A friend came to me asking for help. This friend’s Facebook account has been hacked. The hackers are now asking for money using the compromised account. This is particularly effective since this is an account that lots of people have interacted with for quite a while. So, friends and relatives are responding to requests for money. Since this is a “known” account, the request has more import. The hackers are benefitting since people are sending money.
This is not a famous person. This person is not “rich”. There isn’t really anything extraordinary (that others would know, the person is a really, really good person). There aren’t any keys that would say that this person is a high-value target.
Looking into fixing this is complex. The hackers have since added MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) to the account. Thus, working through the Facebook recovery process is unsuccessful (since MFA is on, the hackers get the code to recover).
We’ve walked through all the steps, and now await a response from Facebook. Luckily, access to the email account used to set up the Facebook account. However, we are now at the step where the only way to recover the account may be to upload a copy of identification (driver’s license, passport, etc.). So now, the friend is faced with the decision of giving Facebook even more information (copy of legal documents) or losing the account. The friend has sent an email stating that there is a violation of privacy terms, so we’re hoping that will prompt action.
I haven’t used Facebook or Instagram in quite a while. So, I decided to follow my own advice and check to see if I had MFA turned on. Guess what? I did not. I do now.
So that’s the plea. Check your accounts to make sure that you have MFA (2-step authentication) turned on. Check those old accounts that you don’t really use. Do a full audit of all accounts. Don’t wait until it’s too late.
Long ago (apparently 2014), I registered https://troypatterson.me as my “home” on the web. When I registered it, I tried to get troypatterson.com.
However, there is a famous writer named Troy Patterson (who registered the domain troypatterson.com in 2010). Interestingly, the domain automatically forwards to troydpatterson.com.
At the time, I tried to get troyrpatterson.com as well. That was also taken by the aforementioned Troy Patterson. It does seem to be available now, but I’m happy with my little spot on the Internet.
So, I ended up taking troypatterson.me. Little did I know that in a way, that would turn out to be prophetic. See, now I live in Maine, where the state abbreviation is ME. So, I guess I now have Troy Patterson of Maine as my website address.
Well, technically not a week, but a “weeks” note. I apparently fell off the posting regularly wagon once again.
AI
AI continues to dominate the thoughts and news (around education and in general). Some are saying that this will bring about as big of a change as mobile phones did. I’m not sure that I’m there yet, but I do think that there is “something” there. Currently, I’m thinking that AI will be more and more integrated into other tools. We are already seeing a good bit of that.
Mother-in-Law Visit
My Mother in law visited for a couple of weeks. In order to increase her comfort level, we’ve added a day bed to our setup. I think that she had a good time visiting a variety of places.
Continuing Redecorating
We headed off to the Vault and ended up picking up a couple of lamps. The original goal was to pick up a desk and chair that Rm had previously spied.
Rm also found a cabinet for the kitchen. That one was the result of the trip to see D2 at D1’s house. The real struggle was getting the cabinet (two pieces) into the Bronco. Ultimately, we failed. D1 came and took the top half of the cabinet.
Indictment
One of the biggest news pieces this week has been the indictment of Donald Trump (which he referred to as being “INDICATED”, in all caps of course). There were tons of people (especially politicians) coming out in defense of Trump before the charges were even revealed. Trump is, of course, using this as a fundraising opportunity – (Hey, I’m a billionaire who is really business smart, and you make minimum wage, but I need $47 from you for my defense).
Principal Fill In
Due to the Principal and Vice Principal being out, I did some duties as the Administrator. The challenge for me has been the difference in culture. The most important thing in filling in is to support the vision and culture existing in the school. Some of my expectations and requirements are very different from what is in place.
BookWyrm
I’m exploring Bookwrym as a reading tracking site.
Recently I was asked to create a Lock Down environment for students writing essays. This is definitely a direct response to ChatGPT and similar tools.
I’ve set up Moodle with Safe Exam Browser. This is well supported by Moodle. However, I had to make sure to add a “Quit Password” to the assignment. It is also easiest to let Moodle take care of the configuration. It is absolutely crucial to set a “Quit Password”.
Next, the teacher wants two things:
A Word Count for students
Indented paragraphs
The good news is that there is a plugin for the Atto Editor called Word Count. Not surprisingly, that provides a Word Count feature directly within the Atto editor. Once you add that plug-in (AND add “count = count” to the Toolbar config within the Atto Editor settings – this makes the button visible), students have access to see how many words they have written with the click of a button. This is AWESOME!
I’m still trying to solve the indenting a paragraph issue. Since hitting the tab key moves to the next component for websites, that is a no-starter. However, I’m reviewing some plugins that may help. I’ve tried Components for Learning (c4l), but that doesn’t have what I need. It is a great plugin, just doesn’t solve this issue.
Currently, I’m taking a look at the Atto Editor to see if there is anything there that I can do.
I was approached about helping to organize the volunteer sign-in sheet. The Admin Assistant had already created a Google Form to collect information. There was a Google Spreadsheet set to collect the information from the Form. Then, there was a tab per day to copy and paste to. (* Copy and pasting is rife with unintentional error possibilities.)
What they really wanted at the end was a sign-in sheet that could be printed. As the volunteers come in, they could physically sign in. There are also additional forms that need to be in place. So, the desire was a sign-in sheet that looked something like this:
Since I prefer for these things to be automated, I started by creating an additional column for the Date. This date is auto-populated from the spreadsheet. By using Data Validation, this can then be a drop-down. No more additional tabs for the spreadsheet, simply pick the date and print.
We now have two tabs:
Form Responses – where the Form Responses automatically go
Print Date – this is the printable sheet.
I selected the “Print Date” tab. To set up the Date, I clicked into Cell A2 (this is where I want the pickable date). Then, I went to Data | Data validation. In Apply to range, I chose ‘Print Date’!A2 (note the single quote marks – they encapsulate the name of the tab). In Criteria, I picked “Dropdown (from a range)”. Now it’s time for some magic. I used the formula: =’Form Responses 3′!$L$2:$R. Let’s break that down. The equal sign (=) denotes a formula. The ‘Form Responses 3’ (again, note the single quote marks), indicates the sheet to pull the information from. The bang (!) is crucial to using a different sheet. The dollar signs ($) go row by row. The L2:R is the range.
(* Quick side note. They had asked if this was a one time volunteer situation or recurring. However, they didn’t want to make the Form too complex, so it is a Start/End date question. I moved the “Start Date” to the end of the columns, then added six addtional colums. The Admin Asssistant will have to add dates if recurring into those columns.).
So, now the Print Date tab has drop-down menu of dates (from Form Responses) that will automatically update with dates.
Next is to pull the Volunteer information into the Print Date tab. I tried a FILTER function, but that only will test one column. That’s a problem since I want to check multiple columns (columns L-R).
After a bit too much overthinking, FILTER is the correct answer. There just needs to be multiple FILTER criteria involved.
In Cell D2; the following formula does what we need:
Let’s break down that formula a bit. FILTER is the command. The FILTER function goes like this: =FILTER(range,condition1, [condition2,…]). We only want one condition. But, we want that one condition to apply to multiple columns.
Range: ‘Form Responses 3′(again, note the single quotes and their location) refers to another tab. The first part of this is pulling the information that we want copied (F2 through K – this equates to Teacher Name, Volunteer Last Name, Volunteer First Name, Awareness Training, Volunteer Registration, and Criminal Background). Condition – The next bit is wrapped in paratheses since we are going to have multiples. We add a plus sign between each condition. You’ll note that the only thing that changes in each of these conditions is the column reference.
I then turned Columns G, H, & I into checkboxes. (* Otherwise these will report as TRUE/FALSE since they are checkboxes on the other tab – Form Responses). This is simply selecting the columns (Command-click on the headers to deselect those) and choosing Insert | Checkbox.
Finally, I deleted most of the rows so that printing the tab Print Date will only print one page.
I advised the Admin Assist to turn on Notifications so that they know when Form has been completed. They can then add additional dates if needed (Columns M-R). They click the appropriate checkboxes for the required information:
Volunteer Awareness Training
Volunteer Registration Form
Criminal Background Check
Now the usage is pretty simple. In the morning, the Admin Assistant opens the Spreadsheet. That person clicks on the Date dropdown in Cell A2. If that date doesn’t appear, there are no volunteers. If the date does appear, they print out that sheet and post it. When the Volunteer arrives, they can sign in and add the time of arrival.
I got a deal on electrical outlets with USB plugs built in from the OWC garage sale. I decided that my office was the perfect place to install one of them as I generally have something charging plugged in. The electrical box is a pretty large piece of kit. Basically, it takes up most of the outlet box. This proved to be an issue. The outlet box that they used when redoing the house is attached via screws inside the box. Unfortunately, this style doesn’t leave enough room for the new electrical outlet. Thus, I’ll need to pull the outlet box out and replace it with a traditional “old work” 1 gang box. Sigh, something that should’ve been incredibly easy.
Public Domain Pictures in browser
I”ve been using the wonderful Library of Congress- Free to Use Browser Extension for a bit now. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy the bit of serendipity that it adds to my day. Essentially, every time you open a new tab, instead of a blank page, you get an image that is free of copyright restrictions. These pictures frequently incite me to think about what is going on in the picture.
This may be horrific if you are trying to maximize every second of your day (or avoid distractions), but for me, the little bit of serendipity is well worth the potential distraction.
Orange Wine
We had some Oranage Wine (Experimental Orange 2020) ) from Black Star Farms the other night. It is not made from oranges, but is named for its orange hue. Orange wine is made with white grapes that are fermented with the skins. The wine had a complex taste to it. I was reminded in some ways of whiskey tasting in that there was some complex finish notes.
Date Night
We had date night the other evening. We went to see Living at a small local theater. The movie stars the wonderful Bill Nighy as a bureaucrat in London in the 50’s. After receiving a grim diagnosis, he decides to take some action. Sad but wonderful.
Ford Sync Frustration
Ford really has struggled with Sync. Those struggles continue for me. According to my Bronco Sport, Sync is up to date (I’ve connected to my WiFi). However, according to Ford records when connecting to my online account, there is a Sync update.
I tried to run this at the end of January. I gave it a few days and checked again. Ford Sync within the Bronco still says that it is up to date. The web site says there is an update.
So, OK, I’ll use the USB drive option. I prepare the USB drive. Hm, it says that you need a USB:
But then the next line says:
What is exFAT?
Hm. “previous than SYNC 3”? Notice the odd wording. Not “previous to SYNC 3” or version prior to SYNC 3. I have SYNC version 3. So, I’m going to guess that I need exFAT. I prep a USB drive, follow the directions to download the update and unzip it (using Unarchiver only) directly on the drive, and move the files back to the root level of the drive.
Out to the car and plug it in (to the front USB port since the rear is charge only). There is no indication that the update is starting (the directions do not mention any indication will be provided). The directions state that it can take up to five minutes for the update to start and another thirty minutes to complete. Once it completes, you will get a notification. So, great, I need to run the car for 35 minutes hoping that it is updating?
It didn’t work.
Mastodon
Why do people stay? There is no UX that works to “addict” the users. Rather, it is the people.
This may be one of the most underrated, and potentially positive, developments in the adoption of the Fediverse.
Someone told me that “at least you are getting a normal Maine winter”. This is my second winter in Maine. Last winter was very mild.
The funny thing is that people wonder how I’m handling Maine winters. I grew up in Michigan. I’m guessing that they don’t know that Michigan gets snow and cold as well?
So, we have gotten a good bit of snow this year. We got 16.1 inches in January (which is a good bit more than Dearborn received in January of this year – 4.4 inches). So, a good bit of snow, but it’s not like we don’t get snow in Michigan.
Remote Work
One of the things that strikes me is the change in the acceptability of remote work. I’ve had a job where I could work from anywhere for over a decade. Prior to COVID, I tried to get some of the meetings that I had to convert to video conferences. There was much resistance. I would spend over an hour driving for a meeting that took 15 minutes. These were meetings that were very focused. However, others weren’t ready for that.
With COVID, lots of people became comfortable (or at least accepting) video conferencing. So at times, I can work remotely and everyone is OK with that. There is still real value in getting together with people most of the time. However, some things really can be handled via video conferencing. So, if we have a day with lots of ice on the roads warnings, snow safety warnings, or similar, I can take a look at my calendar and decide if I should work remotely. This is a huge change for the good.
AI Continuing Discussions
The AI discussions are continuing. There are lots of blogs, posts, and more about AI. Some teachers are using it for their benefit. Some are freaking out about how they are going to “test kids”.
I’m feeling the discussion will continue. I’m not sure where we’ll all end up. I’ve written about this topic a couple of times already.
One of the posts about AI started with this line:
During my time on this earth,…
I love this line. I may use it in the future.
Bridge Up
My usual path to work involves crossing a draw bridge. I’ve never hit it up on the way in to work, until this week. Of course, this was compounded by a bit of construction. Still, the delay wasn’t very long.
Hazel Update
Hazel loves to run around. She’s not bothered by the snow or cold at all. She is doing really well with her last out of the night.
Cold
This weekend is projected to be COLD. Currently, the temperature outside is sitting at -15 degrees Fahrenheit (-26 Celsius). That’s without the wind chill. The “feels like” temperature is -39. So, it’s cold. Saturday should be rocking a high of 6 degrees.
I don’t have much planned for outside, and Hazel will bummed as I’ll watch how much she is out. But mostly, I’ll be working around the house and layering up if I’m going outside.
This is a tutorial on having ChatGPT write questions to be imported into Moodle using the GIFT format. I’m going to use BBEdit as my text editor, but you can use a different one. The free version of BBEdit should do everything in these steps (* NOTE: Google Docs won’t work for the Regular Expression Find and Replace (Step 3). Microsoft Word will.)
Step 1:
Have ChatGPT write your multiple choice questions and format them in a specific way. The key is to include this sentence at the end of your request:
…Use the following format: {1. MCVS:=Right answer/Wrong answer/Wrong answer/Wrong answer}
So, in my example, the search criteria was:
Write 50 Multiple-Choice Question about Maine. Use the following format: {1. MCVS:=Right answer/Wrong answer/Wrong answer/Wrong answer}
This resulted in the following:
Sure, here are 50 multiple-choice questions about the state of Maine:
What is the capital city of Maine? {MCVS:=Augusta/Portland/Bangor/Lewiston} Which river flows through the city of Augusta? {MCVS:=Kennebec River/Androscoggin River/Penobscot River/Saint John River} …
So far so good. However, you need to do some formatting.
GIFT needs a blank line between questions.
Wrong answers need to be marked by an “~” (right answers need an “=”, but we’ve got that already).
“MCVS:” needs to be removed
Step 2: Copy/Paste the questions.
Highlight the questions in ChatGPT and copy them.
Paste the questions into your text editor (preferable over a word processor).
BBEdit:
Since I’m using BBEdit, you can use File | New> (with Clipboard).
Pages, Word, Google Docs
Paste the questions into a blank document.
Step 3: Add a blank line between questions:
No matter how you do this, it is just important that there is a blank line between each question. This is how questions are delineated. You should visually inspect the text to make sure that there is blank line.
BBEdit:
Click on Search | Find…
in the Find box, type: }
In the Replace box, type: }\r
Click the Replace All button.
This will find and replace all of those instances quickly.
Google Docs
This must be done manually in Google Docs. There is not currently an easy way to script this. You’ll need to set the cursor at the end of each answer line and press the return/enter key.
Manually place your cursor and hit return/enter after each “}” at the end of each answer line. This can take a while based on the number of questions.
Step 4: Remove the MCVS:
Click back into the Find window
In the Find box enter: MCVS:
In the Replace box – delete all text so that there is nothing in it
Click Replace All
Step 5: Add an “~” in front of the incorrect answers:
BBEdit:
Click back into the Find window
In the Find box enter: /
In the Replace box, you need two characters: (type a space)~
Click Replace All
Google Docs:
Click on Edit in the Menu bar
Choose Find and Replace
In the Find window, enter: /
In the Replace box, you need two characters: (type a space)~
Click Replace All
Optional Add a category for the quiz questions. This means that in Moodle, these questions will all be identified in a specific category.
Scroll to the very top of the document.
Set the cursor and create a new blank line.
Type “$CATEGORY:XXXX” (Replace XXXX with the category name that you want).*Bonus, you can also create subcategories by adding a “/Subcategory” after your category. Thus, If you wanted a category of World War I, it would look like this:
$CATEGORY: World War I
If you wanted a sub-category of “allies” in World War I, it would look like this:
$CATEGORY: World War I/allies
Create a blank line below the category line.
Save the file
Moodle
Open your Moodle instance. Go to the course that you want to put the questions in.
Click on the More link in the top sub-menu
Select “Question Bank”
Click on the Questions button and select “Import”
Select “GIFT format” radio button
Drag and drop the file (or use the “Choose a file button”) to add the file that you previously saved.
Click “Import” button at the bottom
Read through the questions, scroll down and click “Continue”
That’s it. You’ve now created a bunch of questions and imported them into Moodle, ready to go.
Check the Questions
Please remember the ChatGPT is NOT programmed to be right. It will be confident, but maybe not right. It is crucial to check all the questions for accuracy.
In Moodle, you can utilize the Preview function. You may want to review the questions prior to import. Either will work, it depends on your preference. Do make sure to review the questions though.
A friend used ChatGPT (I know, I know) to create a wide variety of questions for a Geography Bee for school. The questions are all Michigan based questions. ChatGPT created a wide variety of questions. However, these need to go into Moodle.
Moodle has a great quiz question import format (GIFT format). This allows one to write questions in a text editor and import into Moodle. The format is pretty easy, but does require a bit of learning.
Attempts to have ChatGPT export the file as GIFT format were unsuccessful. So, the teachers are doing a good bit of copying/pasting. While this is still WAY faster than writing and typing, I thought that there had to be a better way.
I made a copy of the file that was downloaded from ChatGPT. Then I took the following steps:
Open Ended Questions:
I used Find/Replace function by Finding ” Answer:” and replacing that with “{}”.
Example: What is the capital of Michigan? Answer: Lansing Becomes: What is the capital of Michigan? {Lansing}
I then also added a “}” at the end of each line (manually, need to figure out how to automate that). Plus, I made sure that there was a blank line between each question.
Multiple Choice Questions:
I used Find/Replace to Find: “ A)” and Replace that with “{~“ . This creates the opening bracket for answers (and also marks the first answer as “incorrect” but that will be fixed next.
Next, I added“=” in front of the correct answer AND “~” in front of incorrect answers. This was done manually
I deleted the answer line by triple-clicking it and hitting “Return/Enter”.*This creates the necessary blank line between questions.
Then I used Find/Replace to change the letters to ~ (e.g. “B -> “~”, then “C” ->”~, “D” ->”~). This works as we’ve already removed the A and we’ve replaced letters if the answer is correct.
Example: What is the capital of Michigan? A) Detroit B) Grand Rapids C) Lansing D) Ann Arbor Answer: C) Lansing Becomes: What is the capital of Michigan? {~Detroit ~ Grand Rapids =Lansing ~ Ann Arbor}
Categories:
Next, I added Categories by adding “$CATEGORY: Geography Bee” to create a Category of “Geography Bee” Make sure there is a blank line after this line. In another section, I added “$CATEGORY:Geography Bee/Counties” to create a sub-category of Counties under Geography Bee.
Export:
I then exported (downloaded) the document as a text file (.txt).
Moodle
Next, I went to the Moodle Course where I wanted the quiz.
I clicked on More…| Question Bank.
I clicked on The Questions button to select “Import”
I picked “GIFT format”
I dragged the file into the “Import questions from a file” box.
I clicked the “Import” button
This creates all of the questions in Moodle under the appropriate categories. Now you could edit, assign, move any and all of the questions as you like.
That’s it. I know that it may sound like a lot, but once you understand what is happening, this is really pretty quick.
Special Note:
If there is anything that you don’t want to be included in the import, simply add “//” at the beginning of that line. I used this to explain what was happening to the others involved. This is called commenting something out.
Friday was a snow day. We ended up with about 4 inches of snow. Now, Monday is another snow day. The weekend was cold, but no additional snow. This will be our last traditional snow day. From here on out, we will be utilizing remote learning days.
Heatrak
I purchased some Heatrak mats for the stairs going out the back door (not cheap, but the stairs are seriously dangerous when iced). These have been a great investment. However, one of them has stopped working. (Good news, it is really obvious which one). A call to the company and a replacement is on the way.
NOLEJ
Because of the Snow Day, I finally got a chance to play around with NOLEJ a bit. NOLEJ authors materials (quizzes, flashcards,glossaries, etc) based on a resource. So, I took a YouTube video (Gettysburg: Animated Map) and let it create material. The material is created as H5P resources. I then put that into Moodle. You can check it out in the MasterMoodle course (no registration required, but you may have to click on the Login as Guest button). These are the raw files, no additional editing. Obviously, they can (and should be edited). The questions fall into basic knowledge category and some grammar needs to be corrected. This could be a way to quickly create some of the basics of a course though. The teacher would need to add higher level thinking material, questions, and learning opportunities.
Free to Use Browser Extension
I’m enjoying the Free to Use Browser Extension even more than I thought that I would. Basically, this extension displays a Public Domain image in your browser window whenever you open a new tab.
Extension sets the background of blank tabs to a photo from the Library of Congress collections that is free to use and reuse.
I just find these random pictures a source of great joy. I frequently pause for just a minute to wonder what is going on in the picture.
Books
I’ve finished “Poguemahone” by Patrick McCabe. I liked it a ton. This is really different than most of the books that I’ve been reading. It is written in free-verse focusing around the 1970’s and music. Kind of. Sort of. Largely the story of Una and her reflections.
I’m starting Frederick Backman’s Us Against You. This is a follow up to the wonderful “Beartown”. Fredrick Backman is one of my favorite authors. He has several books out. I recommend all of them that I’ve read so far.
