Post 10

I found it interesting what the other students wrote regarding Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a very controversial website. This is due to its nature. Some people have a very negative view on Wikipedia while others have a more positive view. Regardless, there are negatives and positives with Wikipedia.

I would like to learn the other Microsoft Office tools. I have no experience with them or what they can do but I am curious. I feel that Microsoft Outlook is especially one that I would like to be more familiar with. From what I feel Outlook does, it can make life a lot simpler regarding phone numbers and email. If you lose your phone, this can be a lot easier to handle with Outlook.

I believe that it won't be long before a new Microsoft Office comes out. When it does, I am guessing that it will be so much more different than 2007 that one will need additional help just to maneuver around in it. When I first experienced 2007 it was a new learning experience. There are so many new things that one will need time in order to adjust to the new things.

Post 9

I would include this tool because it helps with all types of math problems. When doing math one may find that there are a lot of interrelated topics. Students have to know how to multiply polynomials if they want to find the derivative of some math problems. The tool does basic math too. If you need to know how to find the square root of a number, it can do that.

Some may say that this helps with cheating and doing homework. If you ask to show the work on homework, a teacher should not worry about students knowing about this tool. Students for the most part should now have no excuse for a problem being wrong. The internet is great for math learners. Volumes exist online for students to learn different math subjects. With all the information online and this internet tool, students may not even need to go to class.

No matter the grade level, I feel that excel can be used for keeping grades. You can find many important statistics from excel. Whether the class median is very low is an important overlooked statistic. You can also use excel to find out if there was a bad question given on a test. If the best students are getting the problem wrong and most of the class too, then it may have been a bad question. Many good teachers erase bad questions from the test grade.

http://www.webmath.com/polymult.html

Post 8

This background could have had a black and red color design. This is because the Miami Heat's colors are black and red. The person shooting the basketball could have been instead a picture of a Miami Heat player. Going to google images would satisfy this picture.

The ipod can be used in classrooms. One way to use the ipod would be to have podcasts of important lectures. Podcasts can be found on the internet and used in the ipod. Ipods can be connected to computers and shared amongst students. Many colleges are starting to do this.

Powerpoint is the most useful of all technologies. Last week we went into the advanced settings of powerpoint. Creating a game like jeopardy for class is something I will definitely do. My students will love me and will learn a ton. I had no idea you could do that with powerpoint.

Blog 7

One disadvantage for using presentation software in the classroom would be that it isn't hands on. Small children need interactive and concrete learning sometimes to understand concepts. Another disadvantage for using this software would be that the students are too young and cannot yet read. The biggest advantage for using it is that it organizes thoughts very effectively. For presentations, powerpoint is a must if the children can read.

I would use powerpoint in a way that benefits both knowledgeable students and those who do not know the topics very well. One way would be to incorporate information within the powerpoint that is analytical. If students have to analyze what they already know, it helps them dig deep within the meaning of the material.

Should old teachers be retrained? Many teachers have no idea how to use a computer and maybe they should be retrained in technology. This would be good for the teacher and especially their students. Every teacher should know how to use powerpoint I believe. This is especially for social sciences.

6

I think that Web 2.0 technologies in the classroom is a great idea. This allows students to communicate their thoughts. When they do this they will in general get a better understanding of what the material means. It must be managed in a smart way though. Not all sites are constructive toward learning. Facebook is not a good site for students to waste time in class doing. Facebook would be a good tool for kids to communicate outside of class on their group projects though.

Wikipedia is a great website to learn about almost anything. It is great for getting a grasp for new information in the least. The site should not be taken directly as truth though. Anyone can create a Wikipedia page on someone or something and this creates cause for concern on whether it is all credible. There usually are sources at the bottom of the Wikipedia pages that shows you were the information is from.

When using powerpoint you want to use contrasting colors. If you have red as a background it is not smart to use pink as the second color. A better color to use with red would be black or blue. It is smart to use graphics when appropriate. Graphics should not be used if it overdoes the presentation. This works with images too.

Post #5

(1) A paragraph on your views about using the Internet to support student research. When is it useful? Not useful? Look to Chapter 3 for ideas and inspiration.
(2) A paragraph on other ways you might use web-based resources to support student learning. Share a few resources that are of interest to you.
(3) A paragraph on your concerns about being a teacher who supervises students in a technology environment. Be sure to mention the age/grade level of your students.

Using the internet for research is great. The internet can have its problems though. Sources that give out the wrong information is the greatest problem. It can be useful for broad and general topics. The internet can be hard to find information sometimes especially on school campus. This is because many sites are blocked due to inappropriate information or pictures. Many sites are blocked and censored that should not be blocked.

The internet is great for biographies of great people. If the person is famous, the internet will have lots of great information on him or her. This is great for a research paper for almost any grade level. Google and yahoo are great searches on people. If there is a certain question on a person ask.com is another great resource.

Supervising children in a technology environment is a new concern for teachers today. Although many sites that should not be blocked are, this still does not mean that all the sites that should be blocked are censored. Therefore supervision is necessary for all children. There is a culture within schools that know what sites to go to to find the non educational websites. Rules should be made to enforce improper internet browsing. This is much more prevalent with the higher the age group is (mostly high school).

Post #4

Chapter 7 goes over idea maps, outlines and storyboards. This is what we went over in class regarding Inspiration. This is something that I can utilize as a teacher easily for students to create a set of ideas. These ideas can help the student come up with an essay or book report. With inspiration it makes organizing ideas much more easy. The technology I would use as a teacher would be Inspiration.

I would encourage my students to use Inspiration. Inspiration can help students bring ideas together and critically analyze new concepts. It is especially useful for elementary students writing a book report. It can also be useful for high schoolers trying to do a research paper. Inspiration in my opinion is great for good and especially bad writers.

I learned how to web hunt this past week. Web hunting the right way is an important skill for any teacher. I did not know that teachers could setup online homework conversations for their fellow students. What is also great is that there is a website that allows parents to view homework progress. This is very important I feel, as my brother growing up would always lie to my parents about doing his homework.

Post #3

Many students need a visual aid to help them come up with ideas. For the third grade Inspiration is a great software application that can help do that. One lesson plan that utilizes this software could be one that has the students write an essay. With an idea web from Inspiration, the students could develop their writing skills at a much faster pace.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mercantilism?r=75
This website is visually incorrect. There is an unimportant portion in the top middle of the page. What is important, the definition of the word, requires one to have to scroll down to view. Instead the definition of the word should be at the top middle of the page. Most of the top middle part of this website is unimportant information. One should have the most important things in the top middle.

Senior year of high school our class president was caught plagiarizing an essay. He had his office title removed. I believe that it is circumstantial with regard to what a teacher should do. What should be most important is that they learn their lesson and do not plagiarize again. In high school a student can afford to learn this lesson the hard way, but not in college. I definitely would not let the student completely off the hook.

Post #2

I have used Microsoft Word as a student many times. From third or fourth grade students from my school had to become familiar with this software. I remember early in my life liking how it would correct the misspelled words. Teachers would use it from time to time but not as often early in my life. This is because technology has become much more involved with teaching.

One tool I learned from chapter would be the readability statistics page. I did not know this existed before. With this page you can pin point what a student is doing wrong in their writing. For example they have too many words per sentence or have too many passive sentences. The student can also use this tool as well.

What we learned in paint was very useful. There are many things you can do in paint that can help teachers. One thing I learned was how to copy any page from the internet and put it into paint. This can be incorporated into the classroom through many activities. In paint you can edit pictures and drawings to your liking.

Post #1

Computers are an important part of the educational experience because they globally connect others unlike any other object. Books are important for learning but there are many things that books cannot do. Computers achieve many of the things that books cannot such as communicate peoples from different lands. Computers are the future and should be used today so that students do not play catch up later in life.

I will use computers in my classroom in order to improve typing speed in the least. Typing speed is one of the most important and easy things to teach a student. I hope to learn the most efficient method for typing within this class. I could then teach this method to my future classes that I will teach.

The internet is one of the most important tools of our day. One thing I would like to teach any class would be the best sites to know. Once this is known it would also be important to be able to effectively use these sites. These skills can be used the rest of a person's life and are very important.

Post # 0

My prior experience with technology has been a roller coster. For the most part it has gotten much better. As technology has gotten better, I have experienced fewer problems with computers. In the past I have had computers crash and pretty much break down but this has not happened in a while. My laptop is quite durable and consistently works but for all other technology that I come in contact with, there is no gaurantee that it will work.

I hope to learn new computer functions in this class that I do not yet know. I hope to improve on my Word and Excel skills. In general I hope that I will learn anything that will make me better at using the computer. I mostly want to learn how to teach students using new technologies that will be expected of me to use.

I am a visual learner. I am better at learning when something is put into a picture. When a concept being described has a picture to help, I will remember the concept much better.

To incorporate different learning syles in class I will add pictures when appropriate.