Monday Presentations

I enjoyed the presentations on Monday. I think they were well done. I enjoyed the interactive websites for chemistry. I personally have to take a chemistry class and I asked the presenter to email me her information so I can use it myself.

I also thought the website that the other presenters included that allowed you to find coins to ride the train was a fun way to get children more interested in learning. I personally thought the dance hall was cute, where you were able to dance.

Presentations done on 11/19/2008

Today I did my presentation on Math. I thought it was very interesting because I learned that even though your presentation may work on your personal computer it might not work when you need it. I also enjoyed the other presentation done today about Math. It was very interesting because it included a movement componenet which, as a health and human performance major, I enjoyed. I thought the website was pretty interesting and I think that the children would like that also.

I could not hear the other Presentation today, I was not sure where the two guys was going with it, because the whole presentation was reading from the lesson plan, and I could hardly hear that. I also did not understand the last presentation. I got lost at the monotonus tone and reading from the powerpoint. I think if the presentation was explained instead of read I would of enjoyed it better.

Week 12

I think the voice thread is interesting. I would not use it personally because I do not communicate with many people online. If i did this sounds like a good program. I use Yahoo messenger for sharing folders, pictures, and using the webcam.

I am not sure exactly how this program works. I will try to figure it out and if it is something that I can use for the presentation I just might use it.

Week 10 Assignment

• I enjoyed the activities this week. I have never used desktop publishing and I did not realize how easy it was to do common projects. For instance, there are many situations that I am able to use brochures and I normally try to make it on Microsoft Word using boxes. However, after this weekly activity I now know an easier way to make a brochure.
• I enjoyed creating a brochure this week. As mentioned earlier, there are so many personal projects that making a brochure would be great for, and I normally use word, but after this project I realized I could use desktop publishing and there are so many different formats that I could use.
• I would say a muddy point for me would be using the resume builder. I have been a stay at home mom for many years. I truly enjoyed it and have seen many benefits from being able to that, however, the negative thing I find is when I try to make a resume my resume seems very shallow. I would like to learn how to spruce up my resume so that when employers look at it they would be interested.
• I believe we could make a flyer. I think a flyer would be a good idea because a flyer has so many uses. A person can use it for a garage sale, or for a church function. Flyers are something that everyone needs to make at some point of their life and if one is done as an assignment the students will have learned a life long skill.

Week 7

1. I think it is very important to use technology because it is the wave of the future. The student will need to be able to use technology in their personal life and it also makes the information interesting and exciting instead of plain when it is just read from the book.
2. I think they are because students have the ability to talk to people from all over the world. Instead of just reading about Egypt, they can instantly talk to someone from there. I think they add instruction for students who want to learn. The students who do not want to learn will try to distract either way. The good thing about students who distract while they are online is other students can always turn them off with a “click.
3. I do not see the benefits of an asynchronous, text-based instruction. Because a lot of information is lost whereas face-to-face communication , I believe communication and understanding is more prevalent.
4. I am an avid supporter of podcasts. I use them and learn so much from the podcast I subscribe to. I believe it enhances learning, but again the student has to have that want to learn.
5. I do not believe so. I am not a supporter of video games I believe it makes people think of unrealistic goals. I have children and would not allow them to play the game everyday. The reason is because I already feel that it makes my children have an unrealistic view of life. They play video games and they seem to become numb to a lot of things they shouldn’t. They also don’t have to learn there are consequences to their actions, because in the end if they make the wrong decision they can just start over.

Week 6

I think the delicious site is interesting because it seems like it will take all of my bookmarks and put them in one place so I have easy access to all of them. It will also allow you to look at your friends bookmarks. They might have sites that I find interesting. I am not sure if I will use it because I already have other software on my computer that allows me to do this also and I am a bit of a private person and I would not want to share my information.

Katrina

Week 5

I think that wikis can be a fun conversation piece, but I do not think that you can judge a person by one type or the other. I believe that would be very difficult because I myself find that I relate to more than one and I also believe that some things are not true in my instance. It just seems to be too broad to judge my students by that standard.

I believe that learning in learning communities would be more beneficial. I find that children who are in schools that encourage individualistic qualities seem to have better adjusted students who excel more academically than children who are in a stifled traditional setting. Traditional settings are geared toward visual learners and do not cater to other learning styles like learning communities does.

I do believe that students have different learning styles because of their personality types. I think it will help know the students better because as a teacher, I will have an indication of what various student learning styles may tend to be. For instance, a doer more than likely will have a kinesthetic learning style because they are always on the move.

Week Four

I find it very useful, and I think it is very easy to insert clip art. I would definitely use it in the classroom. I thought excel was for accounting type purposes, but I can see how the children would enjoy working with this spreadsheet. It would be a good tool to use to partner the students up with. We usually use spreadsheets as a way to keep attendance and the advantage over a calculator is it is faster and it keeps track of the data. I think the three primary functions mentioned in the book is basically it. I agree that the three primary functions are storing, calculating, and presenting information. Spreadsheets are becoming more advanced than just for accounting purposes, children now construct simulation problems and much more. There are no more functions I can think of at this time.

Week Three

I was impressed by Inspiration. I found it to have more capabilities than a program I currently use called One Note. I was impressed by the way the diagrams were so easy to make and how it was so simple to link the webpage’s to the diagrams. On a side note, I would enjoy Inspiration for personal use, but in the classroom I think it would inspire the kids to be more creative with their projects because of the simplicity of the program. I think the kids would enjoy being able to type in whatever they would like to use and then have it come up on its own like the French flag did on the quick tour demo.

The type of writing activities that would be best for technology is building models or using concept maps. Students can help each other by critiquing each other’s work. Blogging can be a technological tool that is used to help support peer feedback.

Assignment 3

So far I have learned how to blog more effectively, and I have learned the different functions between word 2003 and 2007. I honestly believe I learn something new that I can use in my professional career as well as in my personal life every week. I learn more effective ways to navigate through the various programs and spreadsheets on the internet and in programs like Word and Excel. I think the lessons are simple enough to learn, but important enough to use in everyday life. I think all of the lessons are interesting. I find that if I do not understand how to do the assignment my instructor is more than willing to assist me in this manner.


Katrina Little

Week 2

I think blogs are extremely useful because it can provide information that is helpful to people who are in a search of certain answers. For example, there was a question I had that my physician said did not exist, but through blogging, I realized there were women who were having the same issues and reassured me, it was not “in my mind” like the doctor made me feel. I think that blogs are useful for education if the teacher makes it so the questions are engaging. I think blogs can be a waste of time when the questions are not engaging. It is not interesting to have to reply to a person because it is a requirement. It becomes interesting to blog when a question is presented that is interesting and debatable.

Some of the ways Chapter 6 suggest we use technology is by supporting curriculum and student learners by using collaborative projects and by participating in international community’s. The book also mentions using programs like Tapped In which is a Java program that is used to engage students nationwide in fun and engaging discussions. It will also provide a wealth of information to educators worldwide.

Introduction

Hello, my name is Katrina and I was born in Chicago, Ill. I am a veteran of the United States Coast Guard. I am married and have two children. Well, they are not actually children. I have one son who is fifteen years old and my daughter is twelve. I went to school to be a HVAC technician. That stands for Heating venting an air conditioning.

I also worked for MCI as a telecommunications field engineer. I enjoyed the travel, but got tired of being away from the family. I am currently returning to school to major in Kinesiology- all levels. I plan to work at a university or in corporate america with this degree.

I enjoy working out, reading, and spending time with the family. I am actually thinking of having one more child.