Did You Know?

This is such a powerful video that provokes discussion and reflection on the exponential growth of technology in our world. Although America is a leader in technological innovation, are we using our full potential to benefit the future of education? The environment? The economy? Our world? If not, why and what can we do as educators, business leaders, legislators to be the change we want to see?

Ken Robinson, TED & Creativity

As an educator and grandmother, I found the premises and concepts presented by Sir Ken very enlightening and thought-provoking. His ideas regarding creativity and our children’s capacity to learn emphasized how integral creativity is to impactful education. Intelligence is diverse, distinct and dynamic – our education system needs to recognize our children’s creative capacity.

What’s On the Inside?

Remember last month I mentioned that I knew a little about the inside of a computer? Well, now I know so much more and want to share my newfound knowledge with all who are interested. Below is an outline about computer hardware (the guts of the machine) created using mindmapping.

Computer Hardware

• hard drive
  • file cabinet – stores data (long-term memory)
  • mechanical
• cpu (central processing unit)
  • brain of computer
  • different speeds (single, dual, quad)
• RAM (random access memory)
  • processes info computer is currently using (short-term memory)
  • electronic
  • main memory
• storage
  • memory cards
  • flash drives
  • back ups are important
    • do it frequently
    • three places are better than one
  • extenal hard drives
  • DVD drives
• ports
  • USB
  • firewire
    • good for external peripherals
    • better for high bandwidth devices
• wireless
  • allows freedom (portability)
    • WIFI
      • within 200 ft of broadcasting device (network)
    • infrared
      • used with remotes (i.e. wireless mouse or remote)
    • bluetooth
• software
  • operating system
    • allows cpu to interact with applications
    • types
      • Windows (IBM compatible)
      • Linux (Mac)
  • applications
  • data files
• display (monitor)
  • LCD (liquid crystal display)
  • size matters
• multimedia cards
  • graphic & sound controllers
    • sound cards
    • video cards
• computer system
  • motherboard
    • allows components to work together
  • power supply
  • CD/DVD