In the visual arts world, the assimilation into the digital era has been considered a slow and controversial journey. Even with technological advances, the Fine Arts within the digital arena have usually been confined to high-end graphic design and/or animation professionals because of the costs and learning curves associated with the software tools used. But as tools have become more powerful, user-friendly, and cheaper, their application to the visual arts, especially in education, has become more apparent and easier to implement. In an effort to adopt this philosophy in their courses, Roy Stewart and Monica Tauroney, the art teachers at Perry Junior High, have fully embraced computer technology as an integral part of their curriculum, incorporating their use into all their classes. Over the last few years, they have been using the eMacs in their classrooms for everything from basic research to being the main medium of an entire project. For example, students in Art 7 with Mr. Stewart (pictured below) have used Microsoft Word's 3-D drawing tools and Google Sketch-up to experiment with the concepts of 3-Dimensionality and Linear perspective. Starting with the 3-D tools built into Word, students first learn how to create a sense of depth within their drawings through the understanding and application of concepts as overlapping, shading, and linear perspective with one & two vanishing points. As Stewart points out with the availability of so many powerful 3-D programs and software today, most people would never imagine using Microsoft Word to teach the concepts of 3-Dimensionality. After learning basic concepts with Word's 3-D tools, students then applying the skills they have learned to Google Sketch-Up, another hidden treasure that most people don't even know exists! Google Sketch-Up is a free drawing program with similar but more advanced 3-D rendering tools. The program allows much more freedom and variation in the creation of 3-Dimensional Objects and also gives information about the scale (size comparison) of objects, measurements, view angles, a huge selection of surface textures, and countless other features. After learning all of these skills & techniques for 3-D Drawing, students then create advanced sketches of original buildings they design that use surface textures, lighting, shadows, and account for various perspective angles. Several examples of their amazing work can be seen on Mr. Stewart's website. When asked about why he uses the software to teach, Stewart points out that the use of this software does not necessarily help students to draw but they do help students visualize. Visualization is one of the most important aspects of creating a realistic sense of depth within an artwork and using these programs makes it easier for students to gain mastery over these skills, states Stewart. If you are interested in learning more about how Microsoft Word's 3-D tools or Google Sketch-Up can be used in the classroom, look for classes on My Learning Plan by Mr. Stewart next fall where you can try your hand at 3-D drawing and see how it can play a role in your classroom for you and your students!

The Finder’s Column View is a bit of a black sheep amongst many Mac users, who tend to eschew it in favor of the more traditional icon and list views. However, Column View has its uses. It lets you see exactly where you are in your folder hierarchy, and it’s great for quickly drilling down through a deep folder structure, as you only need to single-click a folder to open it. You can also use it to quickly preview items such as movies and images. Here are a few tips for making Column View a more pleasant experience.

SMART COLUMN RESIZING
One annoying quirk of Column View is the way that long file and folder names get rudely cut off. You may or may not know that you fix this by dragging a column’s resize handle, that little double bar at the bottom of the column’s vertical divider, (circled in the diagram below) to expand a column and view your full file and folder names. But did you know you can double-click the handle to automatically “maximize” the column to fit the width of your longest file or folder name!

CHANGING DEFAULT COLUMN WIDTHS
Talking of resizing columns, you can stretch or shrink all the columns in the Finder window at once by Option-dragging the resize handle of one of the columns.

Even better, Finder remembers this width when opening new Finder windows; Option-drag your columns nice and wide, and they’ll stay that way for evermore.

The same is true with the file selector dialog used when opening or saving files in applications; in this case, Mac OS remembers the column widths on an application-by-application basis. For example, open a file in Word with File > Open, and Option-drag a column handle in the file selector to change the width of the columns. The next time you open or save a file in Word, the file selector retains your chosen column width.

REVEALING LONG FILE NAMES
If you’d rather not bother stretching your column, you can still find out the full name of a truncated file or folder by hovering over it; after a couple of seconds a yellow tool-tip appears showing you the full name. To save time, hold down Option and the tool-tip appears instantly!

WORKING WITH COLUMNS VIA THE KEYBOARD
Here are a few nice keyboard shortcuts that you can use in Column View:

• Press Command-3 to flip a window to Column View. (You can also press Command-1 for Icon View, and Command-2 for List View.)
• Press the Up and Down arrow keys to move between items in a column. In the column to the right, Finder displays a preview of the current item or, if the item’s a folder, the folder’s contents.
• Press the Right arrow key to move into a folder; press the Left arrow key to return to the parent folder.
• Type the first few letters of an item in the current column to select that item. (This also works in Icon and List View.)

MAKING COLUMN VIEW THE DEFAULT
Finally, if you end up falling in love with Column View, you can make it your default view by choosing Finder > Preferences and checking the “Open new windows in column view” option.

Information Please has been providing authoritative answers to all kinds of factual questions since 1938, first as a popular radio quiz show, then starting in 1947 as an annual almanac, and since 1998 on the Internet at infoplease.com. Many things have changed since 1938, but not their dedication to providing reliable information, in a way that engages and entertains. Infoplease.com is a free, easy to use reference tool for Internet users that provides a comprehensive encyclopedia, almanac, atlas, dictionary, and thesaurus on one site. The site contains facts on all subjects including sports, entertainment, technology, education, world news, and United States government and history. Thus it makes a handy and powerful reference tool for students ad educators alike. The site does an excellent job of combining the contents of an encyclopedia, a dictionary, an atlas, and several almanacs loaded with statistics, facts, and historical records on one site. A single search engine allows you to search all these sources at once and the topics may be browsed or searched using an engine which first displays pages containing the search phrase, then pages containing the search terms. Infoplease.com also has a companion site called Fact Monster that presents much of the same content in a manner that makes it appropriate for kids ages 8-14 that provides both entertainment and educational resources.

Interesting features of the site include the Daily Almanac which presents information on famous birthdays, a Word Quiz, and a Link of the Day in an easy to access sidebar area of the site. Other notable features include the Editor's Favorites which lists timely topics for quick access and perusing. Lastly, educators and students will like the Homework Center which provides list various subject areas and provides access to a variety of reference tools and charts. Users can also link directly to the site from using an Infoplease graphic or insert an Infoplease search box directly onto a web page! Several different search boxes and the necessary code are supplied by the site. Overall, this website is a great resource for answering questions that require fast facts, definitions and general information on topics. It is well organized, easy to navigate and the ability to locate this information through a search engine is extremely useful. Overall, a very useful reference product! Check out the site today to see how you can use it in your classroom today! For quick access to some of the key areas of this site, simply use some of the QuickLinks above!

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Eager to learn about new ways to use Mac OS X even better? Come to our monthly OS X "Talk, Tips & Tricks" session. Find out more.

Below are select technology courses to be offered by the Teacher Center over the summer. To learn more, log onto My Learning Plan then click the links below for more details about each class and/or to sign up right now online!

Monday, July 21
Intermediate Web Publishing with SchoolCenter Version 8

Tuesday, July 22
Using the SMART Board Tools & an AirLiner Slate in Your Classroom

Wednesday, July 23
Graphics Processing Level 200 With Photo Booth, Comic Life Magiq, & Fireworks

Thursday, July 24
Mastering Microsoft Word

Friday, July 25
Pages Projects 'O Plenty for Teachers & Students

Monday, August 11
Creative Photography Projects for the Classroom with iPhoto 08 & Comic Life Magiq

Tuesday, August 12
Engaging Easy Online Videos Projects for Students with Photo Booth & QuickTime Pro

Wednesday, August 13
Using iChat & Google Apps for Teacher Communication & Tech Support

Thursday, August 14
Learn About Mac OS X Leopard: The New Cat on the Block

Friday, August 15
Fresh, Fun Ideas for Using Digital Projectors

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