Last Blog

Well, this is it. As hard as it is to believe, this is the last blog I'll be writing for EME2040. As totally cliche as it sounds, it's amazing how fast time flies. It still hasn't quite sunk in that I've now completely finished my freshman year of college and am already a sophomore. Wow... Well, here we are and time continues to pass, no matter how much we wish it would stand still at times.

As I mentioned in my previous blog, I really enjoyed this class. I hope I don't sound like a complete "teacher's pet" but this was actually my favorite class of the semester. The only thing that I would change about this class is possibly having it two days a week, instead of just one. It gets to be a little lengthy at times, especially at 8am, ha. I never once felt that any of the material we covered was a waste of time, or that I would never use it. I definitely feel more comfortable entering the teaching profession having taken this class. Mr. Gentile's availability to his students was great. I never felt intimated or that he wouldn't understand any circumstance that happen to come my way. Though some assignments took a bit of time to complete, the lesson they taught was well worth it. Overall, I feel very satisfied with the class and think it was well worth the time and effort put into it!

Thanks Mr. Gentile! :)

Nearing the End...

I can't believe I'm saying this, but we've come to the point where our classes are beginning to wrap up and depending on your classes, assignments/tests are piled high. Only three more weeks and finals will be here! Crazy, isn't it? I've learned a lot in the class, much more than I ever thought I would. My goal is to be able to remember most everything I've learned (...hopefully) and be able to apply it in my own classroom within the next few years. I've been doing some thinking recently, and although my goal at the beginning of this year was to eventually become a middle/high school science teacher, I think I might change my major. I'm thinking more along the lines of Family & Consumer Sciences Education. Basically, home ec teacher. I did a little more research on it though, and it turns out that the major actually prepares you for a lot more than just becoming a home ec teacher. From the major description online, it says that students are prepared for a job in the field of education, business, and marketing. Sounds good to me! I was looking for something that gave me a little bit more flexibility, in case I got into my own classroom and simply couldn't take it (hopefully not!). So that's my goal... for now. We'll see where it goes! Kudos to Valerie for helping me out so much with my new-found major, haha.

I have to say that I really enjoyed this class. Like I said before, I learned so much more than I thought I would. Initially, I thought this class was simply going to be a review of what I already knew and that I'd probably get bored. This is probably the only class I can get up at 6:30am for, and stay interested until 10:45am. I love how everything we learned had direct application in the classroom. I don't feel like anything we went over was a waste. One of my favorite things that Mr. Gentile did was share little bits of advice for other aspects of being a teacher than just technology alone. Such as how to ask the class questions, and get a general feel for how the class wants to do an activity/learns best. I never dreaded coming to class and thoroughly enjoyed everything he had to say. When I found out that it was only his second semester teaching this class, I was pretty surprised. From the way he handled things, it seemed like he'd been doing it forever. I'm not sure that I would change anything about the class (other than it being at 8am! haha). I think things went very well within the class as long as proper effort was put in by the student.

Chapter 8: Security Issues, Ethics, and Emerging Technologies in Education

Chapter 8 talks about many things such as viruses, computer security, safe computing tips, hardware and software theft, backing things up, and computer ethics of today. With so much being done on computers today, it is a bit scary to think of all that could possibly go wrong with your computer and all the information you put into it. Chapter 8 tells us that a virus is "a potentially damaging computer program designed to affect your computer negatively without your knowledge or permission by altering the way it works." Most people are familiar with viruses, but may not know that they can sometimes be harmless, as the book tells us. We are given some helpful "safe computing tips" on page 473 that can help keep users like us safe on our computers. Examples of these include purchasing and installing reliable anti-virus software, scanning all removable media, and turning off email preview. Something else the Chapter 8 discusses in detail is computer ethics. It gives a great breakdown of computer ethics for educators that help clear up any misconceptions people may have. It tells us that computer ethics are the guidelines that govern the use of computers and information systems. The book also discusses helpful tools such as class websites. It reminds teachers and students to seek and attain proper permission before using material from someone else's works and putting it on his or her own page.

Since my last posting, we worked on our web pages. Although it took a bit of trial and error, I feel that I got a pretty good grasp on completing a generic website with a template. Registering with a free site (though it has ads...) allowed us to put together a quick and organized site that is easily edited whenever needed. As a teacher, I see myself using a website daily; especially for students who may be absent or need some further explain once they arrive home and can no longer ask me questions. I see it as a great way to post review material and any information that parents may like to know as well.

This past week (as we all know) was Spring Break. Although I loved the break, it almost felt like a tease of summer followed by a quick slap back to reality. Sigh... It's pretty hard to get back in the "school mode." Oh well, only four more weeks of classes, then finals! Summer couldn't come quick enough! Something interesting, and a bit scary that I found out about is how people are putting viruses on things such as iPods, digital picture frames, and GPS's before they even hit store shelves. Talk about scary! Turns out they're getting the viruses into the factories and mass producing their virus just as quickly as their victim product. Anyway, here's the website if anyone wants to read more about it: cnn.com

Chapter 6: Technology, Digital Media, and Curriculum Integration

This chapter, titled "Technology, Digital Media, and Curriculum Integration," explains to us ways in which we can integrate technology and other digital media into our classrooms. As a student growing up in the "age of computers" (as I like to think of it, ha.) I have seen first hand the positive effects that the everyday presence of technology can have on students. Although some people are uncomfortable integrating such things in their classrooms, I feel that the benefits highly outweigh the negative effects this could have. Chapter 6 tells us that the best way for curriculum integration is to put the technology into the hands of trained teachers, make it easily accessible, and let them decide how best to use it at the point of instruction in their classrooms. I couldn't agree with this more. I think that if you have a teacher that is comfortable with integrating a lot of technology into his or her classroom the way that he or she wants to, then they are going to get a lot of positive feedback from their students. The book also tells us that the main goal of teaching strategies is to provide a consistent application of technology tools to support instructional curriculum areas. It is also important to give every student the opportunity to work with computers and related technologies. I believe that the more each student is exposed to these technologies, the greater learning capacity they will have for the greater technology of the future. Something else that I like that the chapter discussed was the ASSURE model. This is an instructional model used by educators to develop technology-enriched lessons. It tells us to 1) analyze teh learner, 2) state objectives, 3) select methods, media, and materials, 4) utilize methods, media, and materials, 5) require learner participation, and 6) evaluate and revise. I think that this would be a very helpful, effective tool when developing instructional lessons in the classroom.

Some new skills that I have acquired since my last posting are in Power Point, for the most part. I think I learned most of my new skills by simply playing around with different buttons and seeing what happened. Although it may not be the most professional and efficient manner, I did in fact learn a lot of new things that I don't think I would have learned had I not had an assignment like the Linear Power Point. I could see myself using this a lot in my classroom, especially since I hope to teach science. I'm hoping to even save presentation that I created for this assignment and use it for a possible chapter on astronomy!

Last Friday I did some of my service learning at the Florida State University Schools (both middle school and high school). During one of the algebra/geometry classes that I observed, the teacher utilized a piece of equipment that I had read about in our of our previous chapters, the Tablet PC. He hooked it up to his laptop and used it like an over head projector. Instead of having to erase the transparencies and get new ones, he simply opened up a new document on the computer while he saved the one he just worked out. I thought this was a very efficient and effective way to integrate technology. At times, he would allow the students to show their work on the Tablet PC, which helped maintain their interest throughout the class. It was really great to see something that I've been reading about used in action!

Chapter 5: Integrating Digital Media and Educational Software Applications

Chapter 5, "Integrating Digital Media and Educational Software Applications," covers a lot of things that I found to be very interesting. I liked this chapter a bit better than the previous because I felt it applied more to what we do every day. From Power Point presentations that use animation and audio to online newspapers to check-in kiosks at the airport, we use digital media each day. Although I felt that the way the book talked about each of these concepts was a bit monotonous because most people are so familiar with them, it was a good overview and reminder about what has become so omnipresent in our society.

I thought that our work with Wikis was very helpful. I think this would be very helpful once I become a teacher for my students to use. When students are to work in groups together on projects, it would be great for them to have one place where they can all edit and add to plan their presentation. Something like this seems like it would be able to work well with almost any curriculum. Hopefully I'll be able to remember how to do it once I finally get my own class!

I've finally started doing some of my service learning in a real classroom setting, instead of the 21st Century programs. It has been great to get in there and really see what it's like... I have to say though, I think those middle schooler's might give me a run for my money, haha. I'm scheduled to observe high school Geometry tomorrow at FSUS, so hopefully that will be exciting! :)

Chapter 2: Communications, Networks, the Internet, and the World Wide Web

I found Chapter 2 (Communications, Networks, the Internet, and the World Wide Web) to be a good review of things we use every day. Although most of us use the terms "internet" and "world wide web" interchangeably, I learned that they actually aren't exactly the same. The world wide web, the book tells us, is the largest service used on the internet. It explains and gives examples of popular plug-in applications such as Acrobat Reader, Flash Player, QuickTime, and Windows Media Player. I found that a lot of what Chapter 2 had to say helped me to put a name to things that I encounter a lot. Especially what things like URL, http, and other abbreviations stand for. As we talked about in class, I think that RSS (really simple syndication) is very helpful for those of us who don't have all the time in the world. This helps send us the feeds from all the sites we love, without having to visit each individual site.

Something that I learned last week that I have been using ever since is iGoogle. How addicting?! I've set up my calendar and look at it about 3-4 times a day. I love being able to have my own personal calendar everywhere I go. With iGoogle itself, I check the weather each morning before heading to class (to see what to wear) while also glancing at the day's top stories. I love having everything right at my fingertips.

I thought last week's presentations were very helpful. Each site that the class covered had it's own interesting aspect that could easily be incorporated into everyday classroom life. The search we did for lesson plans also helped me to know that there's a lot more out there for teachers than I thought. It's good to know that when I finally get out there with a class of my own, I'll have some good help!

Chapter 4: Hardware for Educators

Chapter 4 gives an in-depth view at the different hardware components of the computers we use today. It told us about input devices (such as keyboards, mice, touchpads, touchscreens, scanners, digital cameras, PDAs, etc.) and how they work and when using them would be helpful. It also goes over output devices (such as monitors, televisions, printers, speakers, projectors, etc.) and how they work and what they do. However, in all honesty, I did not find this chapter to interest me as much as the previous ones did. I felt like this chapter, at times, was just a giant overview of vocabulary. After reading each of the previous chapters, I felt like I had learned at least a few things that I could take into the classroom and apply. I'm not so sure I feel as comfortable with this chapter. Although it did have very descriptive information in terms of describing the hardware and its uses, I simply wasn't as interested... :(

Since last week's posting, I've spent a lot of time playing around with Inspiration 8. Although it only has a limited number of uses (i.e. making concept maps, outlines, etc.), it is very useful for doing just those things. I think that as a teacher, I would use a program like this often to map out things such as a compare/contrast chart of characters, steps to take for a certain lab, etc. I think teaching students to be proficient in a program like this would help them to learn a new way to map out their thoughts from their notes, and look at new information in a different way.

This past week my dad, whom as I mentioned before works as a computer programmer back home, bought a new computer for my mom to work on from home on. Since he was on call the whole weekend, the computer was left for me to hook up. I have to admit-- I was a bit intimidated. Who knew how much stuff this thing actually had on it, and after all, there were an infinite number of ways for me to mess each part of it up. After getting the nerve up to finally do it, I set up the entire computer in less than an hour. I was quite impressed! haha, and to my even greater surprise, it worked great! I even showed my mom a few new tricks I learned in Word. Turns out I'm learning quicker than I thought. :)

Chapter 3: Application Software Productivity Tools for Educators

Chapter 3 begins covering the different operating systems available for today's computing needs. Though many people are most familiar with Windows (being the most used operating system in the world), others include Mac OS, Mac OS X, UNIX, and Linux. Each of these brings their own unique aspects of how the computer goes about running application software. I have been working with Windows XP since it came out in 2001, and would like to someday soon upgrade to Vista to see everything it has to offer along with the changes it brings. Something I found interesting was the note taking software. I knew things such as Tablet PCs existed, however I did not know how prevalent they were in today's schools. I would have loved to have something such as that to take notes in during my K-12 experience! Hopefully by the time I become a teacher and the years thereafter, technology will have progressed enough to make note taking software like this mainstream among nearly all schools across America. One thing that chapter 3 talks about that I look forward to learning is the grade book software. Each of my teachers utilized some sort of grade book program and I was always amazed at how easy and organized it made each student's grades appear.

Since my last posting, I learned how to do a lot more with Word in terms of visual items. By working on the newsletter and just playing around with some of the things Word does, I found myself learning new and exciting things. As a teacher, I plan on doing some sort of newsletter during the school year and found this past assignment to be very useful. I especially liked the idea of placing a shape behind all the other items on the newsletter on top of a colored background to make a professional, clean looking newsletter. By just doing that small feature, my newsletter had that extra bit of "kick" that it needed.

This class has already taught me a lot more than I thought it would. I consider myself to be fairly knowledgeable when it comes to computers, but that comes to show you just how much there is to know! I don't think it's possible for anyone to really know everything! There's just so much! After talking to my Dad (a computer programmer at a hospital back home in Jacksonville) about everything I've learned, I realized even more how much more there is out there. I've always loved learning interesting new things… I don’t think I have to worry about that not happening in this class!

Chapter 1: Integrating Educational Technology into the Curriculum

Overall, I feel that Chapter 1 was very informative in giving a general overview of computers today, what they were in the past, their versatility, and how and why they are used in the classroom and education in general today. The chapter starts out by reminding us of the everyday things in which we utilize technology and how technology is "establishing new learning environments by incorporating new strategies," i.e. going from single media to multimedia, etc. It later continues on with descriptions of what the computer is, what it does, and a general overview of "the computer" as we know it. I do feel, however, that as prevalent as computers and technology are in our daily lives that this part of the chapter was a little tedious. Though most people may not be able to work a computer flawlessly (myself included), I do feel that most people are able to properly identify a printer, keyboard, mouse, etc. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the book featured the iPhone as one of its examples. To me, this is an indicator that the book is "practicing what it preaches" by keeping up with the ever-changing times of technology. This chapter tells us that using technology in the classroom helps in terms of motivation, and actually contributes to a greater attention span of the students. With proper use, computers can support communications beyond classroom walls, which I believe is a great part of technology as a whole. The book also outlines a program titled the "National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers" (NETS-T). This sets standards for the fundamental concepts, knowledge, skills, etc. for applying technology in K-12. It also sets standards for administrators and students as well. I see this as a great way to keep teachers up to date on the constantly updated aspects of technology, so that they are able to pass their new knowledge onto their students. Another part of the chapter that caught my attention was the ARCS Motivational Model. According the model, "teachers should strive to create a deeper motivation in learners to learn new skills." I agree very much with this model as a current student myself. I know from personal experience that if I am not motivated to learn something, it's probably not going to happen.

Something I learned since my last posting was to create links to not only websites in my documents and presentations, but other documents on my computer as well. I think that this will be very useful in terms of showing a class a PowerPoint, and being able to bring up a past essay done by a previous student (while the student remains nameless) as an example for a current project. I also learned how to change the text wrapping on a picture or graphic to be able to move it wherever I needed it, instead of only moving it to the limited spaces it allowed me to move it before. It's the little things like this that I think will add up to make the biggest difference in what I learn overall in this class.

Although I've taken many computer classes before, it's like the old saying goes... if you don't use it, you lose it. I've found that to be especially true in terms of programs such as Publisher, PowerPoint, and Excel that I don't utilize as much as programs like Word. I think that this class will help me brush up on things I already know, and teach me many new things to use once I have my own class. In terms of my future career, I hope to teach in the middle school or high school private schools, preferably the Catholic schools... even despite the pay cuts. Throughout my K-12 experience, I attended Catholic schools and was able to incorporate my faith into my everyday schooling. Hopefully, when I become a teacher, I will be able to do the same for my students. :)

My First Blog...

Throughout my four years of high school, I continually took computer classes to be able to keep up with not only my classmates, but overall technology as well. I went from general word processing, to PowerPoint and Excel, to designing my own website. Although at first it was a little boring, I eventually started to become more and more interested in what the "world of computers" (as my Dad calls it...) actually had to offer.

Not to sound like a nerd, but I'm actually really excited about this class. Once I begin teaching, one of my main goals is to not be one of those teachers that kids hate going to class with. I want to be a teacher they can not only learn a subject from, but one with whom they can learn how to interact well with the outside world as well. With everything technology has to offer (such as blogging) what better way to start that teaching by utilizing tools such as the internet and programs like Power Point. With this class, I hope to learn fun ways to use technology to keep my future students interested. I hope to sharpen what I already know, and grasp any new knowledge thrown my way.

After taking the "Learning Styles" test, I found that I am fairly balanced between an active and a reflective learning (scoring a 3 toward the reflective side). I am a bit more of a sensing learner than intuitive (scoring a 5 toward the sensing side). I am much more of a visual learner than verbal (scoring a 9 toward the visual side). Finally, I found that I am fairly balanced between sequential and global learners (scoring a 1 toward the sequential side). After reading the descriptions of the types of learners, I found most of my results to be true. I do like to color code my notes so that everything of related topics is of the same color, map things out outlining key points and do not gain a particularly great understanding of concepts by doing group homework or studying (as a visual learner would not, according to the test). All in all, the test reaffirmed what type of learner I thought I was.