How not to use powerpoint: Picasa Reflection

The video was a lively way to show how annoying some power point presentations can be. I agree with some of the topics the comedian brought up. Color schemes definitely play a role, if the colors are awful that is all the viewer thinks about. Too many graphs and animations can be overwhelming but not having any could be worse. It was overall an entertaining video.
This week we worked with our digital cameras, Picasa, PowerPoint and google presentation. I was rather excited to be able to learn to use these tools, since I have heard of them and not known how to use them. I think they are great, pretty easy to use and fun applications. I thought that using a google presentation was easier to use when working with others on a presentation but found it disappointing to find out there weren't hyperlinks available in the program. Picasa was a fun application to use because I like changing how my photos looked, enhancing, saturating the pictures etc. It was a fun week. I really liked that we as a class worked through the homework this week, that way if anyone had questions they could be easily answered and teaching to peers helped me retain the knowledge of the information.

WK #9 Reflection

This week we worked with pictures on our digital cameras, transferring them from our cameras to our flash drives. This is something I already knew how to do but it was good to refresh. We also learned about Mash Up and watched a video about the top ten things they don't teach you in college about becoming a teacher. I thought the top 10 things movie was really fun and absolutely true. I have been teaching preschool for a few years now and it's true. Wipes are your best friends, being friends with the administration is vital, always listen when your students need to use the restroom and know how to understand instructions and directions. The mash up was a good thing to learn about because I think it is symbolizes how in education different people bring something to a big picture. Like the movie where different musicians making different sounds when put together they made a beautiful song, I think that teachers do that. One teacher may bring the idea of incorporating dance into the the curriculum, another teacher may take the dance steps and add their lesson on learning the 50 states to it and another teacher may put music to, then the final result might be a performance of children singing and dancing the 50 states, a lesson they will remember forever because of the different aspects of learn incorporated.

Internet Safety Reflection

This week we learned about and posted somethings about Internet safety. It was quite an interesting subject and I think very valid. It made me think back to the days when I was younger and how I often talked to people in chat rooms. Little did I know it but a lot of the people in there were probably not very good to talk to. I often got asked for my phone number so we could continue to chat outside of the chat room. I always declined because my mother wouldn't let me talk on the phone much. Thank goodness! Now looking back on it, it could have potentially been a problem. It makes me think how much technology and it's predators have progressed. The Internet is a very dangerous place. It is very important for us to teach children the importance of being safe and how to handle themselves on the Internet.

We didn't start the fire- reflection

I thought this video was a clever way to present the history of 1945-1989. It would be a fun way to get a history or social studies class pumped to learn about the time era. It possibly might help them remember the significant events if they got the song stuck in their head. I have to admit that I have heard this song several times but never stopped to think about the lyrics and emotion that was put forth to create the song. However, seeing the pictures of the events and people helped me put the two together and start to thing about what might have been going on for someone to write this song. I wondered if presented to students if it would have more of a lasting impact on them, seeing the actual events/people while pairing them with the song. It think it would be a fun beneficial lesson that could then go on and really delve into the information and history of those events/people.

2008 Latest Edition - Did You Know 3.0 - From Meeting in Rome this Year: Reflection

The thing that stood out the most from this video compared to the past couple of videos like it was that part about the illegal downloading. 649,000 song were downloaded in the 3 minutes I took to watch the presentation. It made me wonder what else could be happening in those 3 minutes, if that many songs could be downloaded how many other illegal things could be happening? It is all very scary to me that technology is advancing so quickly and those providing an easier way for people to be taken advantage of. I suppose on the plus side of that, technology is also making it much easier for children to learn and absorb history, facts and statistics. I wonder if we as humans will ever be able to catch up to what we invent in technology. It said in the movie that by 2010 a super computer would be invented and it would out think the human mind, that is awfully scary considering that it is only next year that this predicted computer will be made. What will we do when technology runs our lives? This makes me think of the movie Wall-E. Everyone depends so heavily on technology and robots, they don't even have to move. They all become obese and can't function. What will we do if we get to this point?

Surface Computing Reflection

Awesome! Wow, what an invention a coffee table computer that can do just about everything. What will they come up with next. I think this is a marvelous step in technology especially look at the aspects it will hold of students and schools. Students could all have surface computer desks, they could interact in the lessons visually and physically. This would help them learn and retain the knowledge that much faster. I think it awesome and I can't wait to have one, hoping that is, that I will be able to afford one, one day.

Pioneer Library Reflection

Reflection

I had an interesting experience using the Pioneer Library. I felt it was very hard to navigate through at first, it took me about a half hour before I began to get the hang of things. I think it would be hard for students to navigate through without prior knowledge of the website. However, I think once they know how to navigate around, they would find a lot of benefit from the system. I do like that everything seems to be compiled together. It was nice to just click the link and be taken to the page rather than open a new window/website.
There were several different resources for learning that would benefit students. They could learn about history, cultures, languages etc all in a fun interactive setting. I can see the students using the website for fun interactive games and programs. It also is an easy guide to find knowledge about the subjects they learn in school. It is a good reference for things they may need to do reports on or just future their knowledge about.
As a teacher I would use the website to help me understand the core curriculum for my Kindergarten classroom. I like that it has lesson plans available to use, or the option of writing your own lesson with helpful references to the core curriculum.