Side: Stay with Microsoft Office.
Currently, the majority of the technological world is using Microsoft Office applications. I think it would be best to train our children on this software platform, since the likelihood they will need to learn this system in higher education or in the workplace is greater than with Google Docs. Although the Office products currently don't allow users to "share" documents across a network, I would imagine it will shortly. It can't be overlooked that Microsoft Office does have more extensive capabilities than the free Google products. I think it would be important for the instructor to familiarize students with both platforms, and they can decide which product is better for which assignment.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Reaction to defining Social Bookmarking
I believe the "social" aspect of the term is two-fold. First, I would define social bookmarking as the ability to take user-selected webpages and access them on any computer with a connection to the internet. Second, the bookmarks can be shared with followers who can view and share their own bookmarks in a online social atmosphere.
As a student, I think social bookmarking would be a valuable way to get updated information regularly or give me access to additional resources that the teacher may provide.
As a teacher, I think it would allow me to give students access to "non-traditional" forms of media and research tools, while putting a filter on where the information is coming from, me. It would save time and paper, because you wouldn't have to print pages off for each class and it also encourages students to incorporate technology into their learning.
As a student, I think social bookmarking would be a valuable way to get updated information regularly or give me access to additional resources that the teacher may provide.
As a teacher, I think it would allow me to give students access to "non-traditional" forms of media and research tools, while putting a filter on where the information is coming from, me. It would save time and paper, because you wouldn't have to print pages off for each class and it also encourages students to incorporate technology into their learning.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Reflection on Excel
Ways that Excel could be incorporated into school curriculum:
1. You could create an Excel document that would allow students to record and track their own grades throughout the semester.
NETS-S Standard: Digital Citizenship, demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning.
2. Students could create a list of books they read in a literature class and rank each of ten books they read throughout the semester. By using everyone's ranking, you could determine the favorite reading selections for the class.
NETS-S Standard:Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and
3. You could use a Spreadsheet to create multiplication tables.
NETS-S Standard:
4. In a high school Accounting course, Excel could be implented for debits and credits rather than using an actual ledger.
NETS-S Standard:
5. In a high school Business course, you could use Excel to make percentages of how much an organization's budget would be divided into areas such as marketing, technology, and employee cost.
NETS-S Standard:
1. You could create an Excel document that would allow students to record and track their own grades throughout the semester.
NETS-S Standard: Digital Citizenship, demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning.
2. Students could create a list of books they read in a literature class and rank each of ten books they read throughout the semester. By using everyone's ranking, you could determine the favorite reading selections for the class.
NETS-S Standard:Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and
3. You could use a Spreadsheet to create multiplication tables.
NETS-S Standard:
4. In a high school Accounting course, Excel could be implented for debits and credits rather than using an actual ledger.
NETS-S Standard:
5. In a high school Business course, you could use Excel to make percentages of how much an organization's budget would be divided into areas such as marketing, technology, and employee cost.
NETS-S Standard:
The Evolution of Technology- The Good, Bad and Indifferent
Did you ever use technology and sit back and say, "Wow, that is completely amazing?" This happened to me recently when I was creating a marketing piece for Albright's ADP and learned about QR codes. These bar codes are beginning to be used in marketing, where if you take a picture of the bar code on your smart phone and have free scanning software on your phone, the picture will take you directly to a website specifically set up for visitors who use this Smart phone function. Amazing!
I also recently was disgusted with technology. I have a problem that people can't be removed from their cell phones. Texting, emailing, even blogging are new ways of communication, however they all take place behind a computer, laptop, or smart phone.
The video on blogging made sense that technology and really the world has become "flat" (Friedman,Thomas-The World is Flat). As technology evolves, I am glad to see organizations like ISTE.org do exist to help standardize how technology is used within the classroom.
My personal experiences is that if you don't evolve with technology, you slowly become less relevant. There are things that I learned to do that I taught myself (GIS, Google Analytics, Google Adwords) that have give me more opportunities at work, because I took the iniative to learn them. If you choose not to evolve with technology, you become history.
I also recently was disgusted with technology. I have a problem that people can't be removed from their cell phones. Texting, emailing, even blogging are new ways of communication, however they all take place behind a computer, laptop, or smart phone.
The video on blogging made sense that technology and really the world has become "flat" (Friedman,Thomas-The World is Flat). As technology evolves, I am glad to see organizations like ISTE.org do exist to help standardize how technology is used within the classroom.
My personal experiences is that if you don't evolve with technology, you slowly become less relevant. There are things that I learned to do that I taught myself (GIS, Google Analytics, Google Adwords) that have give me more opportunities at work, because I took the iniative to learn them. If you choose not to evolve with technology, you become history.
Digital Natives Reaction
I thought the term "Digital Immigrants" was a completely accurate term that I was previously unfamilar with. If you think of an immigrant, in the traditional sense, you are historically looking at someone who likely knows very little of the "language" and the culture they are migrating to. Without the understanding of the language, immigrants will struggle and have a very hard time striving for success, even surviving without learning these skills to communicate.
When you are looking at Digital Immigrants vs. Net Generation, I found it interesting in the reading that it mentioned that even though the information is the same, they way it is learned and the area of the brain that the learning information is stored are in two complete areas, making learning technology a completely different process based on generation. I don't think these two concepts are new, just maybe the terminology attached it to may be considered new. If you look at every generation since the Industrial Revolution, I would surmise that a similar technological growth has eluded the previous generation who did not grow accustomed with a certain technology, because it wasn't available as they were growing up.
A recent experience I had was I was attending a Education/Training Fair at Lehigh Valley Career Link. The fair brought many unemployed workers looking to be retrained in other areas. At a slower time in the fair, one gentleman stopped me on my lap top and made some small chat about it. He told me he has never used a computer and is in his late 50's. He took early retirement from a production based job at Mack Trucks, but after five years realizes his pension isn't enough to support him. He began speaking with the representative from the community college about their CDL Class A driving program and found out that you would have a computer in the truck. He was completely scared of technology and admitted it, but he also began to realize that without technology and understanding it, his skills were now obsolete. We ended up directing him to a "Terrified of the Computer 101" non-credit course at Lehigh Carbon Community College to break down the barrier and hopefully begin the process of digital immigration.
When you are looking at Digital Immigrants vs. Net Generation, I found it interesting in the reading that it mentioned that even though the information is the same, they way it is learned and the area of the brain that the learning information is stored are in two complete areas, making learning technology a completely different process based on generation. I don't think these two concepts are new, just maybe the terminology attached it to may be considered new. If you look at every generation since the Industrial Revolution, I would surmise that a similar technological growth has eluded the previous generation who did not grow accustomed with a certain technology, because it wasn't available as they were growing up.
A recent experience I had was I was attending a Education/Training Fair at Lehigh Valley Career Link. The fair brought many unemployed workers looking to be retrained in other areas. At a slower time in the fair, one gentleman stopped me on my lap top and made some small chat about it. He told me he has never used a computer and is in his late 50's. He took early retirement from a production based job at Mack Trucks, but after five years realizes his pension isn't enough to support him. He began speaking with the representative from the community college about their CDL Class A driving program and found out that you would have a computer in the truck. He was completely scared of technology and admitted it, but he also began to realize that without technology and understanding it, his skills were now obsolete. We ended up directing him to a "Terrified of the Computer 101" non-credit course at Lehigh Carbon Community College to break down the barrier and hopefully begin the process of digital immigration.
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