100 posts

Not specifically technology related, but an interesting convergence of numbers that I'm making my 100th post on this blog on the date 11/11/11.

Fun stuff.

ideas for sending multiple text messages

A quick summary of a conversation I had today about sending text messages to multiple recipients.

Remind101.com is set up more for individual teachers, but it may do what you need.

Twilio is a platform for building sms and phone call apps/applications.

If you know which wireless provider each of them subscribes to, you can use email to sms, and even set up a Google Spreadsheet to do that.

Or you could build an Android App (using the App Inventor if you need) that sends multiple messages from your smartphone.

Just a few of my thoughts, hopefully that helps.

Edit: I was reminded that Edmodo allows students and parents to subscribe via email or SMS.

a fix for PowerPoint slideshows

If you find yourself using PowerPoint's feature to show on one screen while you edit on the other, you may get tired of having to switch to the "show" program to advance slides. I wrote a little AutoHotkey scrip that will switch to the PowerPoint slideshow before firing the page or arrow keys:



#NoEnv  ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
SendMode Input  ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.


MsgBox, The PgDn, PgUp, and arrow keys will now switch to the PowerPoint show before enacting. Close the H in the taskbar to quit.


PgDn::
WinActivate, PowerPoint Slide Show
Send {PgDn}
Return


PgUp::
WinActivate, PowerPoint Slide Show
Send {PgUp}
Return


Right::
WinActivate, PowerPoint Slide Show
Send {PgDn}
Return


Left::
WinActivate, PowerPoint Slide Show
Send {PgUp}
Return


Down::
WinActivate, PowerPoint Slide Show
Send {PgDn}
Return


Up::
WinActivate, PowerPoint Slide Show
Send {PgUp}
Return


WheelDown::
IfWinActive, PowerPoint Slide Show
{
Send !{TAB}
}
Send {WheelDown}
Return


WheelUp::
IfWinActive, PowerPoint Slide Show
{
Send !{TAB}
}
Send {WheelUp}
Return

spreadsheet formula for getting domains from email addresses

In case you're using Excel, Google Spreadsheets, or another spreadsheet program and you have a list of email addresses that you'd like to use to get a list of domains, you can use the formula:

=RIGHT(A1, (LEN(A1)-(FIND("@", A1))))


What this gives you is the characters from the RIGHT of the text in cell A1 up to the @ sign. FIND tells the equation where the @ symbol is from the left, which is then subtracted from the LENgth of the text in cell A1.

Vernier Sensors and Arduino (or Teensy) for Data Logging

I've been thinking for a while about inexpensive data logging with Vernier educational sensors and a microcontroller development board. I played around with the TI MSP430 LaunchPad for a while, since it is only $4.30, but it's not quite as beginner-friendly as the Arduino. I eventually settled on the Arduino-compatible Teensy for its low price ($16) and small size.

Vernier does a good job of documenting sensor pinouts and calibration values in each sensor's manual, so I knew that this was a fairly easy project.

Unfortunately the sensors use a BT631A connector, which is difficult to find outside of the UK. I ordered this BT to RJ11 adaptor from DealExtreme, but unfortunately it's only 6P4C and we need 6P6C (6 conductors). All six pins are used by the sensor, but we really only need pins 2, 5, and 6. I'll try ordering something from UXCell or Vernier, but for now I've just used some breadboarding wires stuck into the back of the connector.

The required connections from the sensor are
pin 2 to ground (GND)
pin 5 to +5V (VCC)
pin 6 to an analog in (A0)
(I haven't gotten around to trying out the auto-ID function, but that's not an extremely useful function for my purposes anyway.)

Since this my first real microcontroller project, I followed the tutorials on the Teensy site regarding connecting something to the analog input. I modified some example code by Tom Igoe and came up with:

/*
 Analog input, serial output
 Reads an analog input pin and prints the results to the serial monitor.
 The circuit:
 Vernier probe pin 2: Ground (GND)
 Vernier probe pin 5: +5 V (VCC)
 Vernier probe pin 6: Sensor output (A0)

 created 2011-09-08 by David Hay (misterhay)
 Some code borrowed from example by Tom Igoe

 This code is Creative Commons Attribution (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
*/

// Constants, used to give names to the pins used
const int analogInPin = A0;  // Analog input pin that the probe is attached to
const int ledPin = 11; // The Teensy on-board LED is on pin 11

// Variables
int sensorValue = 0;        // value read from the probe

// The setup, which runs once when the sketch starts
void setup()
{
  Serial.begin(38400);     // initialize serial communications at 38400 bps,

                           // not that this matters since it runs at USB speed
  pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);  // set the digital pin as an output
}

// The actual loop that does the sampling and output to the serial monitor
// This will continue to run as long as the Teensy is plugged in
// Use the Arduino Serial Monitor or some fancy GUI to see the output
void loop()
{
  // read the analog in value:
  sensorValue = analogRead(analogInPin);           

  // print the results to the serial monitor:
  Serial.println(sensorValue);     

  // wait 10 milliseconds for the analog-to-digital converter to settle
  delay(10);
}

Watch the output in a serial monitor program on your computer, and paste it into a spreadsheet program for graphing. Eventually I'll build a GUI for adjusting sample rates and number of sensors and maybe some live graphing, add some calibration, and put it in a better enclosure.

thoughts from ISTE 2011

Here are some of my observations and thoughts from the recent ISTE Conference.

Links I came across:

speakwisdom.com
ischoolinitiative.com
https://web.kennesaw.edu/etc/byot check out the lawyer's presentation
 

manning.com/ceder/
nextvista.org videos for students (Rushton Hurley)

Met at the dinner reception:
http://www.fcps.edu/ChesterbrookES/qrcodes.htm

Free children’s audiobooks:
http://talesfromtheforest.co.uk/stories.html

Google Apps Education Training Center
http://edutraining.googleapps.com/

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration kids games
http://games.noaa.gov/

JASON Science
http://www.jason.org/public/whatis/start.aspx

Open Education Resources
http://www.k12opened.com/wiki/index.php/Learn_About

Topics I was interested in:

game-based learning
3D design/printing/CNC
student-owned devices
citizenship / online identity
science data collection

programming/computing science
girls in science/tech
flipped instruction
sturdy headset for language labs

distance/asynchronous/blended learning
assessment
asynchronous/flipped professional development
Administrators as technology leaders
open source
robotics
libraries
online collaboration
just-in-time teaching (versus just-in-case)
open content
student media creation (and portfolios)

bringing technology to #ISTE11

We've had some discussion in my office about what technology to bring to the ISTE conference. Here are my thoughts and what I'm bringing.

• iPad (or other tablet) for attending sessions
• with audiobooks, books, and videos
• laptop or netbook for writing and Skype/Google Talk
• iPod Touch for walking around at night, and probably for the plane rides
• also with audiobooks, books, and videos

Calling home:
Skype - for video calls between computers, iPad 2, iPhone, TVs, etc
Google Talk - free calls to Canada and US phones from within Gmail, free video calls to computers

And I'm leaving my phone at home, since even with a US plan it's still about $40 for 40 minutes and $30 for 0.01 GB of data.

While I'm at #ISTE11, I'll be posting to Twitter (@misterhay) and this blog.