Bad Behavior: Yours or Mine

I noticed at the bottom of the blog recommended by Dr. Howland today that it utilized Bad Behavior to block "spam" comments. I thought this was interesting because I have already had a "spam" comment in my blog. I clicked on Bad Behavior referenced at the bottom of her blog page.

http://www.homelandstupidity.us/software/bad-behavior/

Bad Behavior is a set of PHP scripts which prevents spambots from accessing your site by analyzing their actual HTTP requests and comparing them to profiles from known spambots. It goes far beyond User-Agent and Referer, however. Bad Behavior is available for several PHP-based software packages, and also can be integrated in seconds into any PHP script.
Contents
I don’t like spam! (Introduction - this page)

Download
FAQ
Installation and Usage

I don’t like spam!
The problem: Spammers run automated scripts which read everything on your web site, harvest email addresses, and if you have a blog, forum or wiki, will post spam directly to your site. They also put false referrers in your server log trying to get their links posted through your stats page.
As the operator of a Web site, this can cause you several problems. First, the spammers are wasting your bandwidth, which you may well be paying for. Second, they are posting comments to any form they can find, filling your web site with unwanted (and unpaid!) ads for their products. Last but not least, they harvest any email addresses they can find and sell those to other spammers, who fill your inbox with more unwanted ads.

I would utilize a program like this. Wish it was available for my telephone to block the political ads this fall.

The New York Times Learning Network

The New York Times Learning Network has numerous lesson plans on a variety of subjects that can be searched by topic or keyword. The lessons contain links to New York Times articles. I previewed some of the recent additions and discovered that they were written by many of the same authors. I would suggest that this resource be used as a source of inspiration and ideas rather than an end product.

I did like the Student Connection section however. There is a Daily News Quiz, Word of the Day, Test Prep Question of the Day, and Science Q & A. Great opportunities for learning. Each Daily News Quiz is accompanied by a news article. The Science Q & A was a topic about wearing hospital scrubs outside the hospital.

I plan to use this in my class.

Tapped In, VLC

I read an excellent article by Jeff Cooper, Building 21st Century Collaboration Learning Communities. In the article Jeff identified Tapped In as a Virtual Learning Community. In addition he identified key components of this resource including synchronous logged chat, threaded discussion boards, white boards, and file sharing. He also added that Tapped In allows educators the opportunity to ask questions, find answers, collaborate with peers, and develop professionally.

Per our assignment for Dec. 2-8 I logged in to Tapped In and entered a few rooms. I also accessed the calendar and will choose a discussion to participate in. I did note that members can receive emailed transcripts of discussions.

I am not familiar with a VCL so this will be a excellent learning opportunity. I accessed Yahoo Messenger for the first time yesterday. I didn't witness any quality discussion. I hope to do so in Tapped In. I have not learned to use the audio chat.

I still think each of these sites need a better guided tutorial like the one found on Survey Monkey. This is all still very new to me and any guided tutorials would be very helpful. I am navigating blind within this site. I am having second thoughts as to whether this graduate program is the right one for me.

Google Scholar

I often struggle with students and either their inability to reference sources of information or lack of recognition that it is wrong. Cutting and pasting from the Internet is a common practice. One component of the Job Corps academic program is the writing of an essay about a topic within their vocational trade curriculum. Many of my students initially want to write about forklift operator safety. Unfortunately, I would guess that eighty percent still fail to cite references even when I discuss the reason for doing so.

Fellow graduate students recommended Google Scholar as a means to combat plagiarism. I accessed the site and copied a sentence from an article by Jane Howland appearing in the Journal of Technology and Teacher Education. The source of the sentence was found immediately.

I don't think students have the frustration today that I had in college or even high school when conducting research for term papers. First, I would need to find potential resources in the card catalog or periodical index. I would then have to find them in the library "stacks." If I was lucky enough to find the journals of a year published combined into a "book" then I would hope that the issue or page I was looking for had not been removed. Many times it was.

Plagiarism.org was developed as a doctoral thesis and is used by many instructors to deter plagiarism. I found an article on this in a resource recommended by a fellow student. This resource Education-World was helpful.

Upon searching the Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, I noticed that the abstract was available but the entire article was not. I assume many journals are open access or self-archived. I am not sure it this one is.

iSafe

Many graduate students recommended the iSafe program on the discussion board. I was not aware of the program so I did some research tonight and worked through the Personal Safety video modules.

Need for Safety Education
Personal Safety Online
Definition of Terms
Communicating Online
Online Conversations
Meeting Cyber Friends
NAC Report

I learned some of the dangers associated with utilizing text messaging, social networking sites, chatrooms, and instant messaging. Perhaps most interesting to me was the percentage of young children utilizing these media. The videos were well choreographed and interesting. Although the goals of the organization were stated I wasn't quite sure how this program was used in schools. I plan to do additional research in the future now that I know that this site is available.

No More Writers Block

One of my classmates recommended a site to improve writing skills. Writing Fix is incredibly simplistic in design but seems to be the ticket to engage students in the writing process. Writing Fix for Kids invites children to choose from several games including the color game, top 3 game, and memory game. Within each game children choose from one or several interactive writing prompts. Choosing of writing prompts places the child in control.

One of the new features utilizes the book "No, David" by David Shannon to prompt children to experiment with interjections and exclamation points. After students choose interjections and character choices such as "Whoe, Nellie!" children are encouraged to use these two words in various configurations to write a story.

I am more familiar with "Good Boy, Fergus" by the same author based upon the same theme.

It is a book with few words but a big voice. The authors of this website also define "voice."


The writing shows an awareness of an audience
The writer shows a passion towards the topic
The writer has used devices of style (such as figurative language), when appropriate
The writer has captured a tone or mood (including humor) with words, when appropriate
The writing shows awareness of perspective and point-of-view

I plan to try this activity with my five year old daughter who has a distinct talent for words, reading, and writing.

Revealing Fraud In Email Addresses

I was cleaning out the fish bowl today since we are expecting company over the Thanksgiving holiday. My "fish bowl" is a hand designed glazed piece designed by my ceramics instructor at Kansas State University. I dump all my change, notes, and Forest Service badges in it each evening.

I had a newspaper clipping titled Revealing Fraud In Email Addresses. The article discussed an email message's full header. The header "shows the path that message took across the Internet from the sender to recipient." A detailed explanation of how to read email headers is at http://www.spamlinks.net/track-trace-headers.htm. I read additional information on this site. I assumed this would be a fairly simplistic process to determine the source of the email. I learned, however, with spam their are numerous forgeries embedded in the addresses. It is much more complicated than I anticipated. The consumer safety site OnGuardOnline.gov suggests forwarding it to the bank or institution used in the forged address and to spam@uce.gov. We received a sample of a forged address at work last week. The email asked for personal information and looked exactly like a message from Bank of America.

My First Educational Podcast Download

I downloaded my first educational Podcast on my new Creative Zen V MP3 player today. I downloaded a lecture from Harvard. The Podcast, Harvard Extension School's Computer Science E1: Understanding Computers and the Internet. Their are several lectures in this course available free of charge.

I have found the Zencast really interesting. I copied the information contained in the "about" section below.

Empower your entertainment today with ZENcast
What is ZENcast?ZENcast is the ultimate source for free video blogs and podcasts on the Internet. It provides quick and easy access to a wide range of interesting and entertaining video and audio content online.
All your entertainment travels with you. Watch and listen to the latest news from CNET, BBC, ESPN, RocketBoom and the Singapore Straits Times. Enjoy golfing tips, movie reviews, health and fitness secrets, tech gear reviews and much more - anytime you want. Watch them all on the go with the award-winning ZEN players.
Enjoy the future of television todaySoon, everyone will carry their TV programs, movies, music and more on the go. You now have the power to create your very own Internet TV programs and share it with the world with ZENcast and ZENcast Organizer. It's also extremely easy to create and download video blogs and podcasts.
About podcasts and video blogsPodcasts, short for Personal On Demand broadcast, is defined in the New Oxford Amercian Dictionary as "a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program, made available on the Internet for downloading to a personal audio player".

I am really interested in exploring this new technology. I haven't read the content of Learning Unit 4 of my course but plan to do so over the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Blog Search Engines

Out of curiosity I read about "Blogs" on Wikipedia and selected a Blog search engine. I then attempted to find my recent Blog entry "Map and Compass Training." I chose the search engine Technorati and located my Blog entry on the first page.

I was stunned that Technorati had a catalog for over 55 million Blogs. I entered the key words "Job Corps" and was dismayed as some of the entries. I need to read about Internet security. I understand how easy it is for those intent on doing harm to children to use the information on Blogs. This was a good exercise. Is "Blog" capitalized?

Map and Compass Training

It's 9:40 p.m. and I have just returned from taking 25 Job Corps students to Wal-Mart and JC Penney for a personal clothing purchase. Tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. I have 30 students enrolled in wildland fire training and plan to cover map and compass use utilizing USGS 7.5 minute topographic maps. I also plan to incorporate fire line construction techniques and use of hand tools in the afternoon. It will be a long day because I don't have any help.

In the training I cover types of maps, map symbols and legends, reading the terrain, gradients, contour lines, scale, latitude and longitude, declination, distance, and a host of other topics include a brief introduction to GPS.

I did some additional research and discovered educational curriculums for children through the U.S. Geological Survey. In addition I also discovered that the U.S. Orienteering Federation had links to map and compass training as well as orienteering activities. Although I am not prepared to do so tomorrow, I hope to plan a treasure hunt in an area the students have not visited before to improve their map reading and compass skills.

I Keep Bookmarks

One of the educational purposes of my Blog was to try some of the Internet tools recommended by my fellow students and reflect upon their value. Tonight I explored the IKeepBookmarks tool. I found it relatively easy to use except for understanding of the PopUps feature. I found the tool very useful as I begin my WebQuest development. In addition to links as "Background For Everyone," I am also adding links for development of a role as a forester, historian, wildlife biologist, mayor or representative, firefighter, timber harvester, and rural homeowner. Each of these roles is saved as a folder within the WebQuest folder. My folders and links can be viewed.

Jan Brett Writes Back!

I sent an email to Jan Brett and she responded this weekend. In the email I introduced myself and mentioned that in my University of Missouri distance education class, Learning With the Internet, I had accessed a site BookPals Storyline Online. I encouraged her to read the viewer's comments about the site and also encouraged her to to utilize this technology on her site as well. Finally, I recommended that her books be read to children on BookPals Storyline Online.

This is her response:

Dear Robert,

Thank you for writing to me. It is a pleasure to hear from you. Thanks for coming to my booksigning. I loved having the opportunity to visit together. Thanks also for the website recommendation. It is nifty technology.

Sincerely,

Jan Brett

Not as much dialogue as I would have hoped but it was punctual and it does inspire me to spend more money at Barnes and Noble on childrens books by Jan Brett for my daughter. I'm not sure if Jan actually responded or if she employs people to this for her. Obviously, one of the dilemmas of receiving electronic communication. In my email I didn't state that I had gone to her book signing. This was a trip for my wife and daughter. With millions of books in print I'm sure she has quite a fan club. It will be interesting to see if she changes her website in the future or if one of her books shows up on BookPals Storyline Online. My step-mother read my Blog and recommended the site to the local school librarian in Onaga, Kansas as well last week. Guess that this is what it is all about...sharing of ideas. On a positive note, I did plug the University of Missouri's graduate program in educational technology!

I didn't have access to the Internet this weekend. We left for Manhattan, Kansas on Friday and returned Monday. If was able to write down some topics for future Blog entries and purchased my first MP3 player.

Reader Rabbit For Daughter

That was interesting. I finished my Blog entry for the evening and was not able to Publish Post. As a result I lost my entry and links.

The first educational software title I purchased for my daughter was Reader Rabbit Toddler. Actually, it was contained in a "Fun and Skills Pack" by Encore and the Learning Company. An earlier version than the current title, my daughter enjoyed navigating througout the activities. Her alphabet letter and sound recognition improved as well as her ability to recognize shapes. I think her spatial relationship skills improved as well. She played the "game" together and she looked forward to time on the computer. When she was about 18 months old she was scarred of the CD drive when it opened.

I also viewed a site called Audible.com recommended my one of my graduate school classmates on her Blackboard homepage. I was amazed at the number and variety of book, magazine, and newspaper title that could be downloaded to an iPod or MP3 player. I didn't mention this in the first posting but I'm not sure why so many formats. I would have assumed that a customer would download to the computer then to the MP3 player. Maybe MP3 players can't transmit back to the computer so it keeps people from sharing? Audible.com listed the numerous iPods and MP3 players that would accept downloads. Of course this is a fee site and the price was a bit more than I would hope to pay. I'm sure libraries offer the same service so I'll have to investigate further.

I don't own an MP3 player or iPod but I may be in the market now that I know that the Belkin Tune Cast II Mobile FM Transmitter can transmit music or audio books from the player to the FM receiver in a car or at home. I didn't know this product existed or that I could get one at Wal-Mart for about $20. Wal-Mart has a Creative Labs MuVo V100 1 gb MP3 Player for under $40 with rebate.

Hedgie World Tour '06

Last month my wife and daughter traveled with some friends to Springfield, Missouri, to meet children's author Jan Brett and the Hedgie Blasts Off Tour. Jan Brett has over thirty-one million books in print and is known worldwide. My wife's friend is an instructor at our local community college and works with an organization to bring children's authors to Missouri in October for the Children's Literature Festival of the Ozarks. I noticed on Jan Brett's website that she incorporates a short audio book.

One of my graduate school classmates made me aware of a web site that was different in the way it conveyed literature to children. The site BookPals Storyline Online is made possible through corporate sponsorship and The Screen Actors Guild Foundation. I read the viewer's comments section and was surprised at the variety of uses for website. The website is accessed by viewers around the world. Many people seem to utilize the site to learn English. Teachers utilize the site as part of their education. Others, including special education teachers, felt it was beneficial to improve reading skills. The site uses Flash Player (version 8) at Macromedia.com. Actors read books to children. Many viewers like the human element of reading to children and the video pans back and forth from illustrations to actor. I am going to pass the information along to a friend who is a speech therapist and get her opinion about it's merits in that discipline.

My five year old was attentive throughout the reading of the story she chose. We plan to email Jan Brett through her website to see if her books are featured on BookPals Storyline Online. We'll let you know if she responds.

The Beginning

I have been fascinated with the blogs others have created. This is the beginning of a venture to contribute my own blog as a part of my studies through a University of Missouri distance education course. Undoubtedly, I will make many mistakes and learn from those errors throughout the next six weeks.

If my memory is correct, our family purchased a Radio Shack TRS-80 computer in 1982. http://www.old-computers.com/MUSEUM/computer.asp?c=91

This was replaced by a Commodore 64 that is pictured above. http://oldcomputers.net/c64.html

I took an evening course in BASIC programming at school in Junior High. It took me many hours of painstaking typing to write a program that would run a couple of seconds. I had no idea that the personal computer would revolutionize communication and education around the world. I wasn't interested in computer games and the computer received little use from me. I used a computer program for word processing in 1987 and sent my first electronic communication message in 1991 when I worked for the Department of the Air Force as a civilian Morale, Welfare, Recreation Specialist through the Palace Acquire program.

My daughter began utilizing Reader Rabbit Toddler at age 3. Fortunately, she is very comfortable with the computer and has been teaching her three year old brother. I hope to utilize this blog to review education software and websites that will continue to enhance her education.