Post #1

Computers are a very important part of the educational experience, because students can learn how to use many different forms of useful technology. For example, there are games on computers that are education based. Research is also an essential ability for students to have which is easiest and fastest on a computer. PowerPoint and Microsoft word are programs that students will be using throughout their whole educational career and beyond. There is always the concern of technology becoming the primary source of learning because it seems like computers are taking over, but every new program that is made for computers to help teachers teach and students learn is very beneficial and should not be viewed as future problem.

In my classroom, I think I will use computers for a wide array of learning activities. I will use it to show examples, to play games, to teach basics of word, excel and PowerPoint, to teach off of PowerPoint's, to go to websites for research purposes, for grading, and for recreational use. I hope to learn more tools that will make using the computer more efficient. I hope to learn how to better use new programs, and better databases to find new research.

Since I hope to be an elementary school teacher, I do believe that technology and computers will come into the picture quite often. I do see myself always teaching off PowerPoint, using graphs on excel, and writing my syllabus on word. I see myself using different educational games for my students, and surfing the web for research purposes. I believe technology in general is a great thing, as long as students are trained at a young age how to use it and excel at it as the years go on. I have taken three online classes, and in order to do well in web based course you have to have some knowledge of computers. So, it is absolutely necessary for everyone to take a class like this one to understand the basics of technology.

Blog Journal #0

My prior experience to using technology was mostly constructing PowerPoint's and graphs for different classes. In biology I had to construct graphs of data on excel. In high school I had to make PowerPoint's for classes like English and Marine Biology. Writing essays on Microsoft for almost every class, and using the smart board. Once I blogged for an advertisement company. I also had to make a video on a Mac computer for a final assignment. My teachers never gave explicit instructions when assigning PowerPoint's or graphs, and I think it would have helped me in the long run understanding these technologies if they did.

I hope to learn how to use different tools on the computer in this class. I am not computer savvy at all, and I would love to learn tricks to make things a little easier. I am still not quite confident using Microsoft excel so I would like to learn different ways of using it as well. I hope to learn different ways of blogging, and podcast. I would also like to master the PowerPoint with animation, sounds, and slide transitions. Hopefully after learning new tools in technology I will be able to relate new strategies and methods to teaching a successful classroom.

I learned that I grasp concepts better when the teacher thoroughly explains the details in order for me to vision the big picture. I like to see pictures, so when I try to remember something I remember what it looked like. Most likely I will remember what was said about the topic rather then the actual graph or chart itself. I like to work in groups, but receiving one grade for the group does not really appeal to me. I know that I like to take problems step by step to reach a solution. I learned that I like concrete facts instead of abstract concepts. I would prefer a teacher to give me an outline of what we are doing so I know ahead of time and have it broken down. Each detail is very important to me to understand the concept as a whole. I am more of a visual person than oral, but I do like the combination of both to ensure I understand the topic in full.