Week Fifteen

This semester is over (almost)! It went by so fast but I sure learned a lot. I wasn't sure what to expect when I first enrolled in this class but I have really enjoyed it. I always felt pretty sufficient when it came to technology but I learned so many things that will be helpful when I am a teacher. The final interactive PowerPoint was also a big learning experience. I am so excited to make fun, interactive PowerPoint presentations for my students when teaching new things to them. I hope to keep updated on new technology so I can always teach to the best of my abilities. Thank you for this semester!!

Week Fourteen

I can't believe this is the last week of classes! This brings excitement but lots of stress as well. I am a little nervous about our final presentation because although I am familiar with Microsoft PowerPoint and have made many through out my high school years; I never made one as fancy as this one is to be. So even though I know it will be a challenge, it will definitely be a learning experience as well. I am really glad I am learning this though because I think these interactive PowerPoint presentations are much more entertaining and fun to learn from than the simple and boring ones I know how to make. This project will be very useful for when I am a teacher and would like to use a PowerPoint to teach a new topic to my students. Wish me luck! I feel like I'll need it!

Week Thirteen

For the assignment this week on an educational technology topic I chose to do it on the Educational use of Cell Phones. I wanted to do research on this topic because ever since I started this class I liked the idea of incorporating more technology into my teaching however I wasn't sure about specifically using cell phones in the classroom. But after learning about all the different ways it can be used and all the benefits of a cell phone as a learning device I have decided that it is a great idea. Although I'm not sure how available cell phones will be for me to use as an elementary school teacher, it still gave me some good ideas. Who knows though, within ten years even most elementary school students could all have cell phones!

Week Twelve

I have been working on my Community Awareness Night a lot the past few days. I have come to learn how much I want Microsoft Publisher on my computer now and especially when I am a teacher. It will be so nice to use for flyers home to parents. It is so simple to use since all the layouts are already there for you to choose from. I still have a little bit of work to finish to make my UEN tab complete before class tonight but although this assignment has definitely been more challenging than our other assignments, I think it has been very beneficial. I have also learned a lot about internet safety that I don't think I ever learned when I was younger so I am definitely going to make sure my students learn more about it. 

Week Eleven

Wow it is now week eleven?! Only four more weeks left! This semester is flying by. Since I wasn't in class last Tuesday, I got into a group with two other students and you explained to us what to do for our group assignment. We have been working on it through Google Documents. I really love the convenience of Google Docs. It is especially nice if you don't have much time to meet with your group out of class and can each work on it from home. Technology makes life so convenient. What will they come up with next? 

Week Ten

I wasn't in class this week because I was out of town for Spring Break. I left town a day early.... oops ;)
I went to Oregon to visit relatives and had a lovely time. I looked to see what I missed and noticed we are now starting projects for internet safety. I think that is a very important topic to cover as a future teacher since I plan on using computers with my students often and I don't want to worry about my students getting into bad situations on the internet. 

Week Nine

Since we didn't have class this week I should have been able to get my Digital Camera Project done on time but unfortunately I didn't. I really wanted to go to the Hogle Zoo and take pictures of the animals to edit but every day I could the weather wasn't good for a day at the Zoo. However, I was able to go this week and I had a lot of fun. I really enjoyed editing the pictures I took and seeing how I could improve them. I am glad I have experience with Picasa now and know that I will use it a lot in the future. I hope you enjoy my Zoo Animal Art Show! 

Week Eight

I really liked learning about Picasa last week in class. I had heard some things about it but I had no idea it could do so many things and that it is completely free! I just downloaded it onto my computer and i'm excited to start using it for many things. I also love that you can sync it to your web albums and share pictures with other people. I know it will be a very useful program when I am a teacher. 

I have been taking pictures for my digital camera project and I am anxious to start editing them and see how they turn out. This project is right up my alley! 

Also, I don't have a comment from you for my Week Six blog post. Just want to make sure you see it! Thanks!

Week Seven

I enjoyed this week because we were learning about digital cameras. I love photography and anything to do with it so this topic really interests me. Although I love taking pictures and took two basic photography classes in jr. high and high school; I am not at all a professional and just mostly play around with my camera. That being said, it really helped me to read those articles and learn more about digital cameras. I have never thought much about using a digital camera in my classroom but now I can't imagine not using one. I read so many great ideas that helped prompt other ideas of my own that I can't wait to incorporate into my lessons. I am sure the students will love it because I know I would have. I am looking forward to the digital camera project because I looked at the examples and it seems like it will be fun project to work on.

Week Six

Is it week six already? The semester is already flying by. I really enjoyed exploring Kidspiration in class on Tuesday. I liked the examples you showed us of ways to incorporate it into lessons. I also found many ways I can use it in my teaching and I think students would really like it. I will have to keep that program in mind for when i'm a teacher because it would be a fun resource to have especially for visual aids in my lessons.
Also, you told me to email you when I fixed some grammar problems on my Pioneer Library tab so you could fix my grade and I did so please check it when you get a chance. Let me know if there are still any problems. Thank you!

Week Five

I am continuing to really like this class. I think the CultureGrams assignment has been really fun. I spent the summer of 2009 as an Au Pair in Spain so I chose to make my page about Spain. The assignment has showed me how useful CultureGrams will be as a teacher for personal use or for the use of my students. I remember when I was in 6th grade we had a World Fair and everyone researched and presented a different country from around the world so this would be perfect for that. I love traveling and I think it's important for children to learn about different countries, people, cultures, etc. so i'm excited to have the CultureGrams resource. 

Week Four

This week we learned how to browse Pioneer Library and use the different resources within it. I am finding this very useful because it is nice to be able to search somewhere that has good quality information instead of having to sift through google's millions of results. I think it will be very useful when finding information for lesson plans. Also, it will be very good for the students to use when they are to find information for research papers, science fair projects, and other activities. So far I am finding what I learn in this class very useful and I look forward to every week. 

Week Three

The third week of class went well for me. It was fun to see everyone's UEN public pages and learn some fun facts about my classmates. It was also nice to see how other's did their pages because it gave me a few ideas of how to improve mine.
From our current assignment I feel I am getting the hang of how to find information, activities, videos, etc. for lesson plans. I am excited to be learning how to do this since it will be something i'll do daily as a teacher. It is also really helpful to be learning where on the web I can find useful resources to use in my lesson plans. I have always been kind of nervous when I think about how many lesson plans i'll have to plan especially my first few years of teaching but I feel this class is helping a lot and preparing me for my future as a teacher.

Week Two

I liked learning how to personalize my UEN public page. I have enjoyed filling it in with things about me and I think it will be very useful when I am a teacher. Also, the paper we wrote last week on technology in the classroom was a really interesting assignment. It helped me to see what others opinions are and to get ideas of how to best use technology in my classroom. I really liked how one article talked about students having the chance to voice their opinions to the teachers. I hope to listen to my students opinions instead of ignore how they would want to be taught and do what I want because that isn't as effective. 

Week One

So far I think I am going to really like Computer Technology in Education. Prior to coming to class on Tuesday I felt as if I was pretty computer savvy and knew just about all the basics of using a computer. However, after taking that survey I realized that there are still several things I am not completely sure how to do and even a few things I didn't even know about. So I am looking forward to learning those things and expanding my computer knowledge. Also, I am excited to learn more ways to incorporate technology into the classroom. I feel it is really important to use electronic resources when teaching so this class will be very useful for me as a future teacher.