Hello world, here's a citation¹.

iMovie - Filming Locations

Please make sure you tell me where you're going to be filming in class. You must do this before any filming is done.

Use this document.

Case Study - Final Task

Okay, this will be the final task related to the Case Study. We'll work on it all week.

Here's the task.

Before we can answer all of the questions, we should be aware of how some real-life taxi companies are dealing with the issues that arise in the Case Study. DUring the exam, you'll be asked to include information that is your own personal experience (primary research) as well as things that you have studied (secondary research). You'll need to list off each of the challenges that Red Dragon faces right now (just like the 'inadequacies of the current situation' in your Project). Come up with solutions and justify why they are the right thing to do.

Then, you'll create a Gantt Chart to show the order and timeline of these implementations.

Finally, evaluate your solutions and outline any potential problems that could arise as the company is changing.

Look at this website for lots of Secondary Research.

Check out this Australian taxi website for some ideas.

Look at this London website that compares different taxi companies. How could something like this benefit Red Dragon?

 

Korean Culture

TOK Presentations

Today, you will be discussing your ethics topics in your groups and attempting to come up with Knowledge Issues. I would like everyone to be working on this document.

We will also take a look at how you'll be assessed for each presentation.

Criteria

Also, look at page 49-50, 57-60 in the TOK Guide.

TOK Dropping Knowledge

http://www.droppingknowledge.org/bin/forums/list.page

Click on the link to be taken to the forums of Dropping Knowledge. This is a great resource for coming up with thought-provoking questions and prompting good discussions.

We will be setting up a schedule in which each of you will be responsible for coming to class with a question that you present. Your job will be to lead the class in a discussion as you explore whatever issues are raised.

 

As we review our Knowledge Issues, please go to this folder and find the document with your name on it (you can edit now!). Paste your KI Table into that document and discuss all of the KIs with your groups. Then we'll discuss the summaries with the entire class.

 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lp60dhMjce5pzgusqDZg3kDNG4ghh5knUO0VCq6VSOs/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1V68UDAkZvQxpXMJisWZBvH64crsdvpaKLXEImA8E0Hk/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1L6GlGm4sVQkws5UCHQ21vTr0Qb-WY3dMq0IH_H1ezbQ/edit?usp=sharing

ITGS Case Study Topics

Behavioural marketing

Business intelligence software

CCTV

Cost benefit analysis

Cost estimation

Customer management software

Data logging

GPRS

GPS

Route planning software / route optimization

Smartphone apps

Smartphone

SMS

Software as a service (SaaS)

ITGS Case Study Mapping

http://www.itgstextbook.com/case-study-2013-red-dragon/Red-Dragon-mapping-task.doc

Complete the activity above and post the completed map to your blog. When you're finished, copy the URL of the post and put it as a comment here.

Map of BSD City

 

Also, check out the Bluebird App for iPhone.

ITGS Case Study Questions

You'll answer the following questions as a comment to this post. Start by just answering them on a separate Word document and then be prepared to paste them in before Monday's class.

1.	Identify three reasons Yao Chu's son may not have completed the task of producing a database to help his father's business (line 28). (This links to the second Higher Level topic, IT Systems in Organisations)	[3 marks]
2.	State three occurences that might cause customers be dissatisfied with the system. (Line 30)	[3 marks]
3.	Explain what is meant by an "integrated IT system" (Line 34)	[4 marks]
4.	Red Dragon want to "identify regular customers". Briefly explain, using technical language, how an IT system might do this. (Line 31)	[4 marks]
5.	Define the term "overbookings" in the context of Line 47.	[2 marks]
6.	Line 58 says "This can be done using taxi location equipment based on GPS and other information sent back to the office using communications and monitoring systems".  Describe two other items of information, apart from the GPS information, that might be sent back to the office.	[4 marks]
7.	Explain the difference between "dispatching" a taxi (line 55) and "optimising a journey" (line 62).	[4 marks]
8.	Identify three variables that might play a role in journey optimisation.	[3 marks]
9.	"As the city is growing, an increasing challenge will be the ability to locate new and changing pickup points and destinations." (Line 67)  (a)   Explain why might this be a challenge for the system Red Dragon decides to implement. (b)  Identify the ITGS social/ethical issue to which this relates.	[4 marks]   [1 mark]
10.	Line 73 says the company may use "vehicle tracking and data logging equipment".  Identify four items of data that might be logged about a taxi in this case study.	[4 marks]
11.	Line 83 days Red Dragon need to "prioritize the implementation of the features."  State the ITGS command term that "Prioritize" closely resembles.	[1 mark]
12.	Explain what is meant by setting up the system "in-house". (Line 92)	[4 marks]
13.	Define the term blacklist in this context. (Line 100)	[2 marks]
14.	Define the term "dedicated system" in this context (Line 112)	[2 marks]
15.	Explain the difference between the GPS system mentioned on line 71 and the GPS system mentioned on line 119.	[4 marks]

ITGS Case Study SMS

http://www.howstuffworks.com/e-mail-messaging/sms.htm

Same plan as yesterday. Post a 4- or 5-step summary of how SMS works (and what does it stand for??)

ITGS Case Study Practice - Meters

http://www.howstuffworks.com/taxi-meter.htm

Read the above link and post a 5-step summary of how you end up paying a taxi driver (in other words, from the moment you get in the car to the moment you pay).

***BONUS***
If you take a taxi in the next few days, try to figure out how much we are charged for distance and time (also note the taxi company if it's not Bluebird (not recommended!).

 

And here’s the Case Study itself: Go through it and list any words that you think you’ll need to define. Write them as a comment to this post.

Dragon City has approximately 200,000 people in East Asia. One main taxi company is called Red Dragon Taxi Company. The owner’s name is Yao Chu who’s grandfather started the taxi company. The family run company has grown over the years and is now the leading taxi company in the city. There’s only ten people working in the company. They manage the increasing number of po taxi drivers.

The demand for taxis in Dragon City is rising and the Red Dragon taxi company is expanding because of the increased economic growth in the area. The owner believe that an increased use of IT will make easier the expansion of po Red Dragon Taxi Company.

Current IT System
The company currently controls about 150 taxis from a small office in the center of the po city. The company has a set of networked computers in the office as well as landlines and mobile phone communications. Customers who ring for a taxi have their request answered by one of the controllers in the office. Then a taxi driver is contacted on their mobile phone from a list of free taxis. The driver calls in to be recorded as booked. This has caused many problems.

Taxi requests are recorded in a shared spreadsheet on the office network with one worksheets for each driver. It is po and cumbersome to use.

Drivers return at the end of the day to reconcile the jobs and money taken and it is entered into the spreadsheet.
Keeping track of expenses is becoming an issue.

Processing the data in the spreadsheet to analyze taxi performance has been an issue. Yao Chu’s po son has been experimenting with a prototype database application to import the data on the spreadsheet and produce weekly taxi/driver performance reports and more accurate wage slips. Task has not been completed.

Increased business is causing problems with the current system not being able to handle the load. It is bringing dissatisfaction to the customers with longer response times.
The problems are creating difficulties for administration and threaten to undermine the expansion of the company, jeopardizing their market position.

iMovie Project

Alright, my young Spielbergs! The time has come for you to take the Director's chair and create a fully-functioning cinematic masterpiece using iMovie!

Length: 6 weeks (18 hours of class time)

Objectives:

- create a 10-15 minute video using iMovie and Garageband
- create a properly formatted script and storyboard

Some possible ideas for your movies:

- a sitcom (maybe with commercials)
- a documentary
- a horror movie
- a summary of a movie/book/TV show/comic book/videogame
- news reports
- an infomercial (extended commercial for one product)
- an instructional video ("How to...")

Some requirements (all documents will go in your Project Folder on Google Drive):

- formatted script
- Storyboards (at least 12 scenes)
- promotional materials (posters, etc)
- a trailer for your movie
- original audio (dialogue, music, sound effects)
- titles and transitions
- subtitles (not necessarily for the whole movie)
- different camera angles/techniques
- Green Screens

Example script (from The Godfather):



 

iMovie Preproduction

Today, we begin a new unit where we'll be using iMovie to create films that we'll share with the rest of the school. You're all pretty familiar with using the software, but perhaps you haven't thought quite so much about what actually goes into making a movie.

1. What sort of planning needs to happen before filming (pre-production)?


2. What do we need to remember while we're filming (production)?


3. What happens afterwards (post-production)?

Form groups of 3-5 people:

• each gender must be represented


• 3-5 people


• different partners from your presentations


• signup on this sheet


• create a Google Doc and share it with me and the whole group and me (filename: IT 9.1 - Movie Ideas - Group Member Names)


• in today's class, you will begin to brainstorm possible ideas for movie genres, plots, and concepts


• by Thursday, you will 'pitch' your idea to me to see if I approve (think of it like Hollywood writers trying to get their movie or TV show produced)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFuLi8D-qGk&feature=related

ITGS Project Mark Band (2012)

ITGS Case Study

Here are links that we'll be using for the rest of the year:

http://itgsopedia.wikispaces.com/Case+Study+2013+-+Paper+3

http://www.itgstextbook.com/case-study-2013-red-dragon.html

http://itgsonline.wetpaint.com/page/Case+Study+-+Red+Dragon+Taxi+Company+%28May+2013%29

 

And here's the Case Study itself: Go through it and list any words that you think you'll need to define. Write them as a comment to this post.

Dragon City has approximately 200,000 people in East Asia. One main taxi company is called Red Dragon Taxi Company. The owner's name is Yao Chu who's grandfather started the taxi company. The family run company has grown over the years and is now the leading taxi company in the city. There's only ten people working in the company. They manage the increasing number of po taxi drivers.

The demand for taxis in Dragon City is rising and the Red Dragon taxi company is expanding because of the increased economic growth in the area. The owner believe that an increased use of IT will make easier the expansion of po Red Dragon Taxi Company.

Current IT System
The company currently controls about 150 taxis from a small office in the center of the po city. The company has a set of networked computers in the office as well as landlines and mobile phone communications. Customers who ring for a taxi have their request answered by one of the controllers in the office. Then a taxi driver is contacted on their mobile phone from a list of free taxis. The driver calls in to be recorded as booked. This has caused many problems.

Taxi requests are recorded in a shared spreadsheet on the office network with one worksheets for each driver. It is po and cumbersome to use.

Drivers return at the end of the day to reconcile the jobs and money taken and it is entered into the spreadsheet.
Keeping track of expenses is becoming an issue.

Processing the data in the spreadsheet to analyze taxi performance has been an issue. Yao Chu's po son has been experimenting with a prototype database application to import the data on the spreadsheet and produce weekly taxi/driver performance reports and more accurate wage slips. Task has not been completed.

Increased business is causing problems with the current system not being able to handle the load. It is bringing dissatisfaction to the customers with longer response times.
The problems are creating difficulties for administration and threaten to undermine the expansion of the company, jeopardizing their market position.

 

 

ITGS Article

http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/crowdsourcing-icelands-constitution/

Answer Criterion A-D as if it were Paper 2. Please respond as a COMMENT to this post.

Cyberbu//y Questions

Please answer these as a COMMENT to this post:

1. During the first scene, Taylor’s mother says “What you do online isn’t exactly private.” What do you think she meant by that? How true do you think that statement is? Explain your answer.

2. Lindsay leaves a mean comment (Lardo and Dogface) on a picture. There is a chat room where people from the school talk trash. Why do you think it’s easier to say things through internet conversation rather than face-to-face conversation?

3. How do bullies get punished? Do you think cyberbullies should be punished like regular bullies? Why can’t cyberbullies be punished like regular bullies?

4.  Lindsay’s dad defended her cyberbullying by saying it was Lindsay’s right of freedom of speech. Do you think he handled the situation correctly? Why or why not?

5.  Why do you think Samantha finally admitted to Taylor that she was “James”?

6. The counselor says that bullying back “adds fuel to the fire”. What do you think that means? Do you agree or disagree? Explain your answer.

7. Do you think schools should get more involved in helping to prevent cyberbullying? What has your SWA done about this issue? What else SHOULD we do?

Cybercrime

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10235083-83.html

ITGS Article

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=not-tonight-dear-i-have-to-reboot

Respond as a comment.

ITGS Project Screencasts

We'll need to create screencasts that show your completed projects at work. Check this link for more info:

http://www.itgsnews.com/2013/01/creating-the-itgs-project-screencast.html

Here's an example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Q_f-uTZgo

ITGS Article

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread860156/pg1

Okay, we're going to change the format here. Since it's difficult to rely on other blogs to approve your comments, I want you to do your Exam Preparation here on my blog. Post all of your responses as comments and I will read and approve them as they come in.

Cookies (not the delicious kind)

Article of the Day

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57570968-93/firefox-patch-to-block-third-party-advertising-cookies/

What are Cookies?

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/13897472/how-do-third-party-tracking-cookies-work

Nadia's Post

http://blogs.swa-jkt.com/swa/11153/2013/02/27/firefox-patch-to-block-third-party-advertising-cookies/

Infographics

As an alternative to making a paper poster, you can experiment with some of these methods for creating Infographics:

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-of-the-best-tools-for-creating-infographics/

Make sure you can screen shot it or save it so you can submit it to me.

ITGS Mark Band Paper 2

These are the grade boundaries from last year - they will definitely change this year.

1: 0-2

2: 3-4

3: 5-8

4: 9-11

5: 12-15

6: 16-18

7: 19-26

Check out this site for some help with studying for the exams.

http://tw.aisj-jhb.com/dross/dpitgs/unit-x/

Fundamentals Presentations

With a partner or alone, you will come up with a presentation based on one of the following topics:

- Hardware
- Viruses
- Piracy
- Hacking
- Online safety

Sign up with your group HERE. (you can see examples from last semester as well)

You will need to make a presentation that is 10 minutes if you're working alone and  15-20 minutes if working with a partner.  You must also have some sort of activity that the rest of the class will participate in. They could answer questions on their own blogs, or they can comment on a post you've made on your own blog.

- both members of the group must be a part of the presentation
- you must have visuals to show on the projector
- include resources of different types (presentations, videos, websites, games, etc)
- you will also be responsible to make a poster based on your chosen topic

Format must be in EITHER Prezi or Google Presentation (no Keynote or PowerPoint for this one!).

 

Creating Tech Questions

Today, your task will be to become IT Teachers!

You job will be to find an article that is related to the topics we've discussed so far:

- Hardware
- Software
- Hacking
- Viruses
- Online Safety

After you've got your article, you need to create a list of 5-8 questions that relate to the article. Post these on your blog and then email the link to THREE other students in our class. Your grade will be affected by the quality of the questions you ask and the answers your classmates give!

(In other words, don't just ask questions that can be answered with one word -- try to ask questions that will get your 'students' to talk about how their own life relates to what the article is about. See my last post for examples.)

Hacking, the Government, and YOU!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] (taken from http://o14.metroflog.com/pictures/563/50/5/972550563_WEXIJTWNBTMRNPT.jpg)[/caption]

Stuxnet

Take a look at the terrifying article and video above and answer the following as a comment to this post:

1. How safe is information on the internet? What can we do to protect ourselves?


2. Read this article for a History of Hackers.


3. What do you think hackers want? How has it changed throughout the years?


4. Should the government be allowed to 'hack' in order to keep people safe?


5. Have you had any experiences with your data or passwords being compromised online? Describe any stories you have.


6. Can you predict what hacking will be like in the future? Will it still only target computers and laptops? What other targets could there be?


7. Do some research on a 'Hacktivist' group called ANONYMOUS. What are their goals? How do they accomplish them? What are some (in)famous things they have caused?

 

Finally, find another article related to hacking or internet safety and post the link on your blog. Find a partner to read your article and summarize it as a comment on your post.

ITGS Study Website

http://tw.aisj-jhb.com/dross/dpitgs/unit-x/

Computers and Copyright

(image taken from: http://harisbahalwan.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/hacking-21.jpg)

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/ict/legal/1dataandcomputermisuserev1.shtml

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/ict/legal/2copyrightrev1.shtml

 

Read through both of the links, take the quizzes, and create a blog post answering the following questions:

1) If a hacker simply gains access to a computer system without trying to cause any damage, should they still be considered a criminal?

2) How strict should copyright laws be? Do you feel stealing a movie or a song is enough of a crime to go to jail? What sort of crime are 'worse'?

3) Have you ever experienced anything like being hacked? What sort of things can we do to protect ourselves?

Ethics

1) You are speeding down the road homeward. You are in panic because you just heard on the radio that earthquake experts have detected an earthquake in the sea a few minutes ago. There’s a 99% chance that there will be a medium sized tsunami as a result. You are now about 5km away from the beach. Here, the tsunami will probably not strike so badly, but you are still in danger of drowning (even though you're a pretty good swimmer). When you pass a bus stop, you see three people waiting for the bus, not aware of the upcoming tsunami:

1. A pregnant woman, who cannot swim well in her condition.
2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend, whom you love very much. He/she swims very well.
3. The person who once saved your life, who cannot swim at all.

There is only one extra seat in your car, what do you do?

 

2) A husband and his wife lived in a beautiful mansion on an island surrounded by a river outside of New York City. One day the husband had to go out to the city to attend to some business. Before leaving, he told his wife "Do not leave the mansion today or you will be severely punished."

As the husband went off to his days work, the wife changed clothes and prepared for a little journey of her own. The wife had a lover not far from the mansion. Despite the husband's warning, she could not resist such a perfect opportunity to spend the day with him.

So the wife went and laid with her lover during the afternoon and then returned to the mansion. When she reached the bridge to the mansion, she found a most unpleasant surprise. A madman was dancing around on the bridge waiving a sharp, very large knife and on seeing the wife proclaimed in a loud voice, "Do NOT cross this bridge woman, for my God has instructed me to stab and kill all of those who try." And the madman continued to dance back and forth with the vigilant eyes of a hound dog before a storm. There was little doubt that this man's insanity would lead him to follow through on his threat.

The wife now began to worry that she would not find a way back into the mansion before the husband arrived home. Off in the distance she spotted a ferryman. The wife ran over to the man and explained to him there was a madman on the bridge and that she needed passage into the mansion. The ferryman said that he would give her passage across the river for twenty dollars. The wife did not have twenty dollars and explained to the ferryman that if she did not get back into the mansion that she would be severely punished. The ferryman said, "I'm sorry madam, but I have a business to run here. The price for passage is twenty dollars."

Realizing that she was getting nowhere with the ferryman, the wife ran back to her lover's home. She explained the situation of the madman, her husband's approaching return, and the need for twenty dollars to gain passage from the ferryman. After hearing this tale of woe, the lover looked sympathetically at the Wife and simply said, "I'm sorry dear, but I cannot help you."

Flustered more now than before, the Wife ran straight to her best friend's home and told her in tears her tale. She told her friend the entire story of how she had gone to see her lover, how he wouldn't help her, about the madman, the her husband's warning, and the ferryman's requirement of twenty dollars that could get the Wife out of this mess. The friend listened quietly throughout the whole tale and afterwards cleared her throat saying, "I told you to stop messing around with that lover of yours. You have no one to blame for the situation that you are in but yourself. I will not help you."

The wife was now shocked and dismayed. She had no one else to turn to, and did not want to be severely punished for disobeying her husband. Not knowing what else to do, the Wife went back to the bridge. The madman looked as attentive and crazy as before, waiving his dagger with glee. He was still shouting warnings to others near the bridge not to try and cross. In desperation, the Wife ran across the bridge. The madman let out a wild scream on seeing this, chased the Wife down, and stabbed her to death.

(adapted from http://www.americasdebate.com/forums/simple/index.php/t10998.html)

Put in order from 1-6 who you believe is responsible for the wife' death

(1 being most responsible, 6 least):
the husband
the wife
the lover
the madman
the ferryman
the friend

Be ready to explain your decision.

After that, your table will have to come to an agreement on the order. Finally, we'll try to come to a class agreement.

Hardware Pop Quiz!

You must be logged into your jwaonline account to access the quiz.

ITGS - Exam Prep

Here are the questions you can expect on paper 2. They will be based on an article you haven't seen yet.
1. 4 Marks
a. Describe one social/ethical concern related to the IT system in the article.
b. Describe the relationship of one primary stakeholder to the IT system in the article.

2. 6 Marks
a. Describe, step-by-step, how the IT system works.
b. Explain the relationship between the IT system and the social/ethical concern described in Criterion A.

3. 8 Marks
Evaluate the impact of the social/ethical issues on the relevant stakeholders.

4. 8 Marks
Evaluate at least one possible solution that addresses at least one problem identified in Criterion C. 

Hardware Overview

Hey Grade 9s, take a look at the following links to remind yourself of what sort of hardware is inside your computer:

What's most important?

What's inside?



When you're done, answer the following question on your blog:

PART ONE

Make an analogy about computers. An analogy is a way to compare two very different things and show how they are actually similar in certain ways.

Here's an example: Your blood vessels and veins are like the highways of a country. Blood cells are the cars and the heart is the airport.

Think of examples for a computer. For this part, DO NOT use the human body (you'll do that in part two. Post your analogies as a comment below.

This link will help.

What's the CPU?

What's the RAM?

What's the Power Supply?

What's the difference between the different kinds of 'memory'?

PART TWO

Label the following diagram as if the human body is a computer. (You can find your own diagram if you like).



It won't be perfect, but see how many you can fill in.

Brains vs Computers

Computer vs Brain

Who wins??!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlUK69Wsk6g

Future of Robots

Do you think that Computers will ever 'Catch Up' to the human brain? Do you think they are better than us in some ways already? What do you think the dangers are if computers continue to develop? (Think about movies like I, Robot or Terminator or AI).

Post responses on your blogs. This could be in the form of a paragraph, or a short story that shows what it would be like if computers were advanced enough to interact with humans.

Vote for the SWA Blog Champion!

Grade 9s,

Don’t forget to check out the finalists and

Vote for the Wordsmith blog that you appreciate most.

OUR WORDSMITHS!

Check out these awesome blogs and vote for your favourite below!

Won Jun
Elena
Boris
Annisa
Christy

Hardware Pop Quiz!

You must be logged into your jwaonline account to access the quiz.

ITGS Study Guide

All of this is taken from your ITGS Textbook (come to me if you've lost your digital copy).

Required reading!

SL/HL: 11-29. 291-373, Chapter 3 Overviews for each section (ie. 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5...)

SL: 253-258

HL: 253-287

Also, you must read AT LEAST the overview of each section in Chapter 3 (ie. 29, 62, 94, 124, 163, etc)... I say AT LEAST, but it would be a good idea to read as much as you can from each section.

 

Specific terms and concepts you should know (these will be updated throughout the week):

File formats (audio/video/documents/images)
Biometrics
Databases (key fields, relationships, Field Types, etc)
Privacy (How do websites protect users? What policies do they create?)
Information transferring (real-time vs store and forward. KB/s vs Kb/s)
Satellites
Electronic vs manual data collection
What do agencies do with information they collect? (Businesses, governments, hospitals, environmental groups)
Facebook/Twitter/Instagram (privacy? Who own images uploaded?)
School policies (what digital policies should schools enforce?)
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE (learn it!) Feasibility Studies, Milestones, Initiation
Different types of networks (peer-to-peer, server-client, etc)
ISPs (what do they do?)
Traffic systems (using digital models for prediction, collecting information, who uses it? SMS alerts?)

Hardware (pg 29-93)

- different types of computers

- different types of software/hardware

- Communication methods

- Input/Output devices

Information Systems (pg 253-268)

- Definition

- Examples of Information Systems

- Uses

Virtual Learning Environments (pg 308-321)

- IT and Education

- Authentication

- File formats

- Applications for VLEs

Spreadsheets (pg 228-246)

- Formulae

- Charts

- Macros

- Cells

Evolution of computers

 

Create a post on your blog that shows how much computers have changed during your lifetime. Remember, you have watched the invention of iPhones, iPads, smartboards, fast wi-fi, etc. What other changes have you witnessed.

Finally, write a paragraph describing what you think the major changes in the next five years will be.

Reason/Emotion Essay

Link

Fallacies

Today we're going to discuss 'Fallacies'. These are little 'tricks' that people will use when they're arguing in order to 'win'. Sometimes people don't even know that they're using these fallacies -- they are just a natural danger that comes from 'logical' thinking.

Take a look at this wonderful TOK resource for some more information on Logical Fallacies (by the way, this site is an excellent resource for the entire TOK course).

In groups of 2 or 3, you will choose one of the fallacies we've studied and come up with a 3-minute skit that demonstrates that fallacy. The audience will try to guess what your fallacy is. Try to make it fun, but also difficult.

Then, also in your groups, come up with a 60-second presentation of the fallacies you've been assigned. Try to fit as many examples of your logical fallacy into each minute as you can.

Group 1: post hoc ergo propter hoc, circular reasoning, ad ignorantium

Group 2: Ad hominem, equivocating, the loaded question

Group 3: Ad ignorantium, false dilemma, the loaded question

Group 4: post hoc ergo propter hoc, ad hominem, ad ignorantium

Group 5: circular reasoning, equivocating, false dilemma

 

Reason Definitions

Be aware of the following definitions for Thursday's class.

• Reasoning:
  
  
  
  • The process of reaching conclusions by a process of connected thought
  
  
  
  


• Logic:
  
  
  
  • The science of reasoning, proof, thinking, and inference; as a field of study, logic involves the systematic study of the patterns of argument and in particular—those patterns of arguments that are valid
  
  
  
  


• Logical:
  
  
  
  • Correctly reasoned; an argument is logical if the conclusion follows from the premises
  
  
  
  


• Premise:
  
  
  
  • a basis, stated or assumed to be true, on which reasoning proceeds
  
  
  
  


• Inference:
  
  
  
  • A conclusion derived from premises
  
  
  
  


• Syllogism
  
  
  
  • a series of statements involving premises followed by an inference (or conclusion)
  
  
  
  


• Truth
  
  
  
  • A proven fact
  
  
  
  


• Validity
  
  
  
  • Having general acceptability, based on evidence (can be disproven)
  
  
  
  

Logic

Answer the following questions at your table.

1. Imagine you are in a room with 3 switches. In an adjacent room there are 3 lamps (let's say in lamps which are on a regular table), each switch belongs to one lamp. All are off at the moment. It is impossible to see from one room to another. No help from anybody else is allowed.How can you find out which switch belongs to which bulb, if you may enter the room with the bulbs only once?


2. A table tennis ball (= a ping pong ball) fell into a tight deep pipe - it is about 30 cm long, buried in concrete pavement, having firm metal bottom, only 1 cm of the pipe is above the ground so it cannot be moved. The pipe was only a bit wider than the ball, so you cannot use your hand.How would you take it out, with no damage?


3. How can you throw a ball as hard as you can and have it come back to you, even if it doesn't hit anything, there is nothing attached to it, and no one else catches or throws it?

4. A man lives on the tenth floor of a building. Every morning he takes the elevator down to the lobby and leaves the building. In the evening, he gets into the elevator, and, if there is someone else in the elevator - or if it was raining that day - he goes back to his floor directly. Otherwise, he goes to the seventh floor and walks up three flights of stairs to his apartment. How come?


5. A farmer is standing on one bank of a river, with a fox, a chicken, and a bag of grain. He needs to get to the other side of the river, taking the fox, the chicken, and the grain with him.
   However, the boat used to cross the river is only large enough to carry the farmer and one of the things he needs to take with him, so he will need to make several trips in order to get everything across.
   In addition, he cannot leave the fox unattended with the chicken, or else the fox will eat the chicken; and he cannot leave the chicken unattended with the grain, or else the chicken will eat the grain. The fox is not particularly partial to grain, and may be left alone with it.
   How can he get everything across the river without anything being eaten?

Syllogisms:

Premise 1: All humans are mortal

Premise 2: Einstein was a human

Conclusion: Einstein was mortal

 

Premise 1: All male teachers at SWA are handsome Olympic athletes

Premise 2: Mr Brian is a male teacher at SWA

Conclusion: Therefore, Mr Brian is a handsome Olympic athlete!

 

P1: Time is money

P2: Unemployed people have a lot of time

C: Therefore, unemployed people are rich!

 

Come up with two syllogisms and post them as a comment on my blog

 

 

The Year of the Snake

Image by shoe the Linux Librarian

The Year of the Snake Great Challenge

Your task is to create a Snake, which celebrates The Year of the Snake.

You will be given three technology lessons to design and prepare the snake. You will then make your snake and present it to the school community on Friday afternoon during the Chinese New Year Celebrations. This will begin at 2.30 pm. The parade will be at 4.30 so you have 2 hours to finish the making of the snake.

The rules

1. You can use boxes, bamboo, paint, material, humans, and anything else you think you need to create the snake


2. You must know the type of snake and try and include features of the snake.


3. Your snake should be able to be moved and also should be able to move as we will have a year of the snake parade at the end of the day.


4. All members of your homeroom must be involved in the making of the snake and at least ten members of your class must be part of the parade of the snake.


5. Use this Google Doc to start adding information: SNAKES


6. In your table groups, post some information about the significance of the Year of the Snake. Who are some famous people who fall under this Sign? What attributes do people born in these years typically have? Give some background information on the Chinese Zodiac.

Website Links

http://sites.swa-jkt.com/Nahyeon/Product/Home.html

http://sites.swa-jkt.com/Darian/Product/index.html

http://sites.swa-jkt.com/Yohan/Product/homepage.html

http://sites.swa-jkt.com/Nadia/Product/home.html

http://sites.swa-jkt.com/Gabe/Product/homepage.html

http://sites.swa-jkt.com/Jonathan/Product/Website/Home%20Page.html

ITGS Past Papers

As we discussed on Monday, your job over the next couple of classes is to choose 3 exams from the folder I've shared with you. Complete all questions to the best of your ability and we'll discuss them when I come back.

Here is the link for your past papers.

Remember that all classes will be held in Layang2 for this week (just makes it easier for whichever substitute teacher will be coming).

Home/School of the Future

Home/School of the Future

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DJr8QwgLEA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoCCO3GKqWY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdL8Kjzn_Zo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KfHatr8r8Y

Since I'll be gone for the next few classes, I'm setting up a 3-part assignment for you to complete over the next week.

1. You will design and create a model of a home or school as it will exist in 2063. You must label at least 15 new technologies that will be in common use at that time. Your model can be a blueprint, a Google Sketchup project, or a 3D Shoebox Model (for the Shoebox only, you can work in pairs).


2. You will write up a description of your 15 new technologies. Write out what the function is and give some background on how/why it was invented (ie. cars that don't pollute [how?] or toilets that clean themselves).


3. You will write a one-page narrative (~500 words) that will describe a day in the life of a typical Grade 9 student in 2063. Start at the time they wake up (6am) until they go to bed (10pm). This is a school day, so give some descriptions of both the house and the school (Check out this post from Nahyeon (G12) for some inspiration (but hers is for 2021 - yours is for 2063 so will be even crazier). Example here.)

All three parts of the assignment will be due on Wednesday, January 23. Post all writing on your blogs, and take screenshots or pictures of anything you can (if you're doing the Shoebox, please post on both blogs).

Is Facebook Dangerous?

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/unfriend_VhP9QLXispf2RzznaNHPNK 

Take a look at this interesting post about how Facebook can be a tool that actually SEPARATES us from our friends (rather than connects us). Please write a response post on your blog, talking about your experiences (good and bad) with social networking.

When you're done, find two other blogs to comment on.

 

More Tutorials

Grade 9s

You folks did such a great job making tutorials that I'm going to ask you to do one more (for a total of 3 per person).


- these topics are listed, but many of you came up with topics I didn't think of. Keep doing that!
- if you’re done, comment on two other students’ tutorials
- go back through all your posts and make sure they are ALL categorized and tagged
- Create a new banner for Grade 9
http://www.picmonkey.com/
- dimensions: 969 x 213

Welcome Back to IT!

Photo by Mark Strozier

Hello folks, I hope you all had a restful and relaxing Winter vacation. Time to explore the exciting world of IT! From robots to satellites to movie animation, we'll be covering a lot of territory.

So, please save and open up this document.

The first step is to bookmark my blog. You'll notice that your grade level is listed at the top of the page. That's where you can find all the work that we'll be doing this semester. Remember that we'll be using the Design Cycle for each project, so if you have any questions about it, you can look for the link on the righthand-side of this page.

The next step is to make sure that you have access to your own blog. You'll need to remember the password from last term, and I'll need you to give me each of your ID numbers, so I can set up the links on my page.

Finally, we'll need to make sure you have access to your Gmail account, since that's where we'll be keeping all of your work throughout the course.

I know it's a lot of stuff to get organized so soon, but the faster we do it, the easier it'll make the rest of the year.

Here's a link to the document we used to create our blog last year. Please access it if there's something on your blog that's just 'not right'.

Of course, you can always come to me to help you figure it out, as well.

https://docs.google.com/a/jwaonline.com/document/d/1pEFGKNf17e431LBRy-LJwPY7sjm8yCV6YWjxXAplTPs/edit#

 



 

Your first IT homework will be to create 2 Tutorials and post them on your blog. Include at least three screenshots and one external hyperlink. Look here for an example. Here's another one, too.

Choose two of the following topics and post them to your blog:

• How to log in


• Create Pages


• Create Posts


• Create Tags


• Create Categories


• Create Menus


• Hyperlinks to other pages/documents


• Insert Images (more than one way)


• Creating Drop down menus


• Create a Banner Image for their Blog


• Embedding video


• Or you can come up with your own (related to using computers/blogs at SWA)