Post 10

One new skill I learned from the PowerPoint 2 assignment was becoming far more interactive with the action buttons and navigational tools that PowerPoint provides. The thing I liked most about this assignment was that it taught me a whole new way to teach lessons to my future classes without boring them and also making learning fun. The one thing I didn’t like about this assignment was that it was a little difficult to make sure all my action buttons and tables were the same side, which made my PowerPoint a little awkward looking at first. One thing I would change about my project for next time would be to try harder to make everything the same format and spacing to make it more pleasing to the viewer.

From reviewing my classmates’ blogs I discovered how people were facing the same hardships or benefits from assignments that I did. This made me a lot more comfortable both in and out of class to ask questions and to explore what I can do with each assignment.

The next technology-related skill that I would like to learn is Photoshop because I believe that a lot can be done with Photoshop no matter what field of study one wishes to go into.

To achieve my future technology-related educational goals, I plan on taking a lot more classes concerning technology use in the classroom not only throughout my career as a student, but also later as an instructor. This will allow me to keep up with technology and not fall behind my students.

Post 9

Integrating non-computer audio-visual technologies and peripherals is extremely important in the classroom. Peripherals enhance capabilities of different hosts by inserting a different device. In order to incorporate peripherals in my classroom, I would use projectors because it is easy to use and also provides an easy way to work out things in front of an entire class. It is very important to take advantage of these technologies because it allows students to receive a variety of education techniques so they do not get bored. For audio-visual technologies, I plan on using podcasts with my class so I can have lectures from previous classes up for my students to review. Combining these technologies with computer-based technologies would enhance student learning and allow for a plethora of new opportunities for them to learn.

I chose a web-based resource for high school English because that is what I plan to teach. The resource I found was from the Virginia Department of Education and can be found here: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/instruction/english/high/index.shtml. This site is very helpful because it is very straightforward and provides a huge variety of information. One example of this is that it not only does regular high school English, but also has a link for English and special education as well. It provides a lot of information on reading, writing, and testing information.

Another thing I liked about this website was the fact that it was from a very trusted source. It is clear that because this website comes from a state department of education, the sources and information that are found on this website can be assumed to be legitimate. I also like the fact that the website also provides a variety of other subjects to look into in case my students are also trying to find a helpful site for their other classes.

With teaching High School English, I plan to use excel and other similar technologies in order to help create organized charts and creations for grammar and spelling exercises. I would find these kinds of technologies especially helpful in creating a very neat and efficient test format for things like vocabulary and reading tests.

The biggest skill I acquired from this weeks PowerPoint assignment was being able to utilize speaking notes. Before this assignment, I didn’t even know that this existed in PowerPoint, but now that I have been shown this I plan to use it a lot in the future. One thing I did not like about the assignment was having to do the verbal lecture because it felt weird doing it by myself and not to an actual audience. One thing I would change for next time is I would add more graphics and different slide formats to make it more visually pleasing to those who watch the PowerPoint that I create.

Post 8

Using presentation software in the K-12 classroom has the advantage of organizing a lesson. By using programs like PowerPoint, teachers are able to provide their students with a clean and neat lesson. One disadvantage of this software is that if it is used incorrectly it runs the possibly of boring the students.

The digital divide is in reference to the divide between people that have access and those who do not have access to certain technologies. It is also in reference to the level of skills people have with technology compared to others. I have a wide access to technology and I am growing increasingly more skillful at it. However, as I begin to teach, new technologies will continually accumulate and to adjust to this I will constantly be updating the technologies I use in the classroom. I will also make sure that each individual student understands the technologies I use, and if they do not I will provide them with individual help.

An educational issue today that concerns me is that which I stated in my first paragraph regarding presentation software boring students. One great way to avoid this is by using presentation software known as prezi. This program allows all the same features as PowerPoint, but it also allows the presenter to add more unique ways to create the presentation. If one would like to experiment with this, prezi is free and can be used through prezi.com.

Post Number 7

I would use PowerPoint to support each knowledge dimension of student learning by making them create their own PowerPoint as a presentation. With those PowerPoint they will have to: gather information about a subject, put those facts into a PowerPoint presentation, making an outline before creating the presentation, compare their results with their peers, and presenting their final project to the class.

Adaptive technologies are great to help students perceive things that they may not have seen before. These technologies can also help out students who need assistance (such as blind, deaf, etc.). I do not know of anyone who has used these technologies, but if need be I would facilitate them in my classroom. The only problem I see with this is other students may falsely believe that one student is getting more of the teacher’s attention than they are.

The most useful skill I have learned from the web page design assignment is learning how useful having a webpage can be. Through this assignment I saw how much the web site could help my students understand the class and keep up just as much as it will help the teacher. I enjoyed how easy it was to make the web page, but found difficulty in utilizing all the tools. I would improve my assignment next time by looking into all the various tools that could be used to make my web page even more useful and educational.

Post Number 6

Jordan Filerman

Post 6

            I believe course websites are incredibly useful. I would most certainly maintain one as a future teacher because it allows students to turn things in conveniently online, look at their grades, and also check for homework updates. Course websites provide help to both teachers and students, and it is most certainly worth the little trouble and time it takes to set up.

I plan to use technology a lot in the classroom, not only for my students, but for myself as well. With the rate of technology growing as it is, it is important for teachers to stay on top of what is trending so they can capture the attention of their students. I plan on even taking technology courses when I am a teacher if need be. I also plan on using technological tools to help me with lesson plans, projects, and much more.

The most important skill I learned form this latest assignment was knowing what a wiki was. Before this assignment, I had never used this program before, and now that I have used it I have realized what a good tool it can be with education. I like how one can comment on other wikis and also share their own ideas. Next time, I can improve it by making it more aesthetically pleasing. In my future career as a teacher I plan on using wikis to help with classroom discussions and also for students to share their ideas with me, instead of just the other way around.

Post Number 5 Jordan Filerman

One type of web 2.0 tool that I might use in my classroom in the future is Facebook. Facebook is a social networking site that allows people to reconnect with past friends and share information with each other via the Internet. Facebook does a great job of landscaping their website so everything about it is easy to access, use, and understand. For example, the bar in the top right corner helps locate one’s profile, friends, and settings. Also, they keep the advertisements on the side of the screen with helps it from becoming too annoying to the user. www.facebook.com

Facebook is a great way to stay connected and hardly has issues. With Facebook, it is easy to chat, write on walls, or send messages. Through this tool students can communicate with each other on classroom assignments and subjects. One way I would use Facebook in the classroom would be to have students create Facebook pages for characters in books and communicate the book via wall posts, statuses, and pictures.

I think Web 2.0 tools are very useful in all stages of education because it gets a lot more students to be interested in classroom subjects and it allows them to have a better sense of the way the Internet works. Although I think all Web 2.0 technologies are useful, I find Facebook and YouTube to be the most useful because they are easy to use and easy to share information with.

The new skill I acquired from the web hunt was being able to search Google for subjects by creating a more specific search. For example, when looking for articles I could use Google Scholar and when I need articles from a certain date I can refine the search to include only certain publication dates. This can be used in my future career because I will be better at finding information or tools for my class. One thing I would improve for next time is just the formatting of the chart as the dimensions got more messed up when I inserted the information I found.

Post Number 4 Jordan Filerman

Jordan Filerman

Post 4

            One way I would use web-source resources to help with student learning would be to have my students do games that come along with learning-based websites. Another thing I would do is have students use databases when they do research. One of these databases is EBSCO. I had to use EBSCO in high school and it helped my research a lot.

I think that using the internet is a huge help with student learning and research. In almost all situations the internet helps, however plagiarism is a huge downside. When you bring the internet into an assignment, it sometimes can give students ideas to just copy straight from internet sources.

I had to use internet databases a lot during high school. This helped me a lot in finding researching tools and sources. In high school, we also had to check the validity of websites a lot when doing research papers. We did this by reading reviews of the website as well as checking the end of the URL (.org, .gov, etc).

From the inspiration assignment, I learned a lot about making concept maps. Before this, I would always try to do concept maps messily by hand or unsuccessfully on Microsoft word. One thing I could have improved on it would have been to make it look neater and used more graphics. I can use this as a future teacher to create concept maps for my students so they can understand different sections of the material better.

Post Number 3 Jordan Filerman

Jordan Filerman

The website, www.cartoonnetwork.com is a terrible website, especially when one considers its users. There is a ton of superfluous images and texts in this website that can confuse the young kids that come on this website to play games. Also, the advertisements on the website are justified in the middle of the page, and advertise things not applicable to children.

I think open content and open source are very important for educators because it allows them not only to reach their material to others, but to also gain knowledge from the convenience of their own homes. I would use both open source software and open content materials because I find them very helpful in learning environments, and I would contribute to them to make this source useful to others as well.

In this weeks assignment I learned a lot about new ways to manipulate Microsoft Word. It is very helpful for future educators to learn easy ways to make not only effective newsletters, but newsletters that are pleasing to the eye as well. In my future, I plan to use newsletters a lot in class, especially if there is a field trip or other permission slip needed. Next time I would spend more time looking at other things I can do to make my newsletter even more visually pleasing.

twitter account

this is my twitter account: @JordanFilerman

Post Number 2, Jordan Filerman

Jordan Filerman

As a student, I used Microsoft word in almost every class I have taken since middle school. These uses varied between class projects using clip art and writing a research paper for class. I have seen teachers use Microsoft word for tests, practice essays, as well as visual examples on how to use formatting with Microsoft word. One new thing I learned from the book was how to incorporate spreadsheets into Microsoft word, something that I had not thought about doing nor have I seen anyone do it, but this is something that I plan on incorporating in my lesson plans when I am a teacher. This will help my students understand graphics and be able to allow them to use other programs besides Word for various projects.

I have had to do countless copyright exercises since middle school so I understand citing and creating one’s own work very well. In order to make sure my students created their own works and understood about copyright issues I would make sure they understand all forms of plagiarism. In order to do this I would give them a simple yes or no test on different practices students use while writing essays and ask the students if it is plagiarism or not. After they have completed the test I will go over the answers and explain how each one is either plagiarism or not plagiarism.

From the last assignment I have learned a lot about formatting with Microsoft word. Before this assignment, I would always have trouble getting my outlines to have the right indents. However, I liked how this last assignment caused me to notice the indent bars by the bullets and numbering system on the top of Word. This exercise was very useful for my future career as a teacher because it will help me create tests, quizzes, and also outlines for my students to study off of.