Post #7

Class websites are a great tool to aid in the organization and effectiveness of a classroom. They help with teacher, student communication and serve as a tool to post assignments and due dates, as well as grades and even weekly updates. E-Office Hours is a web-based resource that aids teachers in creating "Virtual Classrooms". The website is created "by educational instructors and software engineers who have blended the latest, cutting edge technology with years of teaching experience to develop the most advanced teaching tool and website available, VirtualOffice". The purpose and intent of the site is clear. It is to be used as a resource for teachers and students to view classroom information and serve as a communication tool. The resource is accurate and current in its information, evident by its creators. The site is very well-designed and has great usability. It allows the user to select different options for fast, effective use of the resource. The E-Office Hours website can be accessed by following this link:
http://www.eofficehours.com

I can use excel as a teacher to create many effective teaching assignments. For example, if I was an elementary science teacher I would use excel to create graphs showing the rate of extinction of select plant and animal species over time. Then I could use the data to ask the students questions like, how many more species will be extinct by the time you are 20? Using the spreadsheet tool would allow me to create these charts ad graphs and would serve as a great tool to teach students and keep them engaged and interested.

One case that used Excel creatively in the school setting is Illinois middle school teacher Kelly McMahon's use of spreadsheets in her math class. She created balance and spending spreadsheets to aid her students in the math learning process and problem solving. Spreadsheets are easy to use and answers are displayed with the click of a button, what could be easier?

Post #6

Using the concepts in Chapter 8 I critiqued my own PowerPoint 1 assignment, the first concept is writing. The spelling and grammar in my presentation is correct and I kept my points short and simple like the assignment asked, I would mark the writing as Excellent. The next concept is content, in which I would give myself an Excellent because I included all of the necessary graphics and visuals and the information was all there, and easy to absorb. Navigation is the next concept and I would give my presentation an Excellent because I included "next page" arrows on each slide, and by clicking the mouse the user can easily navigate through the slides and their content. For the screen design concept I would give myself an Excellent because the format I chose is simple yet pleasing to the eye, I use multiple bullets, graphics and animation are incorporated to engage the viewer, and the font is easy to read.
Development of the presentation is the last concept addressed in Chapter 8 and I would mark my presentation as Excellent because I followed all the guidelines included in our assignment and executed it correctly.

In the classroom I can use peripherals like printers and cameras to take pictures of insects with my students, upload them to a computer where they can research and label the parts of the insects, and then they can print their pictures and show them off to their parents! Other non-computer audio-visual technologies I can use in the classroom are tape recorders and televisions. Tape recorders are a fun tool for students to work with, and they can record their own voice, say for a Spanish project, and play it back to themselves to make corrections and listen to how they sound. Television are a very useful non-computer tool that I could use in my classroom to show my students videos, view the local news and weather, and see the day-to-day school announcements.

During the last week we learned in class and from practice how to create PowerPoint presentations and work with the formatting options and tools. I think this skill will be especially useful because PowerPoint is a great tool for the classroom, especially for presentations. It keeps students engaged and interested and it is easy to manipulate and create for yourself.

Post #5

By going in numbered order using the rules presented in chapter 6 I visually critiqued the website for the Rolling Stone newspaper. The link to the site is http://www.rollingstone.com/.
Viewing the website you can tell that rules 1 and 2 are present because the general design principles used for the website are based on research, it includes the principles mentioned in the book, and the user is oriented because they know that they are at the sites main page. For rules 3-8 the site measures up for each because the text is justified appropriately, the style types and colors are limited and there is a color scheme, the page is enhanced with graphics and photos, and superfluous items are not present. The site also covers rules 9-15 because upper and lower case as well as single spacing is used, text lines are short, the structure is simple and the focus is limited to music and news, while providing emphasis where need be and knowing who their audience is and supplying them with the information they need and want. Rules 16-23 are also followed in the sites visual design principles because there is no flashing or vertical text, bulleted lists are used, navigation throughout the website is consistent and several graphic types are incorporated, the site is organized, sizes are proportionate, and placement is visually attractive to the viewer.



Presentation software is a great technological tool for the classroom. Not only does it provide an entertaining way to present information to younger students, it is easy for the instructor to create and the students to follow. Presentation software like PowerPoint allows students to organize facts quickly and remember them better. At the same time I do believe that the amount of presentation software used in the classroom should be limited.


PowerPoint can be used to support student learning in the classroom at each knowledge dimension. I could create a lesson using many multimedia tools to help the students remember, I would sort out information appropriately and in a list or conceptual map to enhance the students understanding, and by conceptualizing my lesson plan before creating the presentation I could use my technology skills to help students apply it themselves. For analyzing the the ideas students can compare facts and work together to create flowcharts as well as evaluate the presentations and create a finished, accurate project that is appealing and logical.

Post #4

As a teacher I would teach my students how to create outlines, idea maps, and storyboards because these are all useful ways of organizing and relaying information. Outlining is one of the best tools available for students and learning to create a good outline is very important for their future. I would take advantage of MS Word when outlining because the students can work with bullets, indents, columns, and word art to create their outlines. From the outline phase I would then assign the students to create idea maps from their outlines. Inspiration and Visio are two great computer tools for idea mapping. The next step in the process would be creating a storyboard. This process teaches the students how to hypermedia presentations and work with design principles such as graphics, text, video, audio, and navigation. Using storyboards to branch their ideas and create a final finished product will not only make the students feel accomplished, it will teach them fundamental organizational skills.

I would encourage my students to work with outlines, idea mapping, and story boards. Outlining is a great teaching tool because it causes students to start thinking about the topic and organizing their thoughts in an efficient manner. Idea mapping causes the students to think more in-depth about the information in their outlines and link it together logically, and story boards allow the students to expand on their presentation and include design principles and higher technologies such as hypermedia presentations. Also by building on their information in this manner students can see where they went wrong and go back to correct their mistakes.

Within the past week I have learned how to efficiently search Google for information and what questions to ask when I am evaluating a website to make sure it's information is accurate and the site is an authority. I think these skills will be especially useful to me in my educational career because when searching for topics I want to discuss in class or information I want to share I will be able to efficiently find the information and determine if it is useful and accurate. I think the skills I have learned in the past week of class will be very useful for my future teaching career.

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Post #3

One lesson plan I would create that uses technology would be a workshop on concept mapping. Imagining that my class would consist of first or second graders, I would use concept mapping to help students with outlines and help them map concepts in preparation for a written composition. Students will learn how to organize sentences to form paragraphs and paragraphs to form compositions. The lesson would be for a language arts class and I would show them how to organize papers.

Some concerns I have about being a teacher who supervises students in a technology environment are the subject matter of the websites my students can visit (adult subject matter should be prohibited from viewing), the students using the internet to find answers to questions without answering themselves, and students becoming off-task due to internet games, fun sites, etc. The grade level of my students would preferable be 1st or 2nd. As a teacher I would make sure my classroom computers had many child-safe security preferences and would not allow them to access website with explicit materials.

One web-based tool I found very interesting, that I may use when I teach, are the online essays and reports by practicing teachers. The articles contain information on every subject matter and grade level and I think they would be very useful in helping a new teacher like me by jump-starting my thinking and getting me on the right track. The following link contain a lot of educational information and peer reviewed lesson plans: http://www.glef.org

Post #2

As a student I have seen many of my teachers using Microsoft Word, in fact it has been one of the main teaching tools they use. I have been using MS Word for years, throughout my career as a student, to complete assignments, type essays, and simply save to-do lists. I like using MS Word because it has so many useful options available like using bullets and tables, as well as spelling and grammar check, you can also insert images or charts and graphs, create outlines and borders, and even use the thesaurus. I have seen my teachers use MS Word for years for creating tests and quizzes, teaching students to experience with different formatting, like creating a newspaper, initiating problem solving, and work on spelling and sentence mechanics.

A good example of a case that uses MS Word creatively in a school setting is the creation of weekly newsletters and flyer's, keeping students informed about their school and promoting school events and fundraisers. I think it's a great way for students to feel involved in their school because they are writing and reading about it. The great thing about using MS Word to create these newsletters/flyer's is that many graphics can be added and many formats can be used. If the school wants the newsletter to appear as it would in The Tallahassee Democrat the students can experience with different formatting to create the look of a real news article. I think this creative use of MS word helps students release their creativity as well as learn new formatting skills.

Of the skills I have acquired in class so far I think the most useful to me in my educational career are creating and saving paint documents, using folders, and creating tests and quizzes. Paint documents are simple to understand and useful for saving or obtaining information. Personal student folders would be extremely useful because the students could save all their work in one place. Creating tests and quizzes is a very important part of MS Word for all teachers because we will be utilizing these tools throughout our careers.