Week Six Assignment

What are the advantages and features of electronic spreadsheets? How do you see them as a benefit in an educational environment? I never put it together that Microsoft Excel is to data/numbers as Microsoft Word is to text/story telling. Spreadsheets allow you to crunch numbers and keep track of multiple sources of these numbers both accurately and with the speed of point and click. This level of organization can almost eliminate the accountant with the green eyeshade visor with the stubby pencil. Keeping track of budgets, grades, and statistical information is now a snap with today's spreadsheet software. I feel the premium benefit of these programs is the accuracy with which numbers can be manipulated. Just input the data and let the program find the balance, average, median, or standard deviation. For the educator with no "off the shelf" grade tracking software, a spreadsheet will rescue you from hours of painful calculator manual work. Just define the parameters for your class grades, enter the names of your students and you are off to the races with grade data and statistical data to make any accounting firm green with envy. Teachers have a variety of ways the grade data can be displayed as a class, individual students, charts, and graphs. The educator can also use spreadsheets to keep track of data for extracurricular clubs and organizations. Also, teaching your students how to use spreadsheets will benefit them in personal finance skills; they can keep the club budget of estimate the financial needs of the school band. Spreadsheets are powerful tools which once you become familiar will free the educator from mundane mathematical tasks.

Week Five Assignment

Name some emerging technologies. How might they affect teaching and learning?

Wireless Devices

As the title implies, wireless equipment has severed the cable umbilical ands uses the either net to make connections with computer devices. Such devices as printers, cameras, and handheld gaming devices all allow greater flexibility in the education environment. You no longer must arrange your classroom at the direction of where the data lines were installed two years ago. Wi-Fi or wireless fidelity uses radio frequencies to connect with digital devices. A Wi-Fi connected school allows a great deal of flexibility as to the location of computer based education. With Wi-Fi and laptops properly configured, a school can expand the learning environment into the bleachers of the gym without the hassle and confinement of additional data lines. With wireless devices enabled with Wi-Fi technology, the location of your classroom is limited to your imagination.

Handheld Computers

Better known as Personal Digital Assistant or PDA, these devises allow instant management of calendars, schedules, address book, word processing and spread sheets. The compact size and expanding abilities make these micro powerhouses almost as convenient as a lap top or a PC. These devices are the size of a paperback book and provide immense computing flexibility with access to the internet and allow the student instant access to notes and programs.

e-books

Electronic book are digital versions of textbooks used with PDAs, laptops, and personal computers. Some of you may have chosen to purchase the electronic format of our textbook for this class. E-books allow for rapid updates top material and allow for embedded audio and video education. And the most evident feature is finally we are saving trees by eliminating wasted paper.

Portable Storage Devices

Portable storage of digital information is highlighted by the USB drive. Many of us already use USB drives as a convenient manner to save data and then transfer the product to work or school. About the size of car keys, USB devises store over a Gig of data. The USB turned the floppy disk into a coaster for protecting your table from water rings. The price of USBs is in a freefall similar to HD TVs and printers so shop around and you are sure to find a bargain which is practical and convenient.

Voice Activated Devices

Star Trek has arrived; you can now have a conversation with your computer without touching the keyboard. Just ask the computer to open a file and begin dictation of your next term paper or report to your boss. Voice activated computers and peripherals have the capability of saving time and eliminating hardware, remember the floppy disk and the dial-up-modem? I also envision voice activation helpful to people with physical challenges and nerve disorders that make typing on a keyboard or using a mouse difficult.

Virtual Environment Devises

Hardware similar to night vision goggles worn by soldiers and pilots, virtual equipment allows the possibility of taking the student anywhere in the world. This technology not only provides a 3-D view of your surroundings but; allows the participant to turn their head 360 degrees and view their virtual setting. A student will be able to witness an MIT chemistry experiment without leaving the campus in Mississippi. Gamers have already experienced the next to real life experience of virtual games. The sights and sounds provided by the virtual environment are again limited to your imagination. I can only guess the sense of smell and actually feeling in the virtual world in the next development.

 

Computer technology and software development mature at a rate which exceed current human requirements. As with the inventor Thomas Edison, inventions (technology) are developed without a clear purpose; but the creativity of humans find a place for these new devices. As these new technologies are presented to the public, educators turn their heads and scratch their chins in an inquisitive manner and imagine how that technology can be adopted and help the student. Educators must be wary of purchasing the latest gadget and throwing it in the classroom. Does anyone remember the 12 inch laser disk for projecting movies? That laser disk won't even make a good boat anchor. Technology is useful in the classroom but costly mistakes must be avoided. Through investigation of how an emerging technology will be valuable in the classroom is required prior to commitment.

Week Four Assignment

My question is number three, why is it advantageous for educators to share resources and programs on a network? What concerns are associated with program sharing? Educators can develop and use a force multiplier in the technological learning sphere. There are five areas where a teacher can share and save time, dollars, and resources. The text reveals shared hardware, shares software, data sharing, network tools, and communications are all areas that the teacher can stretch the dollar and save time and resources. For example, multiple teacher classrooms could send their print jobs to a central printer station saving hundreds of dollars in additional printers. The cost is a short walk down the hall to the central shared printer. Software can be installed on a central server which saves time for the user because they can easily access a program without download and installation. Additionally, dollar cost is reduced because a single copyright subscription is paid instead of multiple single use rights. If the software requires update, the support staff needs to only manipulate a single PC instead of traveling to multiple single use stations in every teacher's classroom. As a school networks and takes advantage of the sever-based software and hardware which is shared; school districts will enjoy the cost savings of single loaded programming and multiple use hardware devices such as printers and scanners. Technology hardware and software is very expensive. If today's educators can justify multiple uses and demonstrate cost savings to the school board, then the deployment of advanced technologies will be easier and provide added to our students.

Week Three Assignment

My question is number 2; "What is the difference between formative and summative feedback?" You are all now aware of The Dynamic Instruction Design Model by Robert Gagne`. Instructional model design for education is the foundation of Gange`s model. That is there is a bottom up system for presenting instruction to students. He establishes a six step process of Know your Learner, State Your Objective, Establish the Learning Environment, ID Teaching and Learning Strategies, ID and select Technologies, and finally Make Summative Evaluation. The formative feedback is continuous through each of the six steps. That is you evaluate along the journey of education and make adjustments in teaching strategies as necessary to meet the needs of the student. The educator, like an aircraft pilot making his way through uncharted territory, needs to make course adjustments in order to complete the journey to completion and make a connection with the student. The summative feedback is more of an evaluation of the entire six step process instead of a step by step evaluation as the formative process is best described. So, your summative evaluation or feedback is a total review of the entire educational presentation process and the formative feedback is a ongoing and continuous process along the educational journey with the students.

Week Two Assignment

The question I was assigned is "My understanding on educational technology and its relationship with teaching and learning process."

    In a nutshell I would propose that educational technology is yet another tool in the teacher's toolbox. In order for the educator to use this tool, they must first understand the method for which the student best learns new material. So, you must be aware of the various theories on how humans learn. Once you have a grasp of the leading theorists, the teacher can then analyze the student's style for learning. As this chapter reveals, a view of the unique learning method or methods is required prior to assigning a method for presenting the lesson. We must remember that students are our customers and what works for one will not necessarily work for another.

    History has proven that no magic introduction of technology will solve education challenges. The invention of radio and film did not replace the human touch of a teacher as predicted by Thomas Edison. Presently we can not assume that throwing computers, software, and interactive learning boards will solve today's challenge in the classroom. However, understanding the learning processes of our student's and applying appropriate technology in the classroom will produce significant educational gains.