Ryan Collins

🕹️ Do Something Great! 😄

Author: ryan

  • How young is too young to learn to code

    Forget Foreign Languages and Music. Teach Our Kids to Code

    With the help of a custom Java applet, he was able to get kindergartners to write a tic-tac-toe program, based on step-by-step rules the students formulated as a group. And using colored balls and string, he taught the kids how to create graph algorithms, an essential component of computer science. “We believe our work shows that you can start teaching computer science before students even know how to read and write,” Gibson (who now teaches in France) wrote in a 2012 paper.

    I disagree with the title, but not with the content. How young do you start teaching coding?

    Via: Slashdot

  • Progress breeds complexity

    Upon reflection of my post from yesterday, I started thinking that I was being too harsh. The problems with technology becoming too difficult to use stems more from us wanting to do more with them than the year before. Look at the evolution of the iPhone. When it was released, there was no App Store, no cut and paste, no backgrounding. Apple has added those features over the last 6 years, at the expense of ease of use. Now users have to create and manage an Apple ID to use the App Store and learn how cut and paste works.

    Computers 30 years ago didn’t have to network or support multiple users. Printers came with a printer driver for your various applications, not for the OS. Just because Lotus 123 was able to print didn’t mean that WordPerfect was going to be able to print. Applications only ran one at a time. Now your computer operating system supports networking, printing and multiple users. Applications can run at the same time. With this progress brings complexity. Users have to know how to access networked resources and to manage users. They have to know how to navigate multiple applications running at the same time. In the 80s we had Automenu and we liked it.

    We are victims of our own success.

  • Computers are to difficult to use and I’m proud of my digital illiteracy

    Computers are too difficult and people are computer illiterate

    Adults have worn their computer illiteracy as a badge of pride for many years now so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that their children share their digital inadequacies. Moreover, neither group is even willing to try to solve a problem when they encounter it.

    As recent privacy and malware issues have demonstrated, there is a price to be paid for computer illiteracy. And nobody should ever be proud of being ignorant. If not knowing something is a nonissue, then it’s a nonissue, but don’t brag about it.

    I’m seeing this more and more, people expect to be spoon fed and once you get to the third step, they believe it’s too hard to do and shut down. Are you seeing this in your district?

    Via: Daring Fireball Linked List: Computers Are Too Difficult and People Are Computer Illiterate

  • Using Google Sheets for a new hire workflow

    Apparently, there is some interest in a workflow for new hires. At the beginning of the year I worked with our superintendent’s secretary and others in the administration offices to create a workflow for new hires. This way we know exactly what has been and hasn’t been done for new hires. Here is the worksheet.

    Getting started

    Open the document and use File -> Make a copy… to make a copy of the Google Sheet. We use two worksheets, one for classified employees, one for certified. They are pretty much the same. Once you have the copy, you’ll need to share the sheet with those that have tasks to be completed when new employees are hired. Have them double check their steps, adding or subtracting items if necessary. Be careful near the top under the superintendent secretary area, don’t delete the two columns that list the various employees and whether they are finished.

    Once everyone is satisfied with the steps, you’ll need to update the formulas for each person in the Complete column near the top of the screen. The current formula for the superintendent’s secretary looks like this:

    =IF(ARRAYFORMULA(OR(ISBLANK(B4:B17)));"No" ;"Yes")

    The range in the ISBLANK() function represents the items for the superintendent’s secretary to complete. The formula in this cell just checks to see if any of the items are blank, and if so, sets the value of the cell to No. Update the ranges for each person to reflect their tasks listed in column A.

    Once all the items have a value, the formula returns Yes. Conditional formatting is turned on for these cells. If the value is No it sets the background to red. Once it says Yes the background is set to green. The formula only checks whether the item is blank, so feel free to put whatever you want in those cells for the items to be completed.

    The second sheet is a computer info sheet that the superintendent’s secretary can print and give to the new hire. Modify it to suit your district.

    Procedure

    1. When a new employee is hired, the superintendent’s secretary will open up the New Certified Staff Member Worksheet and create a copy.
    2. Name the worksheet with the new hire’s name, for example, New Hire Worksheet, John Smith. Be sure to check Share it with the same people.
    3. Use File -> Email collaborators… to notify everyone that there is a new hire.

    Complete the worksheet.

  • Why are you integrating technology?

    From School plus I have a new favorite quote for today:

    “When Gutenberg invented the printing press, we didn’t have Europe plus books. Instead we had a whole new Europe.”

    When adding technology, you want a whole new school, not just school plus technology. Go over and read George Coursos’ full post, he’s hit it out of the park yet again!

  • #tlah Pancake hacking

    Last night we stayed at a Holiday Inn Express which offers a continental breakfast. My 9 year old daughter was fascinated with the automatic pancake maker.

    Pancake Maker

    Simple as can be, press OK and less than a minute later a pancake pops out. I was curious. What if I wanted more than one? As the maker worked its magic, I noticed it said Making pancake 01 of 01. Ok, so it must be possible.

    Examining the front of the device made it apparent that the aluminum was covering up something. After I waited for the Holiday Inn Express employee to leave, I pulled on the cover, revealing a control panel with a number pad. I hit 3 and OK and the pancake maker came to life, working on pancake 01 of 03. Very cool. The 9 year old was, in her words, a little impressed.

  • Which iPhone should you buy?

    TLDR; The 5S.

    If you didn’t know, two new iPhones were released on the 20th to join the 4S. Since Apple has three iPhones, you may be wondering what’s the difference, which one should I get. Here’s what I think of the three models.

    The iPhone 4S

    This phone isn’t worth it even when given away for free with a two year contract. The technology is already two years old, which means that by the end of your contract it will be four years old, an eternity. How many people do you see walking around with an iPhone 3GS? And to add insult to injury, it only comes with 8GB.

    The iPhone 5C

    I’ve seen reviews where the writer raves on how good the plastic feels. It doesn’t feel good, it feels cheap and plasticy. The technology is already a year behind, and the price difference of $100 isn’t enough to justify buying the 5C. (Over two years, that $100 difference is only $4.16 a month). It doesn’t have the better camera of the 5S, or the 64-bit processor.

    The iPhone 5S

    This is the phone with all the goodies. My usual recommendation when shopping for a smartphone is to buy the best phone they have. The out of pocket expenses is minuscule compared to the amount you are going to spend on your cell phone plan over the next two years. And you want to get your money’s worth from your cellphone plan, don’t you? The capabilities of the 5S make it easy to recommend. Another advantage is that in two years when your plan is up and you’re ready to buy a new phone you’ll be able to 2 to 4 hundred (depending on the color and size) out of the phone on eBay.

    Conclusion

    It’s really easy to recommend paying the $199-$399 for the iPhone 5S. In two years you’ll still be able to get that amount for it on eBay for your next iPhone. The 5C is… I don’t know why Apple released it. And an 8GB 4S is a joke. If you can only afford a free phone, buy the 5S, sell it on eBay for $600 and use the proceeds to buy a $250 4S. You’ll make $350 out of the process and have a 4S with at least 16GB of space.

  • History teacher and class discover Boston’s own Forest Gump

    The Briefcase

    …they slowly uncovered the life of a man who not only oversaw the liberated Dachau but also found himself a participant in an uncommon number of consequential events throughout Massachusetts and U.S. history. In a way Delaney couldn’t have imagined when he first popped open the suitcase that day, Joyce would turn out to be something akin to Boston’s own Forrest Gump, a perfect set of eyes through which to visit America’s past.

    What an amazing find and a great way to engage the students!

  • Increase your cognitive flexibility with Starcraft 2

    Playing Starcraft 2 Might Make You Smarter

    Playing Starcraft, according to the study, “stresses rapid and simultaneous maintenance, assessment, and coordination between multiple information and action sources was sufficient to affect change.” The result of playing real-time strategy games such as Starcraft is “an underlying dimension of cognitive flexibility” across several laboratory tests.

    Now maybe I’ll have an excuse to buy Starcraft 2 instead of just playing Starcraft 1

  • Living without the Internet for a year

    I’m still here: back online after a year without the internet

    One year ago I left the internet. I thought it was making me unproductive. I thought it lacked meaning. I thought it was “corrupting my soul.”

    So did leaving the Internet fix Paul’s ails?

    And now I’m supposed to tell you how it solved all my problems. I’m supposed to be enlightened. I’m supposed to be more “real,” now. More perfect.

    But instead it’s 8PM and I just woke up. I slept all day, woke with eight voicemails on my phone from friends and coworkers. I went to my coffee shop to consume dinner, the Knicks game, my two newspapers, and a copy of The New Yorker. And now I’m watching Toy Story while I glance occasionally at the blinking cursor in this text document, willing it to write itself, willing it to generate the epiphanies my life has failed to produce.

    It’s interesting that in this instance (and I’m sure it’s the same for more people than not), Paul realizes that life is work. For most people, the Internet has made this work easier. Is this a good or bad thing? For now we don’t know. The entire article is well worth the read!

    via @shareski