Blog Post # 4

Teaching Concepts:
As a teacher, the use of a concept mapping tools is excellent for students really learning and remembering what being taught. Like chapter 7 mentions, information is conceptual, procedural, or conditional, and using concept mapping really instills all of those things in a student’s memory. Concept mapping creates a pattern, and once a student learn that pattern it’s easy for them to understand and gain knowledge. The technology I would use the help student with concept mapping the Inspiration software. This software allows the student to all procedures involved in concept mapping.

Encouraging students:
Outlines are great for having an idea and thinking about specific topics, and I surely encourage students use. Having an outline is like have a springboards in the floor for gymnastic. Both help the user have a greater outcome. Outlines are springboards for idea maps and storyboards. I encourage students to have all three, but put more emphasis on having the outline since it acts as a springboard. When a student puts and outline together, it doesn’t have to be a complicated outline. It’s merely meant to get the student thinking about an assignment or project so the student will have some direction.

New Skills:
A new skill that has been taught to me is the use of Inspiration. This software is perfect for students learning and retaining information. By learning to use this software, it will help tremendously when it comes to teaching students and helping students learn. As mentioned above, having an outline is a springboard for coming up with an idea map and storyboard, and Inspiration is ideal software for just that. Having learned to use this software will make my educational career ten times easier.

Blog Post # 3

Lesson Plans and Technology:

Lesson plans are generally designed to help students remember what they learn by playing to the strengths of students learning abilities. My lesson plan would cover the subject math for 7,8 grade students, and I would use tools such as word processor, spreadsheets, calculators, instructional software, or the internet. All of those tools will help with my lesson plan, but I will need to know when you use with tool so the students will remember the information being taught. For example, a basic lesson plan I would use will resolve around using spreadsheets and using personal or real data. If my classroom is equipped with five computers and I have 25 students. I would divide the students in groups of five, and each group will have a computer to use for the class assignment. The assignment will focus on balancing a checkbook using a spreadsheet application. To make the assignment interesting to the students I will assign each group a variety of salary based job where the make a specific amount each month. From that point, I will give each group a set amount of expenses (Rent, Car Payment, Food, and Gasoline) that will need to be covered with their salaries. After those expenses are covered, I will let each group add luxury items to their monthly expenses and have them create equations to automatically deduct those extra expenses.

Visual Critique of T-mobile:

Chapter 6 informs us of rules for graphics and interface designs. I choose to use T-Mobile phone company main website to how they have implemented some general design rules. From the glance of their website, I took in that by having a T-Mobile phone you gain freedom.

As you can see in the screen shot, T-Mobile has a shadow phone they are promoting with a man and a woman jumping freely into a lake. That picture actually gives false up of freedom. As the majority of cell phone users know that if you jump in the water with your phone it will get destroyed, but other than that the picture plans major role in the use of many rules. This screen enhances its text with graphics which captures your attention so the page is not dull. The site does not use all caps; it utilizes both upper and lower case letters. It keeps the text short while getting their point across. They have made the structure of the page simple, by adding links to the words so when see something you want all you need to do it click of a button, and providing emphasis by adding color to the hyperlinked words. Another rule used well, it knowing their audience, by going after the customers they provide to most service to. All the graphics shown on the page is meant to capture the attention of a specific audience and lure them into purchasing service through their company. Over all this company has utilized graphic and interface design principles extremely well.

Experience with Copyrights:

My experience with copyrights in an educational environment is mainly been in regards to writing papers for different courses I have taking where research is needed. Many times you read so much information it gets embedded in your mind and you tend to forget that it’s not you words you are writing on paper. Therefore you don’t give credit or site the information and have therefore used copyright infringement. As a teacher, I would inform my student to site every source they use and when they are in doubt if a source needs to be sited they should site it anyways.

Blog Journal Post # 2

Blog Journal Post #2

How I use MS Word:

Like the majority of other students, I use MS Word for writing the dreadful papers teachers love to give out. I've written research paper, short essays, poems, and even love letters using MS word. For the most part, I use the basic features of MS word. I use it as a spelling checking tool, word counting tool, and grammar checking tool. I have noticed that teacher use MS Word in a similar manner as myself. They too use word for spelling and grammar checking. Teacher also use word to put together assignments using the many functions word has to offer. For example, a teacher will put together a quiz and add color, graphics, and tables and columns. Those function are rarely used by the average MS word user.

Ideas from Ch. 9

After taking a minute to pull myself from re-learning all the wonderful tools that MS Word has to offer. I got a chance to read chapter 9 and to my surprise it brought back more memories of how great this software is. One feature, I absolutely love how MS Word allows you link words to actual Internet websites. In my opinion, that function may be the greatest of them all. The book also points out using excel spreadsheets and tables to help clarify ideas and thoughts to the viewers. The example the book gave was students using graphics in their documents sometimes clutter their work and make it look disorganized. If a teacher or student use tables, it helps organize and keep the presentation of their thoughts clear. I would incorporate as many applications of word processing as possible to help get my point across to students as a teacher.

New skill learned:

So far this class has more of a refresher course of the skill I have already learned and stopped using. We have only worked with MS word and it word processing applications. The majority of the applications are functions I have used before, and forgotten how to use them, but I have gained new skills from using them now. Before, I saw myself using MS Word because it was an assignment do. Know I see it as a tool to help teach students a specific subject. Therefore, the most important skill I learned is knowing when and how to use Word Processing Application to help teach a class. Also, I learned to always keep up with technology because it's not good to have a student teaching the teacher how to use programs to teach a class.

Blog Journal Post # 1

Importance of Computers in the educational experience

First off, teacher’s general purpose of using the computer is to teach student to use it as a tool to acquire, process, and present information. With that being said, computers are extremely help in the learning environment when they are used properly. In order for computers to be helpful, teachers must recognize the difficulties he/she have using a computer, and be mindful that the student may have similar difficulties. Therefore, teachers must know the basic strategies of how to use a computer and know the enough terminology to talk with technical support when an issue arises. This chapter on computer is the classroom has very useful information and I agree all the elements brought up in this chapter. It shows how educational technology is a broad field and to be used properly requires an understanding of computers and the components that comes with it. These components are also called the peripheral (printers, scanners, probes, zip drives, cameras, and other devices that provide input to or output from a computer). The most important issue I took from this chapter and agree with 100 percent is the assessment and evaluation of instructional planning process. I love this element, because it makes you question what should a student know and be able to do when finished with a lesson. By having an idea of what you want the student to gain form a certain lesson help evaluate the progress of the student.

After reading this chapter and getting insight on how and why computers are used in the classroom. I have gained knowledge and some ideas of how I to use a computer in the classroom effectively. Once I able to teach the basic of computer function and how toes of using the computer, my major use would be as a tool for analyzing information. Particularly spreadsheets and databases so the student can use real data and have more of the information sink in to their minds. By taking this course, I hope to learn more about how to use a computer to help simplify lesson plans for teaching students.

To the class as a hold, I like to say that computers are extremely useful and I wouldn’t be able to function with out them. My favorite use of the computer is the word processing program. Those programs are saviors to me, they really help make your results of writing and presentations look better. Think about how it would be to write a 10 page paper without the use of a word processor. You would have to write ten pages with pen or pencil then proof read for spelling and grammatical errors, and once you are finish with that rewrite the entire ten pages. That would be the most dreadful and time consuming task ever. Therefore, my final words are take advantage of technology and keep advancing your skills of it.

What experience do you have using Technology?

When it comes to using technology, I have never had a problem where I find it impossible to use. In some chases, it may be a little challenging and time consuming to learn how to work a new program or device, but I’m always willing to face that challenge. Even if it take hours to figure out, the reward just makes it that much sweeter. By me putting in hours to figure out how to work a new device, actually increases my knowledge of the new technology. Through trail and error, it helps me to be able to assist others that may be having complication with the new technology. An example is around two years ago, a particular cell phone company brought out a new phone for the consumer to by. The phone was a smart phone/pocket pc. The sales associate could not provide the help I needed to learn how work a particular function with the device. Even though I was not too familiar with the works of this device, I bought the phone anyhow. Once I got the phone home, I called technical support to see if someone could help me the learning a function of the phone. That also became a disappointment to me. Therefore, I had to choose either to take the phone back or deal with the issue myself. Well, I choose to spend 5 hours to figure the problem out myself. After 5 hours of trail and error, I finally figured it out and I was able to go to store I purchased to phone from and explain to the sales associate how to work the device.

What do I hope to learn form this class?

Now that’s an ironic question. The first assignment about different learning style acts as a summary of what I want gain from this class. I want to become more balanced in my learning, so I don’t feel like I have not learned all the information possible will dealing with different subject matters. I main goal is to become for of an active learner, and discuss scenarios in group assignments.

William Rutledge III learning Style

I have learned when it comes to Active and Reflective learning, I’m pretty balanced in both but with a mild desire to be a reflective learner. I’m more of a “let’s think it through first” kind of person. Being that way can lead me to taking too much time thinking it through and never getting the work done. Also, when it comes to Sequential and Global learning, my balance between the two is dead on. At times I learn by taking linear step in a logical way, and I also learn when absorbing material in a random order and then it suddenly understanding the connection. As far as being a Visual and Verbal learner, my style is more of a visual style and I have to work on being more balance. In most cases things are taught in verbal terms which lead me to go getting as much out of the information as I would if it was visual. Lastly, when it comes to being a Sensing and Intuitive learner I have a moderate lean towards the sensing side. I would prefer know the facts instead of thinking of possibilities of how it relate to a situation. Well that’s my learning style in a nutshell.