My virtual tour is of the Birmingham Civil Rights Museum. I think that everyone should know the importance that the civil rights played, not only in shaping america or the south, but how it helped shape the great state of Alabama. This virtual tour allows you to see all of those, and hopefully you will gain as much from this virtual tour as I did from the original one that I took in high school.
http://assignment7-virtualtour.wikispaces.com/
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Computer Lab Seating Chart
The benefit of using Microsoft Excel to create a seating chart is because it already is set up as a table. It is easy to manipulate cells to what you need them to do, like merge,center,text color, and fill color.
The Limitations of using Microsoft Excel to create seating charts are, it's more difficult to insert photo's and, for purposes of posting it to the internet, you cannot cut and save as a JPEG without having to also use Paint.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Assignment 5
| Product | Price | Qualities | Reasons |
| Dell Inspiron, All In One Computer | $599.99 | 21.5" Display / 4GB Memory / 500GB Hard Drive | Price, screen display size, comes with wireless mouse and keyboard, mobility |
| HP – Photosmart All-in-One Wireless Printer | $69.99 | Prints 29 pages per minute in black and white, prints 23 pages per minute in color, comes with ink cartridge, built in card slots for digital camera memory sticks | Acts as a printer, scanner, and digital camera memory card reader, wireless, print from anywhere technology. |
| Logitech Z515 Wireless Speaker - Black | $59.99 | Wireless, 10 hour battery, compatible with computers. | To use with projector. Computer speakers are not loud enough for the whole class to be able to easily hear material that you are showing. |
| Cannon Power shot | $99.99 | 12.1 Mega Pixel, 4x optical/4x digital zoom, 2.7" LCD, Movie mode, DIGIC III image processor, | Serves as a camera and Camcorder |
| Dynex Voice-Certified PC Desktop Microphone | $14.99 | Size (small) | For use in lectures, can record lectures for substitutes to use in class, will not take up much space when it’s not being used. |
| Optoma DarkChip2 DLP Projector | $699.99 | Weighs 6.4 pounds, 26.5”-348” viewable screen size | Lightweight for easy movement, easier to let the whole class see something, can show educational movies, can have more technology interaction for students |
| Microsoft Office Home and Student | $69.99 | Microsoft Excel, Word, One Note, PowerPoint, | |
If I were going to buy computers for my school, then the above listed items would be what I chose for each teacher to use in his/her classroom. I should start first with the main computer that I recommended. The Dell Inspiron All-In-One computer is perfect for classrooms because it comes with Windows 7, wireless mouse, and a wireless keyboard. This will be useful because it will cut down on the amount of clutter on a teacher’s desk, therefore giving them more room to work. It also has a wide display, for when students are at her desk looking at the monitor. The computer is also reasonable in price, which helps for us to get more things that are beneficial to the students. The main reason I chose this All-In-One computer is because they are easier to move around if needed. (someone’s computer is not working, more teachers than there are computers, ect…)
The accessories I chose to go with this computer were; Microsoft Office, a wireless printer, wireless speakers, digital camera/camcorder, desktop microphone, and projector. I made sure that I could get everything, except for the microphone, wireless. This will be useful if another teacher needs to use one of the accessories, want to move them around in your classroom, and to cut down on the amount of wires running all over the classroom and the teacher’s desk.
Microsoft Office is needed so that teachers can make PowerPoint slides, word documents, and spreadsheets for use in lecture, and even grade keeping. The printer can print in black and white, or color. It also acts as a scanner and you can plug the digital camera straight into it. The speakers will be a big help allowing every student to hear something that is on the projector. You can put the wireless speaker at the back of the room, so that the kids up front can hear the computer speakers and the kids in the back can listen to the wireless speakers. I chose the camera, because it acts as a camera and camcorder. The camera can be used to take pictures or videos that the teacher could share in class. I chose the microphone, because it is small, and easy to store away when it is not being used. It can be used to record a lecture, so that a substitute can simply play it over the projector. This is good because most teachers assign busy work while substitutes are there, and now the students will not miss out on a day of learning just because there is a substitute. The last thing that I chose was the projector. This is where the savings on the computer came in the most beneficial. The projector can be used to show lessons, movies, websites, or anything else you can think of that a teacher might want all of her students to see. It is also lightweight and mobile. This is useful for the same reasons for the computers. (someone’s projector is broken, more teachers than projectors, want to project something on another wall).
I got all of these prices and information from www.bestbuy.com, except for the price of Microsoft Office, in which I got at www.mssoftwarestore.com.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Assignment #3
My results on the cognitive and learning styles inventory tests stated that I had an ENFP personality (Extroverted, Intuition, Feeling, Perceiving), and a Kinesthetic learning style. I think that both of these tests proved to be right about the way that I approach school. I feel that my personality is very much like what the test suggested. I am an extremely extroverted person. I cannot stand to be alone and cut off from the outside world, and I also like being around a wide variety of people. I am also very intuitive. I constantly use patterns or rhymes to remember things or numbers, I use my imagination a lot, and I do not care to make quick decisions without a whole lot of information on a subject. I am a very feeling oriented person too. I am sensitive to people’s opinions and will usually go with the consensus if something were to come down to a vote. Lastly, the perceiving was probably the easiest for me to choose, due to all of the traits falling into what I like to do. I always work better closer to deadlines, then I would if I was to start on something early, I am comfortable doing things without planning, and I like to multi-task, due to the fact that I get easily bored with one particular thing.
The learning style test also seemed to match. I am an extremely active person, and like to learn while walking around and doing things. I am a very hands on person, and have found that I learn faster if I can do things myself, instead of someone showing me step by step. I learn better if I can use flash cards, memorize, or walk around and do things while learning. I also am constantly fidgeting and moving around while I am in class or studying for tests, it is just really hard for me to sit still or concentrate, especially when I am not totally invested or interested in the subject matter.
I could use my results in the classroom as a teacher, because it would be easy for me to relate my learning styles to students that also have the same style of learning as I do, by using flash cards, trying to find ways to repeat meaningful information in a way that would help them to remember it easier and faster, and the most important thing, by doing more hands on activities to help students get a better feel for the material that they are trying to learn. For the students that may not have the same type of learning style that I do, I could put the same things that I am talking about with the flash cards and memory games up on a projector, to let them get a visual of what I am trying to teach. It would also allow them to be able to take notes and study over the material later.
As a student I already practice ways to adapt my learning styles to the teachers that I have. I try to find teachers that use more power point’s and visuals in there teachings, instead of someone who spends the entire class standing at the front reading from their own notes. I also listen to my iPod while I study, because it cancels out distracting noises around me, so that I can concentrate for longer periods of time. The thing that I do most is take a lot of breaks and walk around while studying, so that I can stay active and do not get restless while I study.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Technology In Education
Technology in Education
Technology has become a major part of teaching K-12 schools over the last ten years. Schools are having to do this with all of the technology that is used in higher education and the workplace. I do not have any experience teaching or helping in schools, but have still noticed how much technology is being integrated into the school systems by the number of computers that are in K-12 classrooms today, and also the knowledge that students already have about computers who are enrolling in college. My experiences as a college student have shown me just how important computer skills are in higher education, and also in today’s world.
I feel that students need to have a strong knowledge of computers by the time they graduate high school, to help them be better prepared for life after graduation. Schools need to find any way possible to integrate technology into learning. More computer classes should be offered at schools, while also having more computer classes be mandatory for students to take while in K-12. Educational technology can be extremely beneficial by helping the students not only learn the materials that they need to succeed in school, but also help them with the computer skills that they will need later in life.
My definition of educational technology would be any form of technology, or system, that would help teachers in the teaching and learning process. Technologies role in teaching is soon to be, if not already, a huge role. Teachers get the majority of their materials from the internet and computers, rather than books and traditional lesson plans. With technology teachers are able to use projectors and computers to show more in-depth materials, such as photos or videos, to help students better grasp the concept of what they are trying to teach them. Technology also lets them bring more ideas into the classroom, instead of just having the book and the teacher’s common knowledge on the subject, they have easier access to other people’s ideas and knowledge to help with having more information about the subject that they are teaching.
Technology in learning is already a big part of K-12 schools. It allows schools that don’t have the advantages of more than one foreign language teacher, to set up a distance learning class to allow more choices, whereas without technology these students would not have this luxury. Also, children now have access to the most up to date online libraries and research. Books can be years behind on subject matter, where resources and websites are updated almost daily. This is the most beneficial for students when they have to write a research paper, or look up current events. Technology allows high school students to obtain college credit by letting them dual enroll and take online classes, or blended classes, before they graduate.
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