CEDO 540 Stats - week 5

This week we covered some interesting statistics sites like the CDC, NCES, and WINSS.  I haven't been to most of those sites so it was interesting to explore them a little more in depth.  I also thought it was interesting because I was exploring the sites from a statistical analysis viewpoint.  One of the statistical sites that I chose on my own was the Mapping Service provided by the City of Greenfield.  I love GIS/Mapping and there are similar services provided for almost any decent sized city or county.  It is so interesting to look at the different layers of information that encompass a parcel of land.

Another tool we looked at was Google Trends.  It was interesting to see how certain hot topics or search terms fluctuated in popularity in relation to events that might have happened.  It was also interesting to see how certain search terms compared to each other in popularity over certain periods of time.  I am hoping that the social studies teacher will find some way to incorporate Google Trends into their current events assignments.  I could also see other teachers using this with students to show them how interest in certain topics is influenced by major events in politics, sports, Hollywood or even the world.

CEDO 540 Stats - week 4

This week we worked some more with standard scores (or z-scores) in the guided practice.  I have to be honest that it seemed a lot harder this week.  Our instructor gave us some sample problems that helped but analyzing the data using this method is pretty tough.  I'm guessing it gets easier with practice but I'm pretty turned off by it right now.  At this point, if I ever ran across a situation where I needed/wanted to analyze some data sets and show the implications of the z-score I'd be very likely to find someone who could do it more painlessly.  Or even better, I'd find a piece of software or an application that could do it for me.  Don't get me wrong, the data is extremely valuable...the path to getting that final data is the painful part.

Our survey group assignment is finally finished except for the final analysis part.  We decided to use Google Forms to administer the survey because of the ease in creating a survey and the ease in sharing the resulting spreadsheet among the group members but I almost wish we had tried something else.  Gathering the raw data through the Google Form is not an issue at all.  It is manipulating the data that causes some minor headaches.  I am pretty good with MS Excel so writing some of the formulas came pretty easy but Google spreadsheets are not nearly as smart as Excel when it comes to auto-fill and dragging your formulas around.  I knew what I was getting into with Google Forms - I just wish we had tried something else that did the reporting for you.

Finally the Bill Tancer video.  It is not surprising to me what kind of data is being mined by ISPs and the such but it is the mystery of where that data is going and how it might be used that is scary.  Internet privacy, or lack thereof is one of those things that you try not to think about.  I remember putting together an advertisement on Facebook when I was working for a Social Sports League and the detailed specifics when it came to choosing what demographic we wanted it to hit was amazing.  We could specify an age range, geographic area, salary range, people interested in sports, and the list goes on.  Its not going to get any less invasive either.  Not sure what can be done besides "unplugging yourself from the grid" and that is not going to happen anytime soon for me lol.

CEDO 540 Stats - week 3

The new term we added this week that interested me was standard scores or Z-scores.  Here is a link to a good explanation of Z-Score , how it is calculated and how it can provide a meaningful way to compare data and understand how defective a process is.


Our group assignment will take a few weeks but I am eager to get started.  The assignment is to create a survey, administer it, collect the data, and then provide an analysis of the data using various statistical averages, calculations, and charts or graphs.  My group was deciding between using Survey Monkey and Google Forms.  Ultimately we decided to use Google Forms because of it's ability to share the collected data easily, we are all familiar with it and it is not limited to 10 questions like Survey Monkey.  Our topic will be Internet Safety and our targeted student groups will be grades 4 through 8.  We are expecting to see a difference between the knowledge of grades 4/5 and grades 6/7/8.  I will start administering the survey on Monday with my classes so we'll see what happens.

CEDO 540 - week 2

This week we talked about some more terminology and topics.  We talked about terms like census, sampling, opinion, marketing research, quantitative research, paid survey, and questionnaire.  It turns out that my memory was a little hazy when it came to defining these terms.  I had some basic understanding but there were some missing connections that I neglected to make.  It was good to review them.  I have to admit that I am still a little confused about skew.  I understand the creation of the "tail" when taking sets of numbers and deciding how the typical bell curve would look but I don't quite understand how to decide if its skewed to the left or right.


One of the main focuses this week was the survey.  We took a look at a website called Capterra that listed good survey resources, both online and offline software packages.  It might have a slight bias towards their "featured" survey tools but it still would be a good place to start when looking for survey options.  We were asked to review both free and paid survey services and analyze 3 of each.  We found that almost every online survey tool had a certain level of free features and then an option to upgrade by paying for some of the more powerful features.  Survey Monkey, Adobe FormsCentral, and Google Forms were my favorites.

CEDO 540 - Week 1 Stats and beyond

I really love stats.  From looking at sports stats and figuring out trends to analyzing the results of surveys I have really enjoyed working with statistics.  This first week was kind of an introduction to some basic terminology and we were to analyze a few scenarios as a group and then document the different situations and identify how stats were used.  I am very eager to delve deeper into the world of stats and come up with ways that I can use them to improve my teaching, training and even make improvements to my school.  There is a small part of me that is a little scared because I remember having a Stats class in high school that got really in-depth and I didn't do so well.  Hopefully I can handle it if we get that involved.

CEDO 535 - Facilitating Collaboration using Web Tools - Final Post

S Specific - I was trying to choose from two different goals for this final post.  Goal #1 is to get students blogging in the true sense where they are not just responding to a prompt but exploring a topic beyond the original prompt and using each other's responses as a resource.  Goal #2 is to integrate using an RSS reader into my daily or weekly routine so that it may help my professional development.  I know that I will achieve the first goal since I already have things in place for it to happen in the next week or two so I will choose to focus on Goal #2: Using the RSS Reader.  My goal will be to setup and check Google reader on a weekly basis.  If I can manage the weekly monitoring of the RSS reader I may try checking it more frequently.

M Measurable - Proving that I am checking my Google reader is kind of tricky since it is a personal goal and not one that I can show a resulting product as if I were to do something with students.  The only thing that I can think of that will keep me honest is if I tell myself that I will forward at least 1-2 articles from the RSS Reader to colleagues on a weekly basis.

A Attainable - Figuring out how to set it up is not the issue.  It is already setup in my Google account.  I've also found 15-20 good blogs and other informational sources to follow.  I even think that making time for it won't really pose a problem.  The main deterrent for me right now is remembering to check it.  That is why I am going to configure an iGoogle page logged into my account as my home page in my web browsers.  I plan on putting the Google Reader feed as part of the iGoogle page so that as soon as I open up my browser I am smacked in the face with it.

R Realistic - I thought about being realistic when I chose the terms of the goal.  I was tempted to make the frequency of the goal checking it every day but I figured I would start smaller scale by making myself responsible for checking it on a weekly basis.  I thought that was much more realistic and I can always adjust the frequency if I find I need the information more often.

T Timely - Last Friday was the end of the 2nd quarter at my school so I will set the timeline for this to be accomplished for the end of the 3rd quarter which falls on March 28th.  That essentially gives me 8 weeks to achieve this goal.  After the 8 weeks are up I will evaluate whether I met the requirements of the goal and take it from there.

CEDO 535 - Facilitating Collaboration using Web Tools - Week 5

     This week we were supposed to finish creating a Google site or Wiki, create an EyeJot and give some thoughts about Web 2.0 tools and their impact on us and explore a Web 2.0 application that we hadn't explored in class.
     The Google Site was the easy part for me since I already use a Google site for my classroom website.  I put assignments on there, upload important files, provide screen casts, allow students to submit assignments electronically through a form (JotForm), provide links to web resources, and link Google forms for quizzes and surveys.  It is essentially just like a Wiki when you think about how Google Sites are setup.  All you really need to do is share the site with others and give them editing rights and now you have multiple users all capable of adding content.
     The Eyejot was a babbling mess.  I had ideas written down but whenever that camera starts recording I turn into a stuttering fool.  I hope at least some of it made sense. Web 2.0 EyeJot
     Perhaps the most enjoyable part of this week was finding a Web 2.0 app called Pearltrees.  It is basically a hybrid of an idea mapper and a social bookmarking site.  The collaboration aspect works great as you are allowed to search other people's "pearl trees" for information and web resources.