The Google Documents Presentation Maker was incredibly easy to use. It operates the same as PowerPoint in Microsoft Office but I think the share and edit features are a bit more transparent in the Google version. I was easily able to import pictures and add them to the slides. The choices of slide lay out were readily available. I also set it up so that it would be an online collaborative effort. My question is if it is online can I go to my account from any computer with Internet access and have my presentation come up? Could it be that simple? No more need to carry my laptop with me and need the sign in for someone else's hot spot? That would be just too cool. Check out My very important presentation: https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AWNfkZp5VMppZGNnOTY3eGdfMGMzejg2eGZk&hl=en
I found the spread sheets to be just as easy to use. The features were all the same as Microsoft office and again the sharing and saving and accessibility was awesome. Check out my spread sheet;
https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=0AmNfkZp5VMppdE9pRHlUX2NqVk9JYXlNOGhaOG8tZ2c&hl=en&output=html
So why do we pay big money when there is so much good free software and how can Google offer so much for free? I know advertising pays for a lot of things. Maybe they count on the people who do not know how much stuff is for free. Kind of the same way rebates and coupons count on you never sending in the forms. We may never know or will we ?
Oshkosh Airventure camping
We all have the same amount of hours in a day. It's what we do with them that sets us apart.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
R/D 13 Is it unlucky to end on 13. I say it is not. Here goes last but not least.
What made me say "wow that's so neat" is that I went back to my blog after reading Chapter 31 Emerging Instructional Technologies: The Near Future to start my reflection and found this link http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/08/04/technology-takes-formative-assessment-to-a-whole-new-level/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed . The article was right in line with the material from chapter 31. I thought the most ironic and awesome part was that it was on my blog as a RSS feed all of which were part of a class for Educational Technology. Check out the article it is pretty amazing. Not in how advanced it is but in the fact that we are beginning to allow students to learn how to learn and not just memorize and spit back information.
My son went to a Montessori public school from K-6th grade. He excelled and loved school. When it was time to go to middle school he was put into a traditional learning environment. It took him a while to understand the whole new system and to learn that he could not work at his own pace but had to wait if he finished first or get left behind if he didn't finish when everyone else did. It was a hard transition and he was disgruntled during his remaining secondary years. He has succeeded but school was not as enjoyable a place for him as it could have been. If he could have continued with the Montessori methods it would have been a better overall experience.
My favorite activity of the semester has to be the blog itself. As I stated in my first reflection, seeing my words in print in what looks to be a very professional environment is very gratifying. The added benefit is that others will be reading it and critiquing it. I welcome praise and critiquing as they both make us better at what we do. I have shared my blog with friends,and relatives as well as classmates. Most are impressed and some have felt challenged to rise to encompass new technology in their own requiem of knowledge.
My son went to a Montessori public school from K-6th grade. He excelled and loved school. When it was time to go to middle school he was put into a traditional learning environment. It took him a while to understand the whole new system and to learn that he could not work at his own pace but had to wait if he finished first or get left behind if he didn't finish when everyone else did. It was a hard transition and he was disgruntled during his remaining secondary years. He has succeeded but school was not as enjoyable a place for him as it could have been. If he could have continued with the Montessori methods it would have been a better overall experience.
My favorite activity of the semester has to be the blog itself. As I stated in my first reflection, seeing my words in print in what looks to be a very professional environment is very gratifying. The added benefit is that others will be reading it and critiquing it. I welcome praise and critiquing as they both make us better at what we do. I have shared my blog with friends,and relatives as well as classmates. Most are impressed and some have felt challenged to rise to encompass new technology in their own requiem of knowledge.
R/D 12 Next to last but not next to least /Rich Media
I enjoyed chapter 30 Using Rich Media Wisely. The first bit of new learning was that I learned what Rich Media was. Now I can converse in geek-speech and sound informed. I like informed.
In this chapter the scientist in me definitely stepped up to the plate. I will be looking up more of the specifications on the studies in this chapter to find out sample size, age of the participants and other relevant information.
For my first take away, age of the participant came to mind as I was reading the section on Minimizing Irrelevant Audio,pg 318. This came to mind as my 16 year old daughter sat at the computer with her headphones plugged in, itunes playing, as she flipped back and forth between facebook and a summer homework paper writing project for an AP English Class. Facebook is open because friends were also working on the same school project. Mom facebook is not just for fun, jeez. She got a A on the paper. It made me wonder if audio overload applied mainly on the initial introduction to material or did it carry over to the output of prior knowledge.(i.e. writing a review on a book ). I think it is a study that I would like to run to try and either validate or invalidate the need for students to have music playing while they study or not have music playing while they study. It is a struggle that has moved down through the generations.
For my second take away,I do agree that visuals to support written text, greatly improve the learning and retention of materials especially in low learners. I have used (and will continue to use) visual aids in biology and chemistry classes to aid in the learning process. There are quite a few programs and online sites that provide excellent microscope pictures some with video of microscopic creatures that can sometimes be hard to capture under a microscope in class. It is always easier to remember that a cyanospirobacteria is blue and spirally when you can see that under the microscope he really is blue and shaped like a spiral. Wow, how cool is that?
In this chapter the scientist in me definitely stepped up to the plate. I will be looking up more of the specifications on the studies in this chapter to find out sample size, age of the participants and other relevant information.
For my first take away, age of the participant came to mind as I was reading the section on Minimizing Irrelevant Audio,pg 318. This came to mind as my 16 year old daughter sat at the computer with her headphones plugged in, itunes playing, as she flipped back and forth between facebook and a summer homework paper writing project for an AP English Class. Facebook is open because friends were also working on the same school project. Mom facebook is not just for fun, jeez. She got a A on the paper. It made me wonder if audio overload applied mainly on the initial introduction to material or did it carry over to the output of prior knowledge.(i.e. writing a review on a book ). I think it is a study that I would like to run to try and either validate or invalidate the need for students to have music playing while they study or not have music playing while they study. It is a struggle that has moved down through the generations.
For my second take away,I do agree that visuals to support written text, greatly improve the learning and retention of materials especially in low learners. I have used (and will continue to use) visual aids in biology and chemistry classes to aid in the learning process. There are quite a few programs and online sites that provide excellent microscope pictures some with video of microscopic creatures that can sometimes be hard to capture under a microscope in class. It is always easier to remember that a cyanospirobacteria is blue and spirally when you can see that under the microscope he really is blue and shaped like a spiral. Wow, how cool is that?
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