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.