Digital Camera & Comic Life

I really enjoyed the activity that we did today in class using our digital cameras to take pictures of geometric shapes. I learned how to use comic life and love the program. I didn't even know that there was such an easy, fun way to use our photos productively. It was a very user friendly program that I enjoyed using which can make things so much easier when working and producing photos. 

Some of the ideas that you can use with this program would be: changing the background color and font color through the style option, putting the little quote things in where text can be put in, adding text wherever and however, and using a variety of styles for the development of the page and material used.

I have learned a lot through this activity that we did today. It is one of those activities in which the individual really needs to work through it on their own to better understand the linguistics of the program. It is an easy way to acquire and work with photos with not a lot of effort required for the project to turn out really well. I would recommend this program to other users because of the positive experience I was able to have with it today.

Web Based Applications

The potential benefits of computer based tutors are super beneficial especially for really young children who have not gone to school yet or even those who may be struggling in school. The children can learn things through these tutors in a way that can help them to learn in a variety of ways and very effectively. These tutors cover most all of the different subjects and there are a lot of different activities in each subject that can add variety to the child's learning and keep it enjoyable. Also, these tutors are very colorful, exciting, have noises, and are very entertaining for young children. Children will want to focus and pay attention because it is not boring and as a result the learning experience will be that much more productive for the child.

There are a few concerns and weaknesses that I saw with these programs. Some of the programs did not make sense in their wording therefore making it kind of confusing what was expected of the child. Also, some of the programs did not have much of a challenge which did not make it very motivating to do good on the program. It made me want to find something else to try instead because specific programs did not meet a challenging and engaging activity to meet the students' specific needs.

These tutors are well designed for the most part but they do need to be clear and specific. They cannot be too challenging that the student has no idea what he/she is supposed to do. They need to be motivating though and have some change and variety to make it so children want to use the programs to learn which will increase their desire to learn.

Instructional Architect

Today in class we learned about a very valuable accessible tool for lesson plans as a future teacher. Not only can teachers access this website but others as well and anyone can publish a lesson plan for the public as well as their own class. I am constantly amazed by the resources available to us as future teachers. Learning all of this new information really excites me to let others know of the incredible resources which are available to the public.  

The creation of the lesson plan is very intriguing to me and I really want to use this resource as way to plan my lessons especially as a future teacher and student teacher. These resources are very educational and have great purpose to them. There are a great variety of subjects available and within the different subjects, there is a valuable amount of different types of lessons within easy access to the user. 

This new resource, I feel is one of the most valuable I have learned throughout this semester. As a future teacher there is a lot available to increase the variety and effectiveness of the lessons that are taught to my students. I really hope that teachers now are aware of these resources and using them to help make things easier for them as they use technology and teach their students the core curriculum.

Web Site Evaluation

a. I really liked using the forms: critical evaluation of a web site elementary school level form and also the www cyberguide ratings for content evaluation. The reason I liked using these forms is because they were very simple and to the point and I could mark the evaluations very easily by my observations of the websites.

b. There were not any hidden secrets about these sites that the evaluations showed to me. However, there is a lot of material that I think should be added according to the forms of evaluating that many of these websites do not contain. These websites are not as valid to me because they do not contain all the information that is applicable to these sites.

c. There is much value in using a website evaluation form because it helps you to know how useful, relevant, and applicable the information provided is for you as a teacher. It helps you to know if that site is really worth the time or not. It helps you to understand what is important to include in each particular website for the information to be certain and valid to you as an educator and/or individual.

d. Yes, there are times when I would not use a formal evaluation because of previous information I had acquired of the site previously. If I knew that it was a valid site from a valid person/s and/ or company then I would not worry so much about evaluating the content available on the site. I think that the evaluating forms are very useful and beneficial but do not always need to be used to make sure the site is relevant, valid material.

WebQuest

Today in class we learned a lot about WebQuest through research of our own and also through the presentations of others. WebQuest and Quest Garden are very useful websites to be able to find helpful lesson ideas and to  be  able to incorporate a variety of subjects into my lesson plan. 

As a teacher, this is a very useful tool to help in creating more effective lesson plans. I really want to use these sites as a teacher to teach my students in a variety of ways. Also, I think that it would be good to have my students use these websites to work in groups to learn more about different subjects. This will not only help them to learn good group work but also the importance of  taking responsibility for the material they acquire for their group with very easy access.

Although our group did not have the most positive experience, I think that it can be a positive experience as long as the teacher views the specific sites to make sure they are reliable for the students to use. A lot of our links were faulty and did not go through to the site which made a huge difference in making our experience not as positive.

I think that if teachers in my practicum (... and in general) used these lesson plans in their classrooms that the students would really enjoy these lessons and they would appreciate the different ways in which they could learn important information.

Spreadsheets

Today in class we worked on excel spreadsheets which was very beneficial. This can be a very confusing microsoft office though if not understood correctly. As a teacher, this microsoft office can save many, many hours of time to figure numbers and figures more correctly and quickly. As a teacher, there is so much time involved as it is that anywhere there can be time shaved off it is so worthwhile for a teacher to use. Yes, there is much time that is required in order to fully understand microsoft office but it is more than worth it to save the much needed time.

Also, we worked on forming the survey sheets and I really enjoyed this activity. This is a very simple way in order to be able to understand my students more fully from the beginning of the school year. This survey can help me understand a little bit more where my students are coming from with their particular backgrounds which will help me to be able to better address there different needs. I definitely want to use this site to create surveys to help me to get a better head start with my students at the beginning of the year and throughout the year as different needs and difficulties arise. I can use surveys to check for their level of understanding which will not be addressed in front of the entire class but on an individual basis.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=cEJWN2FuVENqZlc5WG4wdVpxamxnUlE6MA..

Word Processing

Today in class we worked on word processing. This was a very beneficial lesson for me because as a teacher understanding Microsoft word is very important. This material can help me as a future teacher to be better at using technology and helping my students to integrate technology slowly into their everyday lives.

Google docs have been very beneficial for me if you understand how to use them. I kept having difficulties trying to work with it but I am still very excited to understand google docs in order to help me with my school work and within my everyday interactions with other.

I have really enjoyed the class time today in learning about Microsoft word and google docs. As a future teacher, these materials will help me to be a much more efficient teacher and also to use as I complete my education. I am excited to learn more of google docs so that I can become more proficient and make life a lot more easier for all!