Post Number 10

I think what a lot of people liked the most was the presentation software, such as PowerPoint. I believe this is because it provides a fun and interactive way of teaching and students enjoy it. I also noticed that some people mentioned that they had trouble using Windows because they use Apple computers. I have always been a Windows user, but I can see where there could be problems for those not used to it, because I feel like a fish out of water when I try using an Apple computer. I hope that my classmates have enjoyed what they learned in this class. I know I did.

I would like to learn how to build my own webpage. I know that there are sites to help you build your own, but I would like to be able to actually make my own without one of those sites. I liked when my teachers in high school had website posting assignments, homework, and extra credit opprtunities. I would like to give my kids the same opportunities to access assignments from home if they are sick or miss class for any reason so they don't get behind. I would just like to be able to personalize it my way without the constraints of a website builder.

I hope to be able to use PowerPoint presentations in my classroom teaching, and I think this is a pretty attainable goal because many schools have the technological capabilities. I will probably end up using one of those website builder sites rather than making my own webpage, but that's ok. However, if I am able to take a class that teaches me how to make my own page, then I will take it! I think that, when used correctly, technology can really enhance education and engage the learner!

Post Number 9

When I was in highschool, my AP American History used a website called historyteacher.net. There are self-check quizzes, vocabulary, and important facts and people for the main history courses taught in the upper level grades, which is what I plan on teaching. She would take some questions from the self-check quizzes and use them on her tests, so it was always beneficial to look at the different lessons and take the quizzes. There are also powerpoint presentations created by both students and teachers that are very interesting and fun to go through. As a teacher, I plan to utilize this sight because of it's many benefits for students.

The site itself is very user friendly and easy to find your way around on. Again all the main history courses are on the site and once you click one, it takes you to a page specifically for that history and there are many options from there. The site is very appealing in looks and easy to read. It can be a little flashy, but I think the content and the benefits of using the site outweigh that aspect. There are many options for topics under each history category, so it isn't just a small site that gives little back to the user. I would encourage my students to use it as a supplementary tool to my lessons and I would probably take some test questions from the site myself. It's always nice to reward those that go above and beyond for their classes.

I plan on teaching high school history, hopefully American or European. I wouldn't really use Excel as much as say a math teacher, but I can think of some uses for it in my classroom. I would probably use it to make up test score sheets, so students can see how they did compared to the rest of their class and others, as well as show averages and things like that. I could also use Excel to make graphs of different trends throughout history, such as population booms or declines. Being able to easily input information and get a chart is essential for any classroom teacher in my opinion. Charts and spreadsheets are useful in almost every subject in some form or fashion.

My final course project will be somewhat challenging, but not too hard at the same time. I have ideas to go over with my partner in class, but I don't think it will be too bad since we have an idea of what we want to do. The grant would be applied to a high school history classroom, and there are plenty of ways to integrate technology into a classroom like that, so I don't think we will have too many problems with each part of the project. The only challenge would be if she doesn't come to class, but she's always been there, so I'm not worried about that. I think I will probably end up writing the grant request in Word, since it is applicable to my subject area, and I may do the spreadsheet as well while she does the PowerPoint presentation. We will work it out tomorrow and hope for the best. I'm really looking forward to the end result!

Post Number 8

I believe that for the writing bullet, I did well with structure and content. The information is organized according to its category. My navigation buttons all link to what they are supposed to and each page has its necessary branch and link. My screen design is great, especially because I used a predesigned theme, which is designed with all the right font colors and fonts and the consistency necessary for flow and eye appeal. The only thing I didn't pay as much attention to was making each navigation box the same dimensions as the others. I think that was my only flaw though. The development of the presentation was also great.

Integrating peripheral technologies could be fairly simple to do in a classroom. Printers can be used to print handouts and worksheets, while scanners can be used to scan things into a computer to include in a presentation or a test. Cameras can also be handy because pictures that teachers have taken of places or things that they are teaching in class can enhance learning and make the lesson come alive to some students. It's not just something that happened a long time ago across the ocean, but rather something that is still there today, that students could see and explore if they ever had the opportunity. I'm not completely sure what a non-computer audio-technology would be, but I think maybe a projector could go under this heading, since they don't always have to be hooked up to a computer. In this way, the lesson becomes interactive as the teacher is showing things right then and there, rather than from a prearranged show.

I really enjoyed making a trivia game in PowerPoint. I knew how to use the regular navigation buttons, but not the custom one or the knowledge of linking slides. It was a lot of fun to make a trivia game using all of this knowledge! I hope to be able to incorporate this into my classroom, because I think it would be fun to have a trivia Friday or something of that sort to keep students engaged and interested. There could even be prizes, such as candy or free homework passes. I think trivia is a fun way to learn, especially with history or even science, because there is so much material and it can sometimes become boring for students.

Post Number 7

I think one of the biggest advantages of using presentation software is that it captures interest. If the presentation has animations, sounds, and contrasting colors or a design theme, then it tends to capture the attention of the audience more. I do think that presentation software tends to be more effective in the middle and high school grades, because elementary students tend to want to be more hands on and creative. One disadvantage though is that sometimes teachers start to rely on the presentation software and after months of presentations, students may start to get bored and restless. There needs to be a balance between other activities and presentations.

At the factual level, I would use the presentation software to convey important facts, people, dates, and ideas that relate to the lesson of the day, so the students can write these down and have them to study later. In the conceptual dimension, I would allow students to connect the main ideas through a hyperlinked presentation in which they could match people to countries or dates or important historical themes. At the procedural level, I would explain to students how I came up with the presentation and what each level encompasses, so that they could make their own presentations, as a project, and know how to set the presentation up so it is most successful and gets the important points across.

I am very interested in the problem of plagiarism because it is a problem plaguing society today. I knew people who were guilty of plagiarism in high school and got in a lot of trouble when they were caught. As a student, I know it is a pain to submit assignments to turnitin.com, but I'm sure that as a teacher, I will better appreciate this resource in helping me catch students who are not coming up with original work. If they just copy and paste, then a student is learning nothing, and the point of research papers and reports is so the student can learn.

Post Number 6

I'm not entirely convinced that using Web 2.0 technologies in K-12 education is the best idea. In the elemenatary levels, it exposes children to the world of social networking too early and they will want to spend all of their time on the computer, not to mention that they aren't fully aware of all the internet danger that lurks out there and how to protect themselves against scams and the such. If I were to Web 2.0 technologies, I would use it at the high school level, where students are already exposed to that world and generally know the rules, such as not giving out personal information over the internet. I would use it in low quantities though, so as not to base my entire teaching on web-based technology.

Wikipedia can be useful for looking up general information, but I don't think it should be used as a source in research papers or projects. Wikipedia is open for anyone to edit or add things, unless the page of information is locked, which is very rare. Some of the information found on wikipedia is the correct information, but unless the page is locked, you never know if you are looking at the right information or not. Until the pages are full of information given by scholars and scholars only, and locked, I don't think that wikipedia is a good, trusted learning source.

I've had teachers who put lots of information on PowerPoint slides, so I think learning how to put only the key points, without elaboration, on the slides was useful. Also, learning the do's and don'ts of PowerPoint was helpful because I realize that I have made presentations with many items falling into the don't category. I believe that in this day in age, knowing how to give an effective presentation without losing interest is very important, and PowerPoint is one way of doing this because of its various themes and designs to choose from and multiple animations for slides, texts, and pictures.

Post Number 5

I think that the Internet is very useful in student research. Many times, the books in the library are outdated, and the Internet can be a great source for updated and current information. The Internet can be very useful in research projects, but students need to be aware of the traps that lurk in the internet, since some information is false. The Internet is not useful in student research if the student just copies and pastes what they find. One, the teacher is most likely going to find out, and two, it doesn't help them develop their research and writing skills if they are just copying word for word what somebody else has already taken the time to write.

I would ask students to use Google to find different things, kind of like the web hunt that we did for this class. I also like many of the intereactive learning games that are available. I would like to teach History, so I would ask students to try and find virtual tours of historical places that we are studying, such as Colonial Williamsburg. Histroyteacher.net is one resource that I used quite frequently as a student, as teachers recommended it, and I would encourage my students to do the same. The Internet can be a plethora of knowledge if you know how to navigate it to find what you are looking for.

If I were supervising students in a technology environment, I would be afraid of students getting off task. While they are supposed to be doing research, for instance, a student may get distracted and start looking up song lyrics or information about their favorite music artist's next concert tour. Many schools have blocks against sites such as Myspace, Facebook, and YouTube, but there are some students who know how to get around these blocks and will be focusing on those sites rather than doing research for a specific subject. As I want to be a high school History teacher, the students I would be supervising would be teenagers in high school.

Post Number 4

As a teacher, I would have students do basic outlines of the chapter they will be presenting on to get the general idea of the content. The outlines would be typed using a word processing program and then turned in for grading. From their outline, students could then make an idea map, using a program such as Inspiration. After all of the initial research and outlining, the students would then make their presentation using storyboard software, so their presentation is both interactive and fun for the other students.

I would encourage outlines because it involves the students in active reading so they know what the key concepts are in each chapter. I would also encourage idea maps if I am requiring a presentation from the information because it provides an organizational structure that will make subsequent ideas easier to address. It also provides a way for students to make sure they are following their topic and not getting off subject or out of order. I would not necessarily require a storyboard presentation because they can be very indepth in creation and time consuming. For a larger, maybe end of the semester project, I would have students prepare one, but for little presentations in between I would only require PowerPoint presentations.

We didn't have class last week, but from the prior week, I enjoyed learning about Inspiration because it could prove to be very useful. I think that working our way around the web was supposed to be the topic for last week, and I would have enjoyed learning how to help students navigate the web in doing research for a class and making sure they find the right information and know how to cite the information they use so they don't get in trouble. The internet is a very powerful tool, but students need to be aware of its pitfalls and know how to give credit where credit is due.