Post #10

After reviewing my classmates blogs, I learned different ways technology can be useful for a teacher in the classroom. Someone discussed using Photobucket for storing pictures for certain subjects. I thought this was a great idea, I've used Photobucket for my own personal photos but it never occurred to me that it could be used academically. I also noticed that most of my classmates seemed to enjoy using Inspiration for the first time, and found that it could be extremely useful in the classroom.

I would love to learn more about podcasts. I plan on teaching children with low or no vision, and it could be very useful to them for notes to be recorded and available at their own leisure (like a audio notebook). This could be useful because most of my students will not be able to read or write. Recording notes or other classroom information that allows them to listen as many times as they need to would be very beneficial and could possibly enhance their ability to use the senses they have.

My goal for technology in my classroom is that whatever software, computers, or other materials I use has the best interests of my students. It is important to me that I maintain my responsibility as an educator rather than depending on a PowerPoint slideshow to do my job for me. I do not want to allow technology to let me short change my students. However, I do think that there are times when using technology enhances education. For example, Inspiration will allow me to create easy-to-read timelines, graphs, idea webs and other interactive and creative ways to teach.

Post #9

An interesting website full of web-based tools I found is http://www.suelebeau.com/freetools.htm. There are tons of online tools for teachers. This includes places for students to post homework, quiz generators, web page builders, free email accounts, timeline creator, calendar and worksheet generators, certificate and awards generators, educational games, and flashcards. I never realized how many resources there are for teachers on the internet. I think this can be so helpful, but that it is also important for a teacher to try to think outside the box when it comes to educating children. My favorite teachers were always the ones who did things a little differently. This website of tools for teachers may be more useful for instructors who work with younger children. These tools may be to immature or underdeveloped for middle schoolers and older.

Because I plan on teaching younger (around 1st or 2nd grade) visually impaired children, I may not use Excel very much with the students. However, it could be helpful for showing graphs and data that is age appropriate and if they are able. I could also use Excel for my own records, such as grades and attendance. This is the first experience I've had with Excel, and never knew about all of it's uses.

Post #8

I think my PowerPoint2 presentation was very easy to navigate through. The buttons on the home page clearly mark which slide they will bring the viewer to, and each slide has a button to get back to the home page. While trying to incorporate graphics, I think I may have made the text less easy to read, although it is still legible.

In my classroom, I would integrate peripherals by having students take pictures of their work (for a science project or experiment, before and after photos, completed assignments). The students would be asked to take a picture with a digital camera, and then upload that picture onto the computer where they would create a file folder for it. These photos could be incorporated into a PowerPoint where the students would be asked to present their completed projects or assignments.

This past week I learned how to make PowerPoint more interactive. By adding action buttons, the viewer is less likely to become bored or inattentive to the material. I think this will be especially useful in my educational career because I plan on teaching younger children who would benefit very much from a more interactive learning technique. Young children are much less likely to sit through a PowerPoint lecture, but if the children watch the presentation from their own computers while interacting with the software, they would be more capable of learning and maintaining new information.