tools                                        -3 (LOW PRIORITY)

1. Why did you rank the projects in the order that you did?

I believe that downloading the right software should be our first priority. We need to get the right software for the right classes before we can send them out to use. After the right software is installed, we need to set up the network cart team. This will get our netbooks out to the classroom. In my opinion, downloading the Web 2.0 Tools should be our last priority. I don't think that the Web 2.0 Tools would be benefitial to the education of the children. Although it might make a slight difference and help some students, it would still be preferred to do everything the old-school way.

  2. How would your first project selection best make use of your personal skills and abilities?

I am very good and comfortable with software and troubleshooting. I believe my logical and analytical skills would make it a perfect time for me to shine. I would be able to research new software that would help the students, as well as install them on the notebooks and teach others how to use them.

3. Is there any project you really don’t think you are suited for? Why?

I don't think I am suited for the Web 2.0 Tools. This is because I am not creative at all and although I am not terrible with working with the web, I don't prefer it. I also am not in complete agreement with the Web 2.0 Tools even being installed.

Old Things in New Ways

I believe if we continued to do old things in new ways, it would be beneficial to both the education system as well as the students themselves. Doing old things in new ways would keep the same education material the same but will help some students learn more. Old things in new ways would have the students looking at different articles, and then debating or comparing them. It would also allow students to use widgest on the netbooks and use other applications to help them learn. It would also make it convenient to buy books online and do everything that they did before physically, now on netbooks.

The course so far!

The IDC ICT course has been amazing so far. I have really enjoyed working on netbooks with my classmates and participating in class discussions. I do feel that the course could be improved a little bit by offering some kind of challenge. So far it has been just simple tasks that we had to follow.

Rating myself!

Completion of task(s) and/or presentation of research. (did you finish your assigned tasks)
- Out of a scale of 1 to 4, I would rate myself 4 in this category. I believe I managed to finish everything I was assigned efficiently. I installed Windows 7 on three different netbooks, removed the irrelevant software, and installed all the appropriate and required software. I also created a Student account and put a password on the Administrator account in order to enforce restriction levels.

Cooperative participation in group (did you participate well with the group, share resources, etc.).
-Out of a scale of 1 to 4, I would rate myself 4 in this category. Although installing the netbooks was not performed in teams, I believe I worked well and efficiently in coordinance with the people around me. I shared ideas, helped others with their problems and also managed to give some input on what software to install.

Creative and critical thinking (did you offer ideas, make suggestions, improve on your group’s final product)
-Out of a scale of 1 to 4, I would rate myself 1 in this category. I believe I just worked on what I was supposed to do. I didn't really make suggestions to how to improve the final product. I did propose to install Malware Antibytes, however that did not really go through. I believe if I was given another chance, I would try to offer more ideas and give more suggestions.

Initiative (did you take responsibility for tasks, use your class time effectively)
-Out of a scale of 1 to 4, I would rate myself 4 in this category. I'd like to think that I did everything that I had to do. I managed to finish 3 netbooks in the time period we were given, hence was efficient. I also took responsibilty for my tasks as I made sure I reset the password of the netbook once I had forgot it.