Mr. Damon's terminale IB
ITGS - class of 2008

This page is to inform you of your homework, exam revision and any other information you will need.  The assignments will be listed in reverse chronological order so that the most recent work will be on top of the list.  When it says "To Do for Week 2", that means that what is listed must be completed for the second lesson.  

(See below the box for homework)

To Do Every Week:

• Have a look at technology news on TV, in newspapers or on some of the sites listed above, notably the NPR Technology News podcasts.  Keep up-to-date on how information technology is being used to help businesses, hospitals, governments, schools, or the entertainment industry.  This will help you in your essay writing and class discussions because you will have a wide variety of real-life examples and you will build a collection of news items and vocabulary words
• Keep up with project work and log books.  You should be spending about an hour a week on project work, so if you have not already done so, plan a time in your weekly schedule that you will dedicate to project stuff. 

Exam Revision:

• For Papers 1 and 2  same revision: 

To do for Thursday 13 December:

• Bring back exams.  They do not need to be signed. 

For Thursday 15 November, 2007:

• Are you ready for the exams next week?  Have a look at the revision box below.
• Are you up to date on your project work?  Have a look at the green calendar below.
• For Thursday and Friday's lessons we will be working on robotics and on any revision questions you have. 

For robotics, here are a few sites to check out:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotics
• http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/robot.htm
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ju4upwhdvM shadow hand robot
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cAwzSZqO_w Japanese robots
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysU56JzBjTY Hanson life-like face
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx35zMyFJ94 Albert Einstein
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFgXEkzMq7A Asimo the robot.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0D69aUP3tA robotic surgery ad
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NZLpWrJGgk da Vinci robot for surgery - warning: there are views of internal organs being worked on by the surgeon. 

Revision for BB 3 in November 2007:

• All of the social and ethical issues.
• Section 2.1.1 Systems Fundamentals
• Section 2.1.2 Networks
• Section 2.2.1 Software Fundamentals
• Section 2.2.2 Databases and Spreadsheets
• Section 2.3.1 The Internet
• Section 2.4.2 Artificial Intelligence and Expert Systems
• Section 2.4.3 Robotics
• although we did not go into much detail for the other sections, there may be concepts which we have covered in podcasts or during class discussion. 

You will have a normal Paper 1 and Paper 2. 

Remember my compositions groupées revision guide?  Have a look at some of my suggestions for successful revision and test-taking skills. 
 

For Thursday 18 October, 2007:

• Be sure to keep up with your project work (one to two hours a week!) - you should be done with at least one of your beta testers by now and moving on to the second.
• Make a new calendar for your log book showing the final weeks.
• If you are doing an EE with me, be sure to contact me for an appointment.

Project Work:

Here is my calendar of deadlines over the coming weeks - do not just print this out for your log books - make your own!

For Friday 28 September, 2007:

• We will continue to go over the program to see how far we are so have a look and see if there are certain sections you think we need to spend more time on.

For the Week of Sept 17 to 21, 2007:

• Log books will be checked on Thursday.  Here is what I will be looking for:
  • Any previous work that you missed which should have been done before such as passting the checklist or the IB criteria for the project in you log book - if there is a comment or a low evaluation of anything I checked already, make sure you have fixed it.
  • Evidnece of evolution of your product from the early stages to present with screenshots along the way.  Remember that the planning stage is what gets the most points.
  • a new calendar showing what will be done in September and October so that you can finish everything by November: 
  • Evidence that you have planned the testing phase with Beta Tester 1 and 2.  Include the questionnaires that you will be using. 
  • As always, follow your checklists and your IA criteria in the guide.
• Extended Essay people need to set up meetings with me.  I said it in class last week and no one set up a meeting!   
• Some of you have not yet sent me your email update described below. 

Back to School 2007:

• Note that all teachers' email addresses will change from .com to .net by the end of the month of September.  Please change my address accordingly. 
• Please send me an email stating your progress in your project work over the summer.  Send the message to both my .com and to my .net and we'll see which one works...
• If you are doing an EE with me, please give me an update by email as well. 
• You will need to update your calendar on your project (log book).  I will be checking the log books soon to see your progress since June.
• Keep listening to the podcasts...  

For the week of Monday 21 May to Fri 25 May:

• For the Bac Blanc 2.5, as I'm calling it, be sure to follow the revision list in the green box below.

• Instead of being in the computer room for the exams, it would be much better to stay in the  rooms Miss Burchill put on the timetables you received.  (T13 on Tues and T12 on Fri)

• i-Sounds CD:  If you would like to buy my latest album (well, it's not just mine, Miss Burchill, Mr. Hoult, Mr; Briggs and many student from the IB are performing on it), please contact me.  The CDs are on sale for 10Euros and the money will go to help a humanitarian association.  Click here to see our previous albums.

For the week of Monday 14 May to Fri 18 May:

• No class on Friday May 18th so Tuesday is the last chance to ask about revision.

• For the Bac Blanc 2.5, as I'm calling it, be sure to follow the revision list in the green box below.

• Keep up with project work.  Have you stuck or stapled all the documents into it?  See previous weeks' homework assignments if you don't know what these are...

• EE people should make an appointment to see me sometime before the "Special Courses" week to see where to move on from here. 

• All of Seciton 1 about the Social and Ethical issues.  But remember, this is just a starting point.  It is possible that you will be asked to discuss other issues on an exam question. 
• All of Section 3 about Areas of Impact, although we have focussed most on Business & Employment, Health and Education. 
• The following parts of Section 2:
  • Sections 2.1.1 and 2.1.2
  • Sections 2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.2.3
  • Section 2.3.1 and some of 2.3.2 (such as cell phones, digital entertainment, etc.)
• In addition, it is recommended that you:
  • memorize the four terms in bold on Page 3 of the ITGS guide.
  • reread the Objectives of ITGS on Page 5.
  • remember the "triangle" on Page 8.
  • learn the Key Questions listed on Page 10.
• Be sure you really know your IT terms, as the exams have more and more emphasis on these. 

For the week of Monday 7 May to Fri 11 May:

• No class on Tuesday May 8th because of a French holiday. 

• Keep up with Project work - many students' log books are not up to where they should be.  Now that you have evidence that the problem exists and you should be finished with Criterion G, you should be working on the Feasibility Study which is Criterion H.  There should be evidence of this in your log book (see ITGS guide and my "ABCD" checklist to see what needs to be done).

For the week of Monday 30 April to Fri 4 May:

• No class on Tuesday May 1st because of a French holiday. 

• Keep up with Project work - your log books will be ckecked on Friday since I have to sign your carnets that day.  Now that you have evidence that the problem exists and you should be finished with Criterion G, you should be working on the Feasibility Study which is Criterion H.  When I check your log book, I should see evidence of this (see ITGS guide and my "ABCD" checklist to see what needs to be done).

• Bring your log books and your carnets on Friday teh 4th. 

• For my EE candidates, the 1st draft deadline is fast approaching (May 10th).  Some of you have asked to see me before you pass it in - that's a good idea if you need some help.  Keep looking at the following documents:  your calendar, the EE guide, my checklist.  If you have not done so, send me your list of web sites.  On the cover sheet of your final EE, I am asked to make a comment on how well you worked.  Respecting internal deadlines and following my suggestions are part of what I comment on.  (Get the hint?)

EE work which should have been done during the holiday:

• Continue working on your Extended Essay research.

• You should have about a dozen resources by now.  Any interesting web sites should be sent to me so that I can see how your research is going.

• Continue to look at the EE guide from the IB, and at the checklist I gave you to see what needs to be done. 

• Really sit down and think about the social and ethical issues you are going to examine.  

   

To Do for Tuesday the27th of March:

• Project Assignment Number 2: 

  • you need to have concrete evidence that your problem really exists

  • you need to set up a week-by-week calendar of your work from now to October 2007.  By mid June, you should have a working product which you have already tested on the two beta testers and refined it according to their comments. 

• Have you decided which day and time of the week you will do your one hour of project work? 

• Keep up with the learning and understanding of the IT terms we are going over and don't forget to listen to the weekly podcasts.   

To Do for Friday the 16th of March:

• Bring your logbook to class so it can be checked.  It should have at least 2 or 3 entries so far.  Remember, you are asked to do an hour of project work every week. 

• The next step is to get real evidence that tbe problem you have chosen for the project.  Put anything related to this in your logbook.

• The next step (which will be due Tuesday 20 March is to have a calendar of how you plan to divide up your project work.  This calendar will eventually be placed in your final report. 

To Do for Friday the 9th of March:

• Complete the "First Project Assignment" listed in the section below. 

• Here is the checklist which I use at the end of your project work to see if you have followed the criteria.  Remember, the best things in life work when people keep the end in mind:  if you know where you are going, many questions will answer themselves

  • Project Checklist with ABCD.doc (right-click on it and save it to your ITGS folder)

• Here's how you should use that document now:  change all the past tense questions into commands.  For example, change "Have you described the current system" into "Describe the current system."

• Decide for yourself which morning or afternoon of the week you are going to dedicate to project work.  You should spend about an hour a week on it from now until June.  There should be at least 2 or 3 log book entries every week.  

• Create a folder on your USB key called "ITGS Project" and make regular backups of it.

For the week after the February "holiday":

• We will be officially starting our project work now.  This means you should get a Log Book for the project because it says in the criteria that the first entry in the log book should be from the project's kick-off date.  A logbook should be a bounded notebook of about 80 pages.  You probably won't fill it all with writing but you will be pasting in sheets which you have printed out.  Remember that you get many more points for the process of how you did the project rather than for the final product. 

• Although you probably have an idea about what you want to make as a product (Power Point, video, web page, etc.), DO NOT mention it yet - that will come later.  Your first job is to find a real problem in a real context and to find your client. 

• First Project Assignment:  answer the following on paper or send it by email...

  1. Who is your client?  (Remember, the client is the person you are helping.  He or she must be an adult and must be someone you can keep in contact with easily.)

  2. What is the problem that you hope to solve?  In your description of the situation, be sure to indicate the social context such as school, hospital, business, hotel...

  3. What evidence suggests that this problem really exists?  This question is to make sure you are not just making up the problem in your head. 

• This is an important stage in the project because if you start out with a weak idea or your client is not a reliable person, the whole project could be doomed from the start and you would never get the points you hoped for. 

• If you have changed your mind since we last spoke about the project, that's OK - it's not too late yet.  But once this first assignment is checked and I validate your choice, you will not be able to change again.  

• You can download the all-new ITGS project checklist which I made.  It is what I will use to help me grade your final project next year. 

  • Project Checklist with ABCD.doc

• Finally, as I have said in class, I really want to push you to get as much done now in your première year.  Most of my terminale students have pushed their project work too late and regretted it.  There is so much to do in terminale that you won't have as much time to work on this.  You should plan on spending a an hour or more on your project every week from now until June.    That means about 15 hours of work this first year.  The guide suggests a total of 20 hours but good projects usually require more.  That will be part of a future project assignment:  writing out a calendar to plan your work. 

For the Exam...

When you sit down to study - on your desk in front of you, have the following things:

• the IB Programme Guide for ITGS

• all your class notes (you should have a paper notebook by now)

• all your flash cards of IT terms (you should easily have dozens by now) and blank ones for making new cards of words you do not know

For the week of January 29th:

• I have decided that everyone must have an ITGS Class Notebook for taking notes in class. 
  • Although many of you have been typing notes, there are many limitations to that, the most important one being that in order to study your notes, you need access to a computer. 
  • I will be checking this week on Tuesday and Friday that everyone has started an ITGS Class Notebook.  So please buy and / or make one. 
  • If you have typed notes, print them out and put them into your new notebook. 
  • The notebook can be whatever format you like, but one suggestion is to follow the same format as my science class notebook. 
• If you have not subscribed to the Digital Planet podcast, please do so.  (See box at the top of this page for the link).  Then listen to it every week.  Through iTunes is the best way because it saves the old shows for you on your hard disk and you can access the "Show Description" to see the summary of each episode. 
• Double check the reminders below - see "For January"

For January

• Mostly this month we should be getting as far as possible with vocabulary and concepts in the program. We will also be getting more practice with "discuss" questions to be ready for the exams in February.
• However, we are starting to think about the ITGS progect, too so have a look at the program guide to read about what you are expected to do. 
  • The more you get done in 1ère, the less you'll have to do in Terminale. 
  • The best projects are the ones which address real life problems with people in your life who are easy to keep in contact with on a week to week basis. 
  • The product you make should be ambitious and challenging but doable within several months. 

For the Week of December 4th to the 8th

• Students doing their Extended Essay in ITGS are reminded to contact me for an appointment to discuss research questions.  It is also highly recommended to email ideas before writing up the outline which is due on the 7th.
• We will be discussing the following podcast:  BBC World Service Digital Planet 27 Nov 2006 so it might be a good idea to have a listen on your own.  (Follow the link and click on "Listen Now" or go through i-Tunes.) 

Paper 1...

Paper 1 will be in class on Tuesday 21 November.  Remember, it is composed of short-answer questions (no essays).  The revision is exactly the same as Paper 2.  It is a one hour paper and we only have 1 hour of class, so be sure to be on time - you'll start working as soon as you arrive. 

For the Exam...

When you sit down to study - on your desk in front of you, have the following things:

• the IB Programme Guide for ITGS

• all your class notes of things written on the board or discussed in class

• all your flash cards of IT terms (you should easily have dozens by now) and blank ones for making new cards of words you do not know

To Do in class on Friday 22 Sept:

• Continue working on your article.  As you read, highlight terms and ideas in the following way:  IT terms, social and ethical issues, stakeholders. 
• For the IT terms, make a list and give each one a definition.  Cite your sources using Citation Machine.
• Construct the analysis triangle we have been working on and use information from your article to complete it. 
• Using Citation Machine, create a full bibliographical entry for the article. 

To Do in class on Friday 15 Sept:

• Answer the following practice questions about the podcast we listened to last week. Questions.
• The next NPR Tech News podcast to listen to is the Wed 13 Sept show, which should be available 24 hours after the show. 

To Do the First Week of Classes:

• Sign up for the NPR podcast listed above.
• Familiarize yourself with my website by visiting pages such as the Student Guide,  How to Contact Mr. Damon, etc.
• download the ITGS Programme Guide from Miss Burchill's web site (she sent you the link)  You do not need to print out the whole thing - the most important part for now is the section called Syllabus Details. 

© A.W. Damon 2008