Multimedia

So far, I have really enjoyed the storyboard/powerpoint multimedia presentations. Although I already had experience with powerpoint software, I learned how to utilize many more of its features. The most important tool that I did not know about was linking. I understand the concept of linking much better now, and I know that linking is a powerful tool that makes many things possible through powerpoint, including quizzes, lessons, and other nonlinear presentations. I am also excited about seeing what other people did in their presentations on Monday.

Spreadsheets

I had positive and negative feelings about working with the spreadsheets. One of the worst things was that the Excel software was very confusing and difficult to operate. However, I am happy with the final result of my work, and I am glad we got to have a section on spreadsheets because I know I will be using them in the future. As a teacher, it is very important to be familiar with spreadsheets and the Excel software.

Inspiration

I thought that Inspiration was a great software that could make any classroom, including my own, more interesting. I liked what many people in our class did with the Inspiration project. It showed that you could make a cool visual presentation out of almost any lesson or subject. I think we have to keep in mind that students will respond the best to material that is interesting and that engages their minds the most. Inspiration is a great way to go in any classroom.

Digital Images

I just wanted to comment that the digital image activities we completed this week were very helpful to me. To be honest, I was pretty worried about working with digital images, because I feel like I have little to no experience with this. While most of this was probably a review for most students, I was doing a lot of these things for the very first time. At this point, I feel much more comfortable managing the images on my computer as well as finding images from several different sources (scanner, digital camera, online, etc.). In addition, I thought that the scavenger hunt was one of the funniest and most interesting activities we have done so far. It's been a great in Instructional Technology!

Lesson Planning

I just wanted to comment that the lesson planning this week was a great activity, and it serves as an ideal way to get creative in the classroom. If I have learned anything in my teacher preparation, I know that students respond well to doing new and unique activities rather than completing the same 'pencil to paper' assignments every day. In addition, it is great to be starting a collection of lesson plans now so that by the time I start teaching, I should have plenty of creative ideas for the classroom.

Monday's Class

I think that a great point was raised today in class.  While looking over the short essays, many people stated that the key to understanding blogs and wikis better is to spend some out-of-class time using each one.  By exploring the many uses and special features of our accounts, we become much more familiar with them.  I have already become much more comfortable with my blog and my wikispace because I tried a few things out of class that weren't assigned.  On a side-note, I am also glad that we are not using blackboard to access our blogs/wikis.  It gives us a great real-life situation to work with. 

Technology-friendly!

I am beginning to realize how easy and time-saving new technology can be once you learn to use it. I found a video link on the textbook website about a monk trying to figure out how to use a 'modern' book after years of using scrolls. It's funny, but it really gets the message across. Once you learn to use the new technology, it's so much easier and faster.

First Blog

I have now learned how to blog. Pats on the back for me!