Post #10

From reading back over my classmates' blogs, I found that most of us generally had the same idea and thoughts about the different projects we did and programs that we used. We all seemed to enjoy using hot potatoes, and everyone seemed to have a general knowledge of most of the Microsoft Office programs.

I would really like to learn more in Excell. I am currently taking a statistics class, and my professor is constantly telling us that we can use Excell to figure out the standard dievation, means, and other data simply by plugging in different formulas. As a math teacher I think that knowing how to do things like that would be useful.

My goal is to find ways in which I can introduce different medias into my class, so that the students have a greater appreciation for math and all of the different fields that use mathematics. I would like to be able to have the students watch the tv-show Numb3rs at least once because it does a great job of depicting mathematic subjects in a very entertaining way.

Post #9

I want to become a high school math teacher, so there aren't many web-based tools or resources that I would typically use in my class. However, I would like to use the website http://homeschoolmath.net/ as a resource for my students. The website requires your school to be imputed into their database and the students are able to join with their particular school and class.

The website offers a variety of tools for the students: tutorials, games, instruction, and quizzes. This is a great way to get students to practice certain mathematic principles, and to get help on any area that they may be particularly struggling in.

I think that using the new Microsoft Vista is probably beneficial to teachers. I haven't used this myself, but I've heard many good things about it. Plus I think that it is very important for teachers to try and stay as up to date with technology as possible.

Post #8

Chapter 8 discusses some of the many different computer viruses, and security issues that can affect your computer. It talks about how this can cause many issues in the classroom, especially with sites that may not be appropriate for children or websites that do not contain correct and up to date information. Sometimes these things can create problems that not only affect certain software but also the hardware in a computer as well.

Chapter 8 also discusses many ways for teachers to use technology in a way that would bypass most if not all of these problems. Creating this such as guidelines for students and setting up web page blockers, can decrease the risk of students accessing websites that aren't appropriate. There are also numerous amounts of new advanced softwares that you can use to help block against further infections of the computer.

This week I didn't really learn anything new, but I learned how to do certain things in a different way. We worked in PowerPoint, and although I did know how to do most of the tasks, I didn't know all of the different short cuts they had.

Post #7

Chapter 7 talks about evaluating educational technology, and integrating different strategies. It talks about making sure that the technology you use should always be appropriate to the students, it must has some relatibility to the topic that you are currently discussing, and that it should be educational and motivational. I think that the use of technology in the classroom is great especially to help keep the interest of the students, and the just using a little bit of common sense will be fine in determining which medias, and topics are appropriate for students.

The interent is a great tool for both students and teachers, but it can easily be a source for concern. Not all websites are accurate, and some are inappropriate for children. The chapter talks about different rubrics that teachers should try to use when thinking about incorperating them into their lectures.

This week we worked on PowerPoint agian. I know most of the basics of PowerPoint from working previous projects and assaignments. One of the things I did not how to do was link slides together. I think that using that option in the way we did today with the Jeopardy would be a great idea to use in the future.

Post #6

Chapter six talks about technology, digital media, and cirriculum integration. Digital media and technology both can be intergral in a classroom; helping the students to better understand a particular topic. With the constant use of technology and digitial media influence in everyday life, its almost necessary to intergrate them as part of the cirriculum.

I personally think that technology will greatly aid in helping the students to better understand certain topics. With math, watching a show like CBS's Numb3rs would benefit the students by showing them the vast areas in which math can be used, and it would bring the topic to a level better understood by the students. Also, there are many new programs being developed everyday and intergrating things like AutoCad into different projects would keep the students interested.

This week we worked in Excell. I had worked in Excell before so I had a basic understanding of Excell worked; but there were many things that I didn't know. For example: printing a select group of cells, centering a cell across a group of cells. I went to London and Paris for spring break with two of my friends and we had the best time ever!:)

Post #5

Chapter 5 deals with digital media, and everything that lies within in it like: audio, video, sound graphics, ect. It talks about the different uses that digital media can have not only in the classroom, but in everyday life. Digital Media is such a part of our daily lives. We are constantly using the internet and watching videos, listening to music, and reading articles; all of which lie under digital media.

As future teachers we can utilize digital media to our advantage, and I truly believe that our students will be the better for it. With it we can come up with interactive presentations that will help the students get a visual of what the lecture is on. Whether in math with different graphs and interactive problems, in an English class with the possiblity of watching a play you're studying with your class, or in so many other different ways. Digital media provides the students many different ways in which to help them better understand the topics, and integrating these things like sound clips, videos, graphics, and videos will improve the students chance of truly understanding the topic.

This past week I haven't really learned anything new. I had however, never used the crossword puzzle program which I thought was a pretty cool program; that would be interesting thing to use in the future.

Post #4

Chapter 4 talks about Hardware for Teachers; and all of the different components that make up the internal computer. It talks about the input and output of information, and the progression from floppy disks to fash drives. These new technological advances can be very benificial to teachers; helping their students better understand major concepts through educational programs, online teachers to help tutor the students in trouble areas, and so much more. Technology is in high demand in our society and there are thousands of people who constantly try to innovate exciting new programs, games, computers, and so much more. We've already developed the touch screen, and through web cams we can communicate globally; whats next for this new digital age?

I found that most of the comments that are posted on all of our blogs, not only share the same ideas and concepts, but also expand on those ideas. Some comments show reveal how much we have in common with each other, not only just teaching in general, but also the subject, methods, ideas through which we will be teaching. Most of the comments we leave are encouraging and help to build ideas and think about particular topics from someone else's perspective.

This week I've learned a lot more about Microsoft Word than I had before. I understood all of the basics, and even some of the shortcuts; but I new nothing about formatting the envelops, and printing out labels. I also discovered new ways to get to certain tool bars that I didn't know before; like the formating and page margins.

Post #3

Chapter 3 deals with Application Software, and all of its many uses. Application Software, or application programs, are used in several different ways: as a productivity/business tool, supporting school and professional activities, assisting with graphics and multimedia projects, helping with home and personal activities, and facilitating communications. The different uses of application software in school are: school/student management, grade books for the different teachers, educational reference tool, special needs whether with students or specific topics, and note taking. Most of these tools are essential to the modern day teacher, for example the teacher's grade book. Although, teachers have a written back of up of their grade books, most rely heavily on the grade book they use through the computer which helps compute averages for tests, quizzes, and overall scores.
Using application software can help in many differents aspects of a person's life. With the home/person applications, people are able to keep track of their own personal finance, get their taxes in order, and what most of us use, entertainment. Communications is a major factor in today's world. Everyone is constanly trying to find ways to keep in contact with one another and most of the ways that they use are through application software. For example, most everyone has an e-mail account (its almost become a requirement in today's society), instant messages, web browser, blogs, and even newsgroups have their own application software.
I have never had the opportunity to use Inspiration before, and found that it was an interesting program to use. I think that it would be very benifical in the classroom, especially to help keep students attention during class because this method is a lot more interesting than the typical outline. It would also probably be a good tool to use in an English class, where students could use the program to create ideas for their paper and releating topics.

Post #2

Chapter two dealt with communications networks. This subject of computers actually is something that both my father and brother deal with everyday at work, because they are both Electrical Engineers. Communications deals with the processes of sending information through the computer to other computers via websites, communication cables, and in many other different ways. In the chapter, it shows how the internal computer is set up with the different chips and cables that make up the modem, and other intergral parts of the computer system. It also showed how the computers throughout a school system or an office space are connected through a main server, making it possible for many people to work through the same system and the same time.

It also brought up the topic of the Internet and its history. The Internet has become and integral part in our society today. Without the Internet, most business would not be able to operate on the global scale that they do so now. Universities would have a difficult time handling all of their students, and keeping on top of their class schedules, transcripts, grades, and basic communication. For example, most universities have an online site for students to use to create their application to that particular school, and it allows the student to send their application electronically and gives them the ability to update their application whenever they may need. This is a serious advantage as opposed to sending a new application through the mail every time your information may need to be updated. This is just a small example of how the Internet is so important in our day and age.

I had never heard of the program "Hot Potatoes," let alone use it. It was an interesting site, and quite easy to learn and get used to. I don't really think that it would be of us to me that much considering I want to be a high school math teacher but I would definitely keep it in mind if the opportunity ever presented itself for me to use the program.

Post #1

Chapter one dealt with the evolution of computers and digital media throughout the past few years. It dealt with the basics like what a computer is and how it functions; along with the progression of technology. The uses of technology have greatly impacted our society in many different ways. To the educational aspects of technology such as interactive games to help students of any age, to social outreaches, to important programs used in school work and jobs; it seems impossible for anything to run without the use of technology.

The chapter also dealt with the idea of using technology and applying it in a beneficial way in the classroom. I plan on teaching math to high school students so finding different ways to incorporate technology in the classroom is something of great interest to me. Teachers can use many different methods to teach their students, and particularly in math, a subject in which many students struggle, it is beneficial to have other programs to aid the students.

I don't know that I have necessarily learned any new skills since the last class, but I have brushed up on some skills that I haven't used in a long time. In the chapter that we read I learned many new facts about the history of technology that I didn't know before. The chapter really explored the different facets about technology, and how much we really depend on it throughout our daily life.

Post #0

We use technology almost everyday in today's society; whether for school work, our jobs, recreational reasons, amongst many other situations. My personal experience with technology starts back to grade school with my first computer course. There we learned the basics: Microsoft Word, using the Internet, playing interactive and educational games. Through out the rest of grade school and into high school I learned how to use many other different programs like Microsoft Excell, Powerpoint, using a blog site to post opinions for my English class. Email and AIM was always deemed important during those years as a necessary tool to further communication with other classmates. Also with the recent development with Facebook and MySpace, along with many other websites, a way was provided in which many are able to further their social circles around the world.

In this class I hope to further develop my skills in the various technological programs that are provided today. I hope to pick up many useful and interesting ideas to help interest future students. Mathematics is a subject that doesn't usually have much involvement with the Internet, or any other program, unless its a tutorial of some kind. I hope to find some interesting and helpful programs that would help students better understand mathematical concepts.

My quiz results stated that I was a reflective, intuitive, visual, learner; which from what I gather about myself is pretty accurate. I prefer to think about problems, and understanding what they are asking about, before just jumping into them. I would agree with the fact that I am an intuitive learner; because these types of people are better at grasping concepts and are comfortable with abstractions and mathematical formulas. I work, and understand concepts easier when I am presented with a picture, graph, or some type of visual aid. For the most part I agree with the fact that I am a global learner, becuase either I get the information and it "clicks," or I don't.