Do Now 9-29

An editorial is a newspaper article written by a writer that gives an opinion on a specific issue.

Some of my teachers have told me that Wikipedia is a good way to get information. Others have told me that it is not reliable. They have told me that you can't trust it because anybody can go on the website and change the information. Many of my teachers don't let me use Wikipedia as a source. When I ask why, they say they want all the information in papers to be reliable and they don't think that the information on Wikipedia is that. After reading the editorial, my thoughts on Wikipedia have changed. I used to agree with teachers somewhat because anyone could change the information. Now, I trust it more and believe it's reliable. 

Tiny Robot Learns to Fly a Real Plane

      A doll-sized robot has learned how to use a simulator to fly an aircraft designed for humans. The robot's name is Pibot which is a combination of robot and pilot. Pibot is 15.6in tall. Pibot has a video camera built into its "face", with software built in for runway detection and other visual cues. The rest of the buttons, sticks and switches allow the robot to control throttle, braking pitch, yaw, altitude, velocity, and direction, information is fed to the robot directly through wires.

   The Pibot hasn't flown a full-sized plane yet, but the team has plans to escalate the project to that stage. The robot already successfully flown computer simulations -- and a real-world, scaled-down model biplane.  For more information read here

Web 2.0: Multimedia Blog Posting Sem Pre

World History

       The World History teacher is Mr. Minnocci. He has a passion for history. Along with teaching history, he is also a track coach. He is a pretty laid back teacher but when it's time to work, he wants us to work. He treats his students not just like kids, but like people. When I first started the class, I was hoping to learn about why history is really useful and just more information about history then I previously knew. So far, I have learned those things. We use our textbook a lot for reading and answering worksheets. the textbook we use is World History: Connections to Today.The way he grades isn't too complicated. He cares about more that you understand. His grading policy can be found on his school website here. 
      Something that I find interesting about the class are the do-nows we do almost every day at the beginning of class. They are usually questions that have to do with what we will learn to day or what we learned the previous day. Each time they are not too difficult where it's to the point when you cn't do them. They are chaand I learn something from them. The technology we use in his class is his iPad that we read articles on after he has projected the iPad screen onto a screen on the board with a projector. So far, we have been learning about the Renaissance and how it helped shape our country and world today. We learned about artists in the Renaissance and how they inspired art and multi-media today. 

   
      Some additional things about Mr. Minnocci is that he doesn't usually give homework. If he does give homework, it's not hard if you have been paying attention in class. Also, he cares about each of his students. He puts forth an effort to get to know who his students really are.For example, once he gets to know you he might give you a nickname. Mr. Minnocci isn't just a teacher, hes a friend. He cares about what you care about. He wants his students to develop a strong understanding and appreciation of History, see how History fits into the larger scope of the world we interact with, understand how History influences life today, recognize connections between history and other social sciences, build a solid historical and academic vocabulary, develop thinking skills that support the ability to challenge assumptions, think creatively, and solve real-life problems, but most importantly, have fun. If you really want to have more of an understanding for the past, then welcome to World History! 

Educational Technology and Copyright Law

• Copyright doesn't only protect written work, but also literary, dramatic, artistic, musical and certain other types of works.
• Things are copyrighted without you filling out paperwork
• The second you draw, write, or sing something its copyrighted
• You can use something that is copyrighted (an image for example) if you use it for one of the following; criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research and it won't be against copyright.
• Images that are licensed are not subject to fair use 

9/12 Weekly Tech Article

On September 9th, Apple announced the iPhone 6 which is a new smartphone. Also, there is a bigger one called the iPhone 6 Plus. It will be released for sale on September 19. They are the biggest iPhones yet. The 6 Plus looks similar to the iPad Air. Because of all the other smartphones being so much larger and thinner than the iPhone, they wanted to change the game.  The iPhone 6 is 6.9mm thin while the iPhone 6 Plus is 7.1mm thin. Something they updated is the camera by making it able to take higher quality photos. Also, the new iphone will have the new iOS 8 already on them. Most people like the iPhones’ new sizes but personally, I think they now look too much like a Samsung.

http://www.techradar.com/us/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/iphone-6-release-date-news-and-rumours-1099865