Post #3

Chapter 4 had little interesting facts I had not known. For example, I learned that the #0 means off, and #1 means on in the binary system. I'd known that the binary system used sequences of 1s and 0s, but wasn't aware that on and off were the electronic translations of each. Besides interesting information relating to PC cards, flash drives, FireWire ports, etc., the rest of the information included in the chapter seemed irrelevant to the career as an educator. Unless one is hoping to teach technology courses, the information described is probably not useful, not to mention unnecessary, as I have discovered is the theme for a majority of the text. For instance, in figure 4-56 (p. 241) "Some guidelines for the proper care of CDs and DVDs" explains that CDs and DVDs will be damaged if one touches the 'underside of the disk', or 'exposes the disc to excessive heat or sunlight'. Common sense, people. I mean, really, was it worth that tree?

I learned some new things about microsoft word I didn't know before in the practice test on SAM. For instance, I didn't know how the mailing program functioned, and now I can print out envelopes with addresses on them. If I were to have a chance to talk to the creators of the SAM software, however, I would suggest shorter practices. The 120 question practice took me just shy of two hours to complete. Also, I would have finished sooner if some of the questions worked properly. Either the problem would freeze and I'd have to skip it or I would do exactly as it asked and the program would still not consider that I had completed it properly. Even when I was taking my test, it did not count one of my questions right because SAM had taken too long to load and I clicked on the screen a few times. By the time the test popped up it had counted those clicks as 3 wrong chances and I got the problem wrong. In short, this program is frustrating and some bugs need to be worked out before they try and sell a program to us for $55.

Aside from complaining and my bad mood, which I attribute to the dreary rainy day and my wet pant legs, I would like to end this note with a positive outlook. Give me a moment, I'll try. I learned through my literature courses that in order to get your students interested, you have to pick an interesting book to begin with. A few of my professors have a problem doing so, and these are books of their choice, not required reading for the course. Being an english education major, I will most likely teach high school, and choosing interesting books for kids who most likely aren't interested in reading in the first place will be a challenge. Beowulf will not be included in my reading list if I have a choice.

Cuidate,
Kate

Chapter three seemed a little simple to me, discussing voice recognition and note taking software, technology our generation is already used to and exposed to. As far as productivity software such as word processing and spreadsheets, both applications are extremely useful, especially in the teaching profession. Presentation software is also very familiar, Powerpoint being the main application exposed to us. It was good to learn that there are technologies created specifically for school purposes, such as school management software, grade book software (that will come in handy), and reference software.

Since my last posting I've learned how to create school newsletters and quizzes for class. I believe these things will be very helpful to me in the future because otherwise my quizzes would've looked extremely sloppy and my students would have made fun of me =(. I did not learn a lot of these things through my previous technology course, and am surprised and interested in the neat things you can do with microsoft word, an application I'm familiar with on the basis of essays and little else.

I would just like to share that I have read two very good books in the last two weeks for a couple of my classes; Oranges are not the only Fruit by Jeannette Winterson, and The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. If you have any free time, or just like to read, these books are great. I sound like Lavaar Burton on Reading Rainbow... ahhh I loved that show back in the day. Does anyone remember Bill Nye the Science Guy, Wishbone, or The Magic Schoolbus? Our children are going to be so deprived with their limited Spanish vocabulary they pick up from Dora...

Blog #1

It is interesting to learn about the different usages of technology in the classroom, some I have personally encountered as a student in elementary through high school. For instance, I am familiar with the National Educational Technology Stamdards for Students and their "grade-specific performance indicators". Community digital storytelling is an interesting concept that involves "oral history, movies, filmmaking, and digital media" to better aid students in the classroom. Also, the transmedia story or "art of telling stories using various forms of media" I have experienced through the use of powerpoint, video, slideshows, websites, etc.

To be honest, I don't believe I have learned any new skills since reading the first chapter of this book. I am mostly familiar with the concepts presented here, and am simply looking forward to learning about other technology in coming chapters.

So, I want to be an english teacher. I get to present slideshows and films to help me teach my students. I'm excited about this, and aspire to do as well as my favorite teachers, and much better than my worst. I am thankful that technology has come so far in the classroom, because today's children expect a very stimulating environment. I want english to be exciting to them, and am also thankful my teachers had technology to present ideas to me.