Chase+Ketchum

=Chase Ketchum= 1201109178user:chasek toc =Biography= = =
 * email: chaseketchum@hotmail.com
 * Major: Secondary Math, Senior
 * My plan is to teach high school math in Wichita. I am getting married in October and moving to Wichita next January.

Technology
= =
 * I work on the 5th floor doing tech support.
 * My technology horror story comes from my daily life as a tech guy. Helping out people with PhD's try to solve thier techonlogy issues is a horror in itself.
 * Technology is important in education because our society is becoming more and more reliant upon it.

My Beautiful Fiance'


=Assignments=

Web Exemplars
The Good

http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9109621/Christopher-Columbus

This web page is great because of the amount of information that is found here. It is made by Encyclopedia Britannica which is a credible source. It also cites the source where the information is was originally found. As far as design goes, it has many different aspects of Columbus’s life listed on the side of the page. It has additional reading, written sources, and assessment tabs for easy access. There is a link to images, related articles, and maps on the left as well. This web site has enough information to do a full report on Christopher Columbus.

The Bad

http://www.allaboutexplorers.com/explorers/columbus.html

This web site has a very short summary on Columbus. The amount of information is only a fraction of that of the good web site. There are no tabs on the page to lead to more information. There is really no structure to the web site at all. As far as the page itself goes, it is ugly to the eye. The background colors and images used do not look professional at all. It looks like a junior high student threw it together in a matter of minutes. Pictures do not go well with the rest of the page and the heading is terrible.

The process I used to find these web sites was going to www.google.com and search Christopher Columbus. From there, I looked at each one of the web sites that it brought up. When looking for a good web site I looked for a credible website. This is where I found the good web site, which was made by Encyclopedia Britannica. It is easy to find a poor web site. I looked for a random web page that would be more likely to be made by an amateur.

1-25-08- Web Exemplars Talk Topic
The most important aspect when evaluating an instructional site is the accuracy of the material. If the material is not accurate, it should not be used in a classroom. The best way to see if it is professional and accurate is to look at the source of the information. If the web site is from a credible source such as the Encyclopedia Britannica or the Library of Congress, it can be assumed that the information is correct. If the source is not named or it is some random individual, the accuracy of the information could be in question.

Another area I look at when evaluating a web site is the arrangement of the links and how easy it is to navigate the web site. If the links are clearly arranged on the left site of the screen and the information is placed on the page where a student could easily see it, the web page has a proper design.

One area of web page design that is important to me is the color schemes and layout of the graphics and written print. If the print and background color do not go well together, it can make for a headache, literally. Colors and images should complement each other in a way that is pleasing to the eye and easy to read.

The two web pages the person above me selected were two of the most popular web sites examined by the class. The poor web site was http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/1492.exhibit/Intro.html, which I agree is laid out terribly, and to be quite honest, is boring. The background is white, with black text. This is easy to read, but offers no color to make it more appealing to the eye. The good web site examined was [|http://www.columbusnavigation.com]. This is the Columbus website with a blue compass background that everyone seemed to disagree on. I personally do not think this is a good web site because the material is not laid out in a manner that is easy to follow. The links are all over the place and there is no real order. I also do not like the compass blue background. It is hard to read the text and is corny. I do not find the author to be the best source of information either. There are much better credible sources on Christopher Columbus. No one really knows where this guy got his information.

2-1-08 Bloom's Taxonomy- Chase Ketchum
Cogs Fallen Art
 * 1) Knowledge: What item is clicking in the film?
 * 2) Comprehension: What is happening as the item clicks?
 * 3) Application: What is the significance of the spinning items?
 * 4) Analysis: Identify and relate the symbolism in the film.
 * 5) Synthesis: What is the filmmakers purpose of the film?
 * 6) Evaluation: How can you relate the purpose of the film to a situation in your life?
 * 1) Knowledge: What is the profession of the men in the beginning of the film?
 * 2) Comprehension: Describe the events that took place as the man was killed.
 * 3) Application: What are the men on the ground doing?
 * 4) Analysis: Why would this type of event be taking place?
 * 5) Synthesis: What might have happened if the man had not been killed?
 * 6) Evaluation: Does this change your views on war?

3-5-08 - Site Design - Chase Ketchum
One good organizational technique when developing a new website is to make sure that there are not too many subcategories. If a person has to click on more than three or four different links in order to get to a particular page, the design of the site is flawed. Another important aspect of website design is to make sure that you do not have too many categories. If you have more than five or six categories, it could be easy to confuse people who are trying to navigate the website. The final technique to developing a good website is to make sure that everything fits in its proper place. You shouldn’t put a page under a heading that doesn’t make sense. You shouldn’t have a page entitled, Homework under a link that is called People. The way you manage the website should make common sense.

The web site map above mine is good in that there are not too many subcategories. Students will not have to navigate through a bunch of pages in order to find what they are looking for. I also like how she has basic headings for each class she is going to teach along with information and fun. These are the most important aspects of the course so it works well to have them as the main headings. Every aspect of the website can fall into these categories. The biggest flaw I find with the design is the fact that there is no place where she posts homework assignments or projects. If a student has a question about an assignment, where are they supposed to go? Another problem I have with it is the fact that there is no place with outside homework resources. There is a link to fun games, but there are not any links to websites that could aid them in their assignments.

3-7-08 - Site Design - Chase Ketchum
This was an interesting essay in that it gave many good points to support being a Luddite and many good points against it. The point of the essay was to examine how Luddites have been viewed over time and what their true origins were. He claimed that often times Luddites were given a bad representation when there were many outside factors that could have been involved. People today might look at someone who is against technology and say that person is crazy, but Pynchon shows how this might not necessarily be true. There are many great things that have come out of technology, but as he explains, there are also many bad developments. He claims people should not be looked down on for being a Luddite, but should be seen for what they believe.

This was a challenging text to read. If I were to use this lesson in a classroom, I would want to have some sort of flow chart for students to fill in. Pynchon goes in chronological order when explaining the history of the Luddites. If students had a flow chart that they could fill in, they could rewrite each step in history in their own words. They could be asked to make a map in Inspiration to show the difference in the perception of Luddites verses what he feels truly happened. By making it sequential and visual, it would make it much easier for a student to follow.

Link to my Wiki
http://chasek.wikispaces.com/

4-01-08 - Universal Design - Chase Ketchum
Name: Listening to radio on IPOD Problem: You can’t listen to the radio on the IPOD. This is bad for people in a rec center that want to listen to the radio so they can watch tv with audio. Modification: Make every IPOD have a radio menu and antenna so that you have the option to listen to downloaded music or the radio. Universal Design: Gives everyone the option to listen to the radio if they do not want to pay to download music and have good ethics so they don’t steal music.

Media Resources Project
I chose to do two different types of media projects on my wiki. They were both assignments and are posted under the assignments section of my personal wiki. The first is an assignment in PowerPoint. The students were to develop a PowerPoint presentation where each page was a different room of a house. They were then to state the area, perimeter, and volume of each room on each given slide. They could choose to measure each room of their own house, or use the blueprints of a house that I provided. The reason I chose PowerPoint was because it allows the students to present their ideas in a way that each room could be viewed on a different page. They could start with the first slide being the blueprints of the whole house, and then have each of the following slides be blueprints for individual rooms. It is a way to look at individual parts of a whole. The only real problems that I ran into in PowerPoint were the lack of photo editing software. Since students were using blueprints, it was difficult to make the pages look completely professional. If the students had some sort of other photo editing software, they could import pictures, but there is no way to work with images directly in PowerPoint. Other than the difficulty in photo editing, I feel this assignment would be a relatively easy assignment and would allow the students to see where math could be used in a real world. I want the students to feel like they are presenting an architectural model to a prospective buyer. The program allows for the students to feel like they are proving a professional document.

The second form of media that I chose to use was imovie. This was in the form of an assignment as well. Students were to record themselves walking a distance measured 10 feet. They were then to import the video into imovie and determine the speed at which they traveled in those ten feet. I chose to use imovie because it would allow the student to slow the video down and calculate exactly how long it took them to travel the recorded distance. Once they have the time it took, they could then mathematically determine the velocity. The only problem with imovie in this assignment is the fact that some may feel it is not necessary. Some may feel a stopwatch would work just as well. I would argue that a stopwatch is not exact. By looking at the imovie, the student could see the exact time it took by looking at each frame. I feel this was a relatively easy assignment and that the students will have fun with it because it will give them the opportunity to work with video editing software.

Social Networking Project
I chose to do two projects that involved using social networking tools. The first assignment was an assignment where students were to create a myspace page for a math related topic. This could be a mathematician or a mathematical concept, such as the number pi. I chose to use myspace because the students have a connection to myspace. Almost every high school kid has a myspace page and they already know how to use the website. I also chose to use it because a true myspace page requires background information and other important facts about the person. This would require the students to do research on the math related field they chose. I think it would be a fun way to have the students do a research paper. I don’t think the students will look at this as a research paper, but more of a fun project.

The second project that I assigned was a project that involved youtube. Students were to find a video on youtube that they could relate to the myspace page that they created. They were then to post the video on the myspace page. I felt youtube was a great resource to use because it allows students to look through the videos and select one that would rationally work for their topic. I want the students to think abstractly. By allowing them to justify the video they selected, you are creating a higher level of thinking on Bloom’s Taxonomy. If the students can actually relate a video they found to the mathematical concept, they are thinking beyond what is normally expected.

Personal Portfolio Project
Here is the link to my personal portfolio project

[|http://people.ku.edu/~chasek]

4-30-08 -- Course & Wiki -- Chase Ketchum
The thing that I liked most about the class was learning about how wikis worked. I have already used the website for another class making a project and presentation much easier. I knew the general concept of a wiki, but learning the ins and outs of a wiki will make teaching easier in the future. Another thing I like about the class was learning about all of the programs for teacher educators. Programs like Inspiration, Google Earth, and Skype could be useful in the future. Anytime you can learn about new technology it is helpful.