Category: Exploring Tech

Website Review Guidelines

Your web page must be educational and include specific, appropriate content related to the provided topic. It must not be a page that only includes links to other websites.

You should not write your review until it has been approved by the instructor as being relevant and unique (i.e. not already chosen by another student). To get the website approved, fill in this form and see your instructor ASAP.  [teacher link]

Submission Form


[Teacher Link]

Review Format

After the website has been approved, write the review using this format:

Title
URL

Intro paragraph — “I chose this website because…” (or similar)

Review paragraphs, for each of the four categories shown below.

Ratings, as shown below.

Use the following rating system for the review, giving the website of 1-5 (in asterisks) for the categories shown:

Educational: *****
Organization: *****
Suitability: *****
Aesthetics: *****

…as well as an Overall rating from 1-5.

To submit your review, you will be given a link to a Google Document where you can write your review.

Example Review

DC Circuits
http://www.physics.uoguelph.ca/tutorials/ohm/Q.ohm.html

I chose this website because it had content that looked like it closely matched what we were learning in class.

Educational: This site has a lot of useful information such as Ohm’s Law and basic schematic diagrams but it doesn’t take the time to make the concepts clear for the reader (important if you’re new to electronics like me). I would have appreciated more applied explanations of the topics before just leaping in like they did.

Organization: A side navigation bar would be greatly beneficial to this website. I found it troublesome to have to go to the bottom of every page to choose my destination. The provided links do the job though (i.e. Back, Next, Return to Main…)

Suitability: This site is fairly suitable for our class as it touches on similar electronics-related topics, however I would not recommend it as a resource simply because there is much clearer, well laid-out information available on other sites on the web.

Aesthetics: This site has a very uninteresting look to it. It makes it easy to read, but does not grab your attention or interest.

Ratings:

Educational: **
Organization: ***
Suitability: ***
Aesthetics: *

Overall: ***

Marking Method

10% will be deducted if there is no title.

Up to 10% will be deducted for each grammar or spelling error that has to be fixed.

Up to 10% will be deducted for each category of the rating system that is not mentioned in the review (which is impossible to do if you follow the guidelines!).

20% will be deducted if there is no rating.

Things Not To Say in Your Review

“This website contains a large amount of information on it.” (Be specific about content.)
“All I can say is Wow. After finding many sites that didn’t do jack for me I found a great site. I found it hard to believe that this site is hosted on a Geocities account.” (A lot of words without saying anything specific about the site.)
“This website is jam packed full of goodies.” (What kind of goodies? Be specific about content.)
“This site is very nice.” (Says nothing about the site.)

Chrome Sign In

For students having trouble signing into Chrome with their DSBN account, enter this address directly into the Chrome address bar and you should be able to sign in properly:

chrome://chrome-signin

Why sign into Chrome?

It will sync your bookmarks and Chrome extensions so wherever you are logged into Chrome (other classes, at home, on your laptop) everything will be sync’d.

Resistor Colour Code

Color Digit value Multiplier Multiplied Out Tolerance
Black 0 100 1
Brown 1 101 10
Red 2 102 100
Orange 3 103 1,000
Yellow 4 104 10000
Green 5 105 100,000
Blue 6 106 1,000,000
Violet 7 107 10,000,000
Gray 8 108 100,000,000
White 9 109 1,000,000,000
Gold ±5%
Silver ±10%

See also http://www.eeweb.com/toolbox/4-band-resistor-calculator for an online resistance calculator.

The Design Process

Design Process

This design process model is based on the Ontario 2008 Technological Education curriculum.

From the curriculum:

“Although processes such as this involve a framework of sequential steps, they are typically iterative processes that may require a retracing of steps, diversions to solve specific problems along the way, or even a return to the start of the process if it becomes clear that the situation needs to be clarified and the problem redefined. Problem solvers soon discover that the process calls for an open mind, the freedom to be creative, and a great deal of patience and persistence.”

The graphic above is based on one created by Jackie Griffith. Thanks to Jackie for allowing me to adapt it.

Here’s a comical look at the design process! (click to view full size)

Comical View of the Design Process

Email Assignment

Awkward!
Picture source unknown.

Class Email Protocol

Be sure to include the course code in the subject line as well as some indication of what the subject is. Do not leave the subject line blank. An appropriate subject for this email assignment would be:

TGJ2O Email Assignment

When replying, please include any previous dialog we have already had.

Assignment Overview

Send me an email from your “permanent and professional use” email account (see below). In it, please tell me:

  • why you took this course,
  • what you are hoping to do in this course,
  • whether or not you are pursuing a career related to this course,
  • what background you have in this subject (hobbies, previous courses), and
  • what mark you hope to get.

(It might help to copy-and-paste the questions into your email.)

Note: be sure to read the Class Email Protocol above so you know what is expected in the subject line.

After I receive your email, I will send a quick reply so you are added to my address book.

The email address for you to send to will shared with you in  class.

What is a “Professional and Permanent” Email Account?

A professional use email account is one that you would not be embarrassed to use with your employer or with the public. It must also be an accurate representation of your full name, not a nickname. Also, it must be an email address that is not related to your ISP (Internet Service Provider). Good, permanent email hosts are Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo. My own preference is Gmail because it integrates with tools like Google Drive and Docs, Google Photos, Google Keep, and other products.

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How to Save URLs in a Project Folder

This video will show you how to save URLs into your project folder. This is necessary when creating and submitting projects that use assets from the Internet.

Always give credit where it is due!