I feel that there are many advantages to using presentation software in the K-12 classroom. One advantage I could think of from the top of my head would be how organized I could make my lessons. By using tools like Powerpoint, I will be able to effectively organize my major points and concepts in a timely manner. For younger students, pictures and images will make it easier to understand my lessons. A disadvantage that I can see with using presentation software would be that my students might pay too much attention to my slides and less attention on my actual lecture. This, I feel, could hinder the overall lesson I was trying to teach.
There are many ways I could use Powerpoint to support student learning. As it says in Chapter 5, Displaying Information is the key to creating understanding. Powerpoint is able to accommodate for many of the learning styles and therefore be a major tool in teaching. Students with learning styles that are more based around visuals and graphics would better understand my lessons if I use Powerpoint to display my content. Powerwoint offers a great opportunity to enhance the learning of students.
An issue that interests me about educational technology is the use of computers as a tool to help students learn. Though computers may be a great resource to organize content and information to present to students, I feel that they may also hinder the overall learning styles of students. I feel this way especially toward lower-grade level classes. By having computers being used by young students to obtain information and lessons, I fear that students may become too dependent on the use of them. And when they get older, they may have a harder transition to learning through lectures and actual person to person teaching. I feel that computers, compared to actual lecture teaching, is not interactive enough to compete with straight lecture teaching.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Blog 6
I think that the use of Web 2.0 technologies is a great way to benefit K-12 education. By utilizing the most resourceful technological advances, I feel that this is the step in the right direction concerning the competitive well-being of adolescent minds. Although the risk of over-dependency may be an issue with the use of Web 2.0 and the introduction of computers to children at an early age, having the students being competitively literate of the latest computer technological advances will allow them to become significantly more suited for more-skilled careers. Also, the Web 2.0 allows students to be a mouse-click away to find a vast array of important information.
The view I have on Wikipedia as a learning resource is complicated. I enjoy Wikipedia for its vast, basic knowledge on subjects. Wikipedia allows me to grasp background information and main points of certain subjects that I am oblivious to. However, though Wikipedia may be used as a efficient learning tool to pick up general information, I would never cite it or reference it as a reliable source. I feel that the risk of corrupt information is too high and would jeopardize the integrity of my papers. I use Wikipedia to touch upon main ideas of topics, but would never rely on it for information on important documents and detailed historical events.
One new skill I picked up in class last week that would be especially useful to me would be in the creation of my own wiki page. I feel that this would be especially useful to me in my educational career because I will be able to now make informative pages for my students online. This way I will be able to have my own website for my students where I will be able to post valuable information and events.
The End
The view I have on Wikipedia as a learning resource is complicated. I enjoy Wikipedia for its vast, basic knowledge on subjects. Wikipedia allows me to grasp background information and main points of certain subjects that I am oblivious to. However, though Wikipedia may be used as a efficient learning tool to pick up general information, I would never cite it or reference it as a reliable source. I feel that the risk of corrupt information is too high and would jeopardize the integrity of my papers. I use Wikipedia to touch upon main ideas of topics, but would never rely on it for information on important documents and detailed historical events.
One new skill I picked up in class last week that would be especially useful to me would be in the creation of my own wiki page. I feel that this would be especially useful to me in my educational career because I will be able to now make informative pages for my students online. This way I will be able to have my own website for my students where I will be able to post valuable information and events.
The End
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
blog 5
I feel that the internet is an excellent tool for students researching information. A world of knowledge at their fingertips, students using the internet are using the most time efficient way to obtain obscure information on specific topics. Assignments can be turned in outside of the classroom and so the importance of attendance and class preparation is lightened. Using internet search engines would also teach students how to properly use key terms in researching information. However, slight negatives consequences of the internet would include that students may obtain false information and have convenient access to inappropriate material. Also children might grow too accustomed to easy access of information; their researching work-ethic may become lackadaisical.
One web-based resource that is an excellent way to support student learning would be from on-line assignments. Information can be globally distributed in an instant, making distance an irrelevant issue. This would allow for long- distance education. Also, trees would be saved, considering that hard copies of assignments would no longer be needed. Some resources that interest me would include blogspot.com and my Gmail account on Google. E-mail accounts allow me to have all of my papers and information that I need available to me on any computer with internet access. This is extremely useful to me in the situation that all my information on my computer was lost and the memory was the only hard-drive that I saved it on. If this situation had occurred, I would still be alright because I have the information stored in my e-mail account file.
Probable concerns I feel I would come across as a teacher teaching middle school students in a technology environment would include students using unreliable sources for their research. Inappropriate websites would be a likely problem I would have to prepare for, considering my students would be around 11- 13 years old. So the main reason why being concerned with the websites that my students go on is based on the maturity level of the students. 11- 13 years old, I feel are recklessly mischievous.
One web-based resource that is an excellent way to support student learning would be from on-line assignments. Information can be globally distributed in an instant, making distance an irrelevant issue. This would allow for long- distance education. Also, trees would be saved, considering that hard copies of assignments would no longer be needed. Some resources that interest me would include blogspot.com and my Gmail account on Google. E-mail accounts allow me to have all of my papers and information that I need available to me on any computer with internet access. This is extremely useful to me in the situation that all my information on my computer was lost and the memory was the only hard-drive that I saved it on. If this situation had occurred, I would still be alright because I have the information stored in my e-mail account file.
Probable concerns I feel I would come across as a teacher teaching middle school students in a technology environment would include students using unreliable sources for their research. Inappropriate websites would be a likely problem I would have to prepare for, considering my students would be around 11- 13 years old. So the main reason why being concerned with the websites that my students go on is based on the maturity level of the students. 11- 13 years old, I feel are recklessly mischievous.
blog 4
As a teacher, the best way I feel I could use the concepts from chapter 7 would be for a giant project that would require lost of research and information. I feel that these concepts would help organize the thoughts and points of the student. Concept maps would also seem to help the student distinguish the differences and importance of concepts and properties. In this situation, a certain technology I would I want to use would be the Inspiration processor on Windows XP. The student would be able to present their information on a well organized, clean concept map template.
I would encourage my students to develop outlines, idea map, and storyboarding skills, but, however, would never make it a requirement. I feel that having these skills would allow the students to become better at organizing their thoughts and would allow them to use a formulaic routine to come up with a complicated product. By making these skills the required organizational structure to base a lesson on, however, would hinder the educational experience of some students. Though there are positive aspects that having these skills would include, depriving a child to creatively use their own method of problem solving to research and organize information, allowing him/her to only use a specific standard method would be, to me, unreasonable.
One obvious skill that I have acquired is the use of MS Word 07. If Microsoft does not come out with an updated version by the time I have entered my career, I could very possibly be using the exact same processor in my daily working- routine. This computer literacy skill will be especially useful to me when I have to create worksheets and testing papers. Learning to create newsletters will especially be used with MS Word.
I would encourage my students to develop outlines, idea map, and storyboarding skills, but, however, would never make it a requirement. I feel that having these skills would allow the students to become better at organizing their thoughts and would allow them to use a formulaic routine to come up with a complicated product. By making these skills the required organizational structure to base a lesson on, however, would hinder the educational experience of some students. Though there are positive aspects that having these skills would include, depriving a child to creatively use their own method of problem solving to research and organize information, allowing him/her to only use a specific standard method would be, to me, unreasonable.
One obvious skill that I have acquired is the use of MS Word 07. If Microsoft does not come out with an updated version by the time I have entered my career, I could very possibly be using the exact same processor in my daily working- routine. This computer literacy skill will be especially useful to me when I have to create worksheets and testing papers. Learning to create newsletters will especially be used with MS Word.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
blog 3
One lesson plan that I might create, that would use technology in someway, would most likely be based around the use of a computer. I would use the Internet and an Electronic Database as a tool to help my students to present to the class different cultures from around the world. They may retrieve their base information through databases and learn important background information. They may also use the internet to search for popular fashion for their cultural society and also daily routines that are geared towards that specific culture. The subject matter that I would base the lesson plan on would be in Social Studies and be toward grades levels of 4th to 12th.
I visually critiqued the website on “espn.com.” There were many things on the website that I felt correctly followed the rules of graphic design principals that I had learned in Chapter 6. Some of these rules included using general design principals, limiting down the website to only 3 colors, and keeping the text lines short to show important highlights. However, there was an aspect of the website that did not match up to par with the rules of Chapter 6. This aspect was the use of flashing. These flashes mostly came from ads on the side of the screen, however, and didn’t distract my attention too much from the actual content. Besides that, I felt the website had a very organize screen, a nice simplified structures, and understood who their target audience was.
To be honest, I have not had a bad experience with copyrighted material. Although, I feel the worst that is possible with the unfair use of copyrighted material in a school environment would to be committed of plagiarism. However, I have been noted before for poor work-citation-sheet errors. And for situations like those, I would deal with those concepts more carefully than the way I was taught to prevent others from growing up with a low appreciation to detail on work-cited pages. As far as my students using information they garnered from the internet to use in their own works, I would emphasize the importance of where they reference their information and double check all the sources of information, spotting to see if any of their sources are unreliable.
I visually critiqued the website on “espn.com.” There were many things on the website that I felt correctly followed the rules of graphic design principals that I had learned in Chapter 6. Some of these rules included using general design principals, limiting down the website to only 3 colors, and keeping the text lines short to show important highlights. However, there was an aspect of the website that did not match up to par with the rules of Chapter 6. This aspect was the use of flashing. These flashes mostly came from ads on the side of the screen, however, and didn’t distract my attention too much from the actual content. Besides that, I felt the website had a very organize screen, a nice simplified structures, and understood who their target audience was.
To be honest, I have not had a bad experience with copyrighted material. Although, I feel the worst that is possible with the unfair use of copyrighted material in a school environment would to be committed of plagiarism. However, I have been noted before for poor work-citation-sheet errors. And for situations like those, I would deal with those concepts more carefully than the way I was taught to prevent others from growing up with a low appreciation to detail on work-cited pages. As far as my students using information they garnered from the internet to use in their own works, I would emphasize the importance of where they reference their information and double check all the sources of information, spotting to see if any of their sources are unreliable.
blog 2
As a student, I have become very familiar with using MS Word. I have been introduced to MS Word at an early age. However, I am unfamiliar with the updated version of the software, MS Word 07. Most of my papers since middle school have been typed using MS Word. I am aware of various ways of commands for using the tools on MS Word. For instance, I know that to undo something I typed I can either use the menu bar or press CTRL Z. As far as my teachers using MS Word, I have seen my teachers use the application since elementary school. Once again, I have seen them use the older version of MS Word than the new updated version. I’ve seen my teachers use MS Word when they make worksheets and graphs. They also wrote information to that was related to their lectures on MS Word. As far as those two examples, however, there is not much I have seen my teachers use on MS Word.
I like the idea of using the MS Word processor for certain projects like newspapers and brochures. By using a word processor instead of doing the project in a arts and crafts fashion students could become more familiar with using the tools that are offered by the computer. The product of the project would look more professional and would be done in a more time- efficient manner. Also, I feel using the computers for specialized projects will allow students to be more creative and imaginative in the literate content of the project. For instance, in the making of the newspaper, students are troubled less with the actual production of the aesthetic look of the newspaper since a structured tool used to help them is there. Now they are able to focus more on the word content of the newspaper. Also the teacher, since most of the project was made on a template that all the students used, will also focus more on word content of the project.
One skill that I have received from the class already would be the new knowledge I have on the new version MS Office. By introducing me to the updated version, I am now more in tuned with modern technology than I was before the class. This will obviously be useful to me in my educational career because I will most likely have to teach my students with the use of the most modern teaching technology. So I feel being as knowledgeable as possible of all the current new technology is a very important habit to pick up.
I like the idea of using the MS Word processor for certain projects like newspapers and brochures. By using a word processor instead of doing the project in a arts and crafts fashion students could become more familiar with using the tools that are offered by the computer. The product of the project would look more professional and would be done in a more time- efficient manner. Also, I feel using the computers for specialized projects will allow students to be more creative and imaginative in the literate content of the project. For instance, in the making of the newspaper, students are troubled less with the actual production of the aesthetic look of the newspaper since a structured tool used to help them is there. Now they are able to focus more on the word content of the newspaper. Also the teacher, since most of the project was made on a template that all the students used, will also focus more on word content of the project.
One skill that I have received from the class already would be the new knowledge I have on the new version MS Office. By introducing me to the updated version, I am now more in tuned with modern technology than I was before the class. This will obviously be useful to me in my educational career because I will most likely have to teach my students with the use of the most modern teaching technology. So I feel being as knowledgeable as possible of all the current new technology is a very important habit to pick up.
Blog #1
I feel that computers are an important part to the educational experience because it allows students to learn a vast amount of information and work in an efficient, timely manner. Also, since computers are used regularly in most working environments, having students being familiar with computers would be vital solution to the transitioning of students from school to the work force. The teacher-student interaction being less personable would be a critical concern I have relating to teachers and students using computers. By having computers, I feel that problems with indirect teaching habits will develop.
I feel that we will use the computers in the classroom in the same way that a computer literacy class would usually use computers in a classroom. We will most likely learn how to use the fundamental and basic applications on the Windows XP software. However, I feel that this class will probably use these applications that could be practically applied to teaching purposes. In this class, I hope to become more familiar with the Microsoft Office 07 application. I still use the earlier version, Microsoft Office 03 and feel that I am almost ambiguous to newer technology.
The honest reason why I chose Education as my major was because I thought, wherever my life would take me and through whatever choices I’ve made, I would be content with becoming a teacher when I was older. The job seems to be very secure, awesome hours, I would be contributing to society, and I would usually be the smartest head in the room. However, I don’t plan on going into a career with my major until I am least 25. And in that time span, who knows where I am going then. I might not even want to use my major then. So, preparing for if my future is not to my interest, I have chosen teaching to be a reliable way for me to settle myself with and officially grow old with.
I feel that we will use the computers in the classroom in the same way that a computer literacy class would usually use computers in a classroom. We will most likely learn how to use the fundamental and basic applications on the Windows XP software. However, I feel that this class will probably use these applications that could be practically applied to teaching purposes. In this class, I hope to become more familiar with the Microsoft Office 07 application. I still use the earlier version, Microsoft Office 03 and feel that I am almost ambiguous to newer technology.
The honest reason why I chose Education as my major was because I thought, wherever my life would take me and through whatever choices I’ve made, I would be content with becoming a teacher when I was older. The job seems to be very secure, awesome hours, I would be contributing to society, and I would usually be the smartest head in the room. However, I don’t plan on going into a career with my major until I am least 25. And in that time span, who knows where I am going then. I might not even want to use my major then. So, preparing for if my future is not to my interest, I have chosen teaching to be a reliable way for me to settle myself with and officially grow old with.
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