Timetable for Technology Project

Our classroom will be in 115-1008 and start at 10:30AM every Wednesday.

You need to see your technical supervisor regularly, and discuss with him about your progress. Please ask your supervisor to sign the paper as your meeting evidence.

Come to our class, talk to us and exchange information with classmates. We are all there to help you.

Lixin and Niranjan

progress presentation

Hi All
We have scheduled our technology project progress presentation. see the following table for more details. Presentation date is November 23, 2011(Wednesday). Room: 114-2001.

The presentation time is 10 minutes, 3 minutes Q/A and 2 minutes feedback, so you need to limit your slides.

We only booked the room for morning session, so we have to finish before lunch. I will sign you at 7 minutes and 3 minutes before scheduled time. It will be cut at the sharp of 10 minutes and no exception.

If you have any issues, Please let us know.

Regards

Lixin and Niranjan

Prezi as a presentation tool

Prezi is a web-based presentation application and storytelling tool that uses a single canvas instead of traditional slides. It is different from our traditional Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation with linear structure—slide by slide. Wauters, R. (2009) stated that it allows you to create non-linear presentations where you can zoom in and out of a visual map containing words, links, images, videos, etc. Prezi launched its products from 2009. It is a revolution for teacher to make PPT. Prezi says it is all about helping people understand each other better:

We Help People Share Ideas

We Encourage Beauty

Curiosity is a Goal, not a Means

We Interact with our Surroundings

We Criticize, Learn from Mistakes, and Avoid Blame

Some researcher mentioned even we learned how to use the Prezi is a very good examples of new learning experience. Perkins, J. (2009) argued that is the authentic tasks and motivation, scaffolded, self-directed and integrated learning, and just in time and connected learning. We can use Prezi as a teaching and learning tool for trade students training:

In automotive teaching, lecturers have to design some systematic diagram to show students what is the relationship between the components or substructures, like suspension system, brake system, etc. It is hard for conventional PPT to fulfil this job. We need to copy the slide of big picture, and insert in between. Sometimes we need to switch over and over many times during classroom presentation. All these tough tasks become easy in Presi, as there are non-linear structures.

Graphic organizers are another good thing for automotive teaching and learning. In automotive, the hardest part is to let students understand the principles of structure, in other words: how does it work? Graphic organizer can make students understand better about relationship and principles, even the ideas and thinking of mechanics.

Zoom in the zoon out function of Prezi is another good design for students understanding the details. We don’t need to worry about the PPT pre-organized; just select different frames of the photo and we can zoom in or out.

Mind-map, Prezi meeting, embedded Google map, or your tube video are some useful functions we can use in automotive trade teaching and learning.

You can explore more from http://prezi.com/desktop/, or down load an education version fro educators and students in your desktop. Bishop, J., & D, P. (2008) has created a manual for beginners or just Google for more tutorials information.

Reference:
Prezi.(n.d) Our Values 1.0 . Retrieved on April 14,2011from http://prezi.com/our-values/
Wauters R. (2009). Prezi Is The Coolest Online Presentation Tool I’ve Ever Seen. Retrieved April 14,2011, from http://techcrunch.com/2009/04/20/prezi-is-the-coolest-online-presentation-tool-ive-ever-seen/

Perkins, J. (2009). Where are the instructions ? Understand more , Remember better : Learning to use Prezi in the 21 st century . Pedagogies, 1-6.

Bishop, J., & D, P. (2008). An assessment of the online presentation Tool–prezi.

Here is an example:

Copy of how to change engine oil on Prezi

Progress presentation

Hi All
We are going to have a progress presentation on November 23, 2011(Wednesday) in Room 114-2001. Some groups need more details about the presentation, Here are some of my views:

some key points we need to cover in your progress presentation are:

1, what is your technology project topic
A, What are the problems and your ideas
B, agreed outcomes
C, other key points of your project

2, What you have done so far
A, investigation, or researches you have done
B, your progress (Gantt chart)
C, Blogger posts and comments

3,what is your planing for next step
A,...............
B,.............
C,..............

The time is 15 minutes for each group. I will email you the timetable of the presentation shortly.

You can use Microsoft PowerPoint, or Prezi, or Google Doc PPT, etc. Please go to our course blogger (click the link)to see an example of my Prezi presentation.

Lixin and Niranjan

Gantt chart and progress meeting

Hi There:

As most of the groups have signed the contract before the deadline, the next step is to do your project. The logical step for a project is to make a plan firstly, then you carry out the design or investigation by the plan. Here are somethings we need to do in these two weeks.

1, All the groups have to do Gantt Chart , and finished in one weeks, due on September 21, 2011; (discuss with your supervisor and email to me).

2,All the groups have to fill up a form every time you have meeting with technical supervisor; It is your responsibility to keep this form throughout the year, and hand in with your final report. It is the evidence of your communication with your supervisor;

3,Each student has to comment his group mate's blog at least 3 times, and his blog has at least one comment from technical supervisor;

4, at the end of this semester, all the groups will have a project progress Powerpoint presentation. the presentation day is November 23, 2011(Wednesday);

Lixin and Niranjan

Individual group tutorial class for week 5 and 6

Hi there

This week we have normal class on Wednesday(August 31,2011);

9:00---9:45 AM in room 114-2001
10am---12pm Writing in 180-1082


We are going to have two individual group tutorial sessions in week 5 and 6 (
August 31 and September 7,2011). Bring your ideas or contract and discuss with technical adviser by group.

Kindly reminder: our contract due day is on September 7(Wednesday) before 4:00PM. If you couldn't finish on time, Please follow the special circumstance procedure and provide us with the evidences.

Thanks for your all hard work and helping each other!

Lixin and Niranjan

New Contract

Hi All
We have designed a new Technology Project agreement, which you can find from our Moodle course or from my Gmail shared folder.

All your contract should be based on the new version, which has your Gmail and Blogger address. We don't accept the old version.

Any questions regarding the contract, come to see me on Wednesday.

Regards

Lixin and Niranjan

This Wednesday's class

Hi All

This Wednesday we have a special session run by IP lecturers for our Technology Project:

Room: 180-1082
When: August 17(Wednesday)
Time: starts at 9am. The session is from 9am to 12pm.

Don't forget to bring your pen and notebook.

Enjoy

Lixin

How to find a research problem by Lindsay Nicholson

http://www.bris.ac.uk/cellmolmed/air/qanda/archive/how_to_find_a_problem.html

Finding a good research problem is tough thing to do. From a distance, it appears easy. There are so many things that we need to know: how to prevent childhood leukaemia; how to reverse global warming; how to maintain a stable economy; how to treat autoimmune disease. Then as you approach these questions more closely, they reveal themselves to be too large to tackle in one go: They have to be broken down.

When you do this, you suddenly find yourself with the choice of thousands of small problems. Now, you may be able to figure out ways to investigate these fragments, but you have to choose which is the most important.

Many of them will already have been studied by others. You may believe your research is relevant and unresolved, but what if someone else has already discovered the answer you are still looking for? Finding this out can be a lengthy and frustrating process. It has brought many of us to tears.

What's more, now you are dealing with something that is only a small piece of a big puzzle, it may not be important at all. How do you feel, when you tell your colleagues what you are doing and their reaction is 'so what?' Now you have to have the stamina to do the experiments well, so that the results are unambiguous, even if for most people they are unambiguously boring!

In summary the ideal research problem is something that can be solved, but hasn't been yet. It's important enough so that your peers can understand the value in doing it, and if you design the experiments well and are lucky, when you have finished working, the results are clear and interesting. Then you can count that problem solved, and all you have to do is find the next one.

Gmail and blogger information

Hi Guys

Please send me your Gmail address and your Blogger address, so i can share information for you.



the video instruction for creating a Blogger account:



How to post in your Blogger



1, How do I become a Follower of a blog?

http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=104226

2 creating a gmail account:

https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount?service=mail&continue=http://mail.google.com/mail/e-11-4cca618fd04ee62b8c3608697be58-0fc11d42f0957793b73125314e00fdef044a3335&type=2

3 How do I create a blog that Blogger will host for free?

http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=41345

4 How do I create a team blog?

http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=41440

5 How do I add the Following gadget to my blog?

http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=141483

Timetable for Technology Project

Hi all

Our Technology Project class hours for Group B(New Group)will be from 9:00AM to 10:30AM every Wednesday; Our classroom is in 114-2001.

Next Wednesday we have a tutorial class of how to create a Gmail mail and a Blogger and link to our appt6112 blogger.

Lixin