Post #4

#1 Incorporating Microsoft Excel into the Curriculum

     1. Can be used to keep track of supplies used and track trends so budget money can be spent more economically.
     2. If there is a SMARTboard in the classroom, an interactive Jeopardy game can be played for review sessions for all content areas.

     3. Can be used to create self-marking quizzes for simple assessments. Templates are available online.

     4. It can be used for interdisciplinary topics, such as incorporating writing into math by assigning a project that requires research as well as collecting and analyzing data.

     5. Can be used to create a fundraiser for a club or class by surveying what students prefer and then budgeting for how much of each item is necessary, planning how much profit they want to make, tracking costs and profits, and overall how the fundraiser did. It can also be used to track finances for a club.

#2 Google Docs vs. Microsoft
     I think that we should stick with using Microsoft for our word processing and spreadsheets because while Google Docs is convenient and simple, it does not contain all the features that can potentially be needed. Since Google Docs is only available online, if a student does not have internet access at home, and not all do, they will not have access to their document at home. All computers, however, do come with at least a basic word processor that is used offline. Also, if there are any network problems in the school, there will be no way to get online to access Google Docs. Again, since regular word processors are offline, there will be no problems accessing the software. The method for printing from Google Docs is also more difficult to use. The document needs to be opened in a program other than Google to allow it to be printed. In Microsoft, all that is necessary is clicking the print button. Therefore, I believe we should stick to using Microsoft for our word processing needs.

Post #3

Social Bookmarking is saving links to websites, images, and other items on the Internet and posting them to a site where they can be shared with other site users or made private for only personal use.

As a student, social bookmarking can be used to store links in a location that can be accessed with multiple computers. This can be useful for someone who doesn’t want to carry their personal computer from their dorm/home to campus where there are computers for students to use. It makes the links so that all the student needs to do is log-in and can view and add to their link collections. Also, for someone like me who has an iPod, some of the sites, like diigo, have an app that can be used to store the bookmarks and download particular books to be read online or offline. This is useful for when you know you won’t have Internet access and can download a site to look at while offline.

As a teacher, social bookmarking can be useful for sharing links to resources so that students can access them at home without having to remember or write down all the links. For example, for art, a Flickr account can be used to have a collection of images that students need to review, and diigo can be used to save the link for easy access. Students can also share sites that they find while doing research on a topic so that the rest of the class can see the sites too. As Digital Natives, perhaps the students find sites that a teacher wouldn’t have found on their own.

Post #2

1. I have lived through the evolution of technology, and therefore, my perspective on the language of it is the same as the students I will be teaching's perspective. There will be some differences, because I have seen how technology evolved from some of the earliest Apple computers. My first computer was an Apple II, so I know what it's like to use and understand the older technology, as well as having the newest possible technology now. The students will only have known some of the newest technology, and probably won't know that there used to be computers that only ran on command prompts, or even what those are, let alone believe that computers didn't always have hard drives. I think it will give me a better perspective on how these students learn because I know how they feel about always needing to be connected to their devices.

I think being on the fringe between the older generations and the Net-Gen gives me a unique look at how the students want to be taught, because I feel those same needs as the students that were described in the Educause text. I am a part of a community service fraternity on Albright's campus, I too am bored by teachers only throwing facts or reading off a Powerpoint, and know what it's like to not be able to buy something because a store only takes checks or cash.

2. GoogleDocs is a nice feature to Google. However, I prefer using Microsoft Word and then uploading the document because I am used to all the features that are available in Word that Google does not offer. It is okay for anyone who only needs a basic word processor, but for more features, a regular word processor is necessary. I do like the feature of being able to have the document linked to my Google account and shareable with just a few clicks.

Post #1

I believe that the Net Gen/21st Century learners do learn differently. They are used to a different lifestyle than people born prior to the 1980s are, the major factor being that they grew up with surrounded with technology. I grew up with the technology that the reading was talking about, and I know what it is like to grow up with parents who understand nothing about the things that I could pick up much more rapidly. Even as early as elementary school, my school was using computer games to teach reading, writing, and math in a more fun manner, and immersing my fellow students and I in the emerging technology. My mother is a Digital Immigrant, because she is always wanting to learn about new technology and will usually want whatever new digital device I have after she's seen mine. For example, she purchased an iPod after she had a chance to try out mine, and loves using it, though she has difficulty adding music to it even though iPods were designed to be simple to add music to. Now that I have an iPod touch, she wants one too, rather than the simple Nano she has right now. My dad is almost completely against new technology, and only grudgingly uses his old cell phone that still has a green screen. 

I agree with Prenksy's thinking that anyone who can memorize all the characteristics of over 100 Pokemon can learn other facts that involve the real world. However, the way they are learning the Pokemon characteristics doesn't involve them reading from a big book full of text. It's in little snippets contained on a card or popping up on a video game screen. They're fed it in little bits over and over and they learn it quickly so they can use the information in the game. 

The ideas surrounding the Net Gen learners are also very relevant. I'd rather learn in a team as opposed to alone, because then I can see what others think and they might know something I don't. For example, in one of my classes, we've been teamed up to teach various chapters in our textbook using lesson plans. I've never used a lesson plan before, and having someone else's input helped me see how to be able to write one on my own.

These new concepts make a lot of sense to me as someone who has grown up with the technology surrounding them and actively using the concepts in my own life. 

Practice Post

This is a test post.