Think Aloud

Virgle?

We have been discussing the importance of using credible sites. Our next assignment is to create a Think Aloud that explains how to analyze a site and determine its credibility. For my Think Aloud, I found a site that presents plans for a corporately funded Mars mission. More than that, it presents an entire outline for Mars colonization. At first glance the site appears credible. It is hosted by Google. The project is called Virgle, which comes from the company names Virgin and Google, the two companies funding the supposed mission. The site appears to be a genuine Google project, unfortunately (and much to the disappointment of all of us who were hoping companies would pick up where NASA left off when Obama cut the budget) the project does not exist. Google maintains the facade throughout the site offering only subtle hints (like Guitar Hero II skills as an application requirement). A link at the bottom of the Q&A page leads to a page not listed in the Virgle links where the hoax is finally revealed to be Google's annual April Fool's joke.

Virgle

NETS Google Doc Survey

In class, we used Google Docs to create surveys that could be answered by the other student. We each put two questions on our surveys covering many different topics (music, sports, school). My survey asked about literary preferences. We then used the results to construct a graph which we posted to our blogs. This activity demonstrated ISTE standard 3 by allowing us to collaborate with our peers to collect and analyze information.

Google Form Results

NETS and Google Doc Resume

For a recent assignment we used Google Documents to create a resume which we could link to from our blogs. I’ve been using Google Docs for several months now but had not explored the file sharing functions. In this assignment I met ISTE standard 5 by learning about and employing new technology. It also met ISTE standard 3 by employing technology to communicate important information.

Google Doc Resume

Google Doc Resume