Incorporating Technology in the Classroom

Word Processing 

Devon Ragbir     

Everyone has to agree that Word Processors such as, Microsoft Word and Word have become a valuable tool in the classroom.  Students can utilize its functions to prepare essays, complete projects, write and correct rough drafts, and share work for peer editing. This can all be done without printing a single document, which means saving paper. The essays are more “eye-pleasing” and allows for “limitless ability to edit,” according to Bitter and Legacy. The possibilities are endless and the correction is quick and there is no confusion about what goes where, and how a document flows.

 Pamela Sharma

I strongly disagree, despite the benefits of having a student’s essay very neat and legible, I am completely against the use of computes in classes K-12. When used to write a simple essay is doing more harm than good is many ways.  

1- Students pay attention to grammatical and spelling errors because they rely on the “red squiggly” line to highlight            errors.

2- Students correct the highlighted errors without realizing the mistake made. The computer      “spoon feeds” them the right answer.

3- The basic reading and writing skills are given a back seat and everyone including teachers at      time become dependant on computers.

4- The very first discipline of practicing penmanship is lost. A necessary foundation block of      learning looses its place because of these word processor applications.

 

Peter Nieznalski

 Ms. Sharma, I disagree, I think spell check, thesaurus and grammar check are helpful features that allow students to IMPROVE grammar. If they can see how to correct the problem then it becomes redundant and students learn more. Student’s first drafts are much more eye-pleasing, and also students can create improved first drafts. On-screen composition requires different organizational and mental skills, which will be useful in future employment. Content areas such as history, social studies, English, foreign languages, science and arts benefit from word processing. Teachers also benefit because they can prepare lesson plans, examinations, handouts etc. Word-processing can aid educators to meet professional and administrative requirements, such as writing manuscripts, research reports, grant proposals, and public relations materials.

You could see more other comments at:   

http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr241.shtml

http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/news/2006/01/05/will-computers-make-handwriting-obsolete/  

Spreadsheets 

Peter Nieznalski 

Spreadsheets can be used by educators to maintain student’s records such as attendance, to maintain student records as well as grade reports. Grades can be used to compute average, mean median etc. You can also setup spreadsheets to view only one individual student’s record. I use Microsoft Excel to maintain my student’s grades. If you need tips or tricks for Microsoft Excel here is a great website: http://exceltips.vitalnews.com/

To download Microsoft Excel you can use this website: http://www.microsoft.com/office/newday/default.mspx?nav=v1xcmenu&?WT.srch=1&WT.mc_id=834068A3-6B2F-45F0-BC71-D3F8F4A97056

Pamela Sharma 

I think Microsoft Excel is great processing software but as an instructor I don’t use it I use a different way to manage student’s records’ assignments etc. Here check it out: http://www.mygradebook.com/learn-more.cfm Here is an example of mygradebook:

1.       Grade  Management
Cut down on the amount of time you spend on administrative tasks. Set up your online gradebook to reflect your class schedule and the way you grade and weight assignments. Then you can easily maintain your gradebook by entering scores when available. You won’t have to manually calculate grades because they will be automatically calculated for you!

You can customize grade tracking and reporting for each of your classes:

o        Choose between Elementary or Secondary formats.

 o        Define your own grading scales using your own codes, percentages, and descriptions.

 o        Define your own non-numeric scoring codes.

o        Define your own grading periods.

o        Define how much the grade from each grading period contributes the overall grade computations.

o        Group assignments by category (i.e., homework, tests, quizzes).  

o        Create categories within categories as many levels deep as you want.

Example of some categories an elementary teacher might use:

o        Weight categories based on their percentage toward the overall grade.

o        Choose to drop the lowest score(s) in each category or offer extra credit categories. Override grades computed by MyGradeBook.     

Devon Ragbir     

Well the spreadsheet application is difficult at first to setup but once that’s out of the way I feel its very simple to manipulate the “cells.” You can develop an individualized spreadsheet to suite you class needs. I found that keeping track of my student’s progress and grades on a spreadsheet made it easier to spot students who needed extra help on specific areas and the students who did superbly also stood out. I liked the spreadsheet format Google used and I recommend using it because it is rather simple and easy to use.  

http://www.google.com/googlespreadsheets/try_out.html 

 

    DataBases 

Pamela Sharma

The introduction of  “Databases” in the education field will prove itself a invaluable. In today’s classroom where accountability is a must the need for journals and progress on each and every student is mandatory. These paperless files will help ensure that students attain the state standards and goals set in the IEP. And in a class where you have 30 students each one will have his/her own assessment. This will become a file that follows the student through there career at each school where his/her current teacher could access the records and add their comments and grades.  

Devon Ragbir    

That’s very true, at Aviation High School there has long been a problem of students FAA records being wrongly filed in the cabinets, or lost however, after introducing the computer database system this is unlikely to happen. Another benefit with the Database set up at the school is that it is web based so teachers could enter grades and comments from home using there ID and password to access the site.                                                               

Concept Mapping 

Devon Ragbir    

Can anyone help me understand the whole concept mapping deal? The whole Inspiration and Kidspiration goes right over my head. What is involved, and where can I see it in real life?  

Peter Nieznalski                                                                                                                               

Both these are concept mapping-tools. They are visual ways to think, write, and comprehend. Think of it at icons for specific ideas

 

Pamela Sharma

Inspiration and Kidspiration provides intergraded diagramming and outlining environments that work together to help students comprehend concepts and information. Inspiration is visual thinking and learning in action this program is used to customize instruction, achieve standards, assess student progress, and motivate learning.

Visit, http://www.inspiration.com/home.cfm  for more information.                                                                    

Beginning and structure of the Internet 

Peter Nieznalski                 

Did you know that the internet began as a government experiment? It was supposed to provide connections among military and research institutions and strong enough to withstand a nuclear attack. Today the internet has outgrown its original purpose and became the most far-reaching information network that bonds computers virtually everywhere.   

More technical information on the Internet.  http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/telecomm_handbook/chapter9.htm   

Atlas of Cyberspace  http://www.cybergeography.org/atlas/more_topology.html  

Devon Ragbir     

Isn’t that crazy, from that simple idea we have this amazing thing endless resource and its operation is rather simple and easily managed. Pamela Sharma

The simplest way to describe the internet would be a network of networks. Form experience companies, offices and many schools have linked their computers to form a local-area network called LAN. This was done to increase communication and thus increasing efficiency. These LANs connected to other LANs connected to yet other LANs make up the simplest form of the internet. Internet is more than just the physical wire connection between computers. It is also the recourse and information available through these connections that make it so indispensable today. You could live in New York visit a retail store in England, making purchases without ever leaving your home.  

          Internet “For the People by the People”             

 Devon Ragbir     

This is an amazing fact that some might not know. There is absolutely no central internet entity. There is no computer on this network of network that all of the wired connections meet, instead each host computer on this network shares equally the authority responsibility for successful connection. Because of this the Internet is very strong, able to bypass any wires or machines that are not functioning by rerouting through other connections. Due to this the internet lacks a central storage for all the information and knowledge. This is why there is no human authority in charge of maintaining the internet but a cooperative environment with participants governing themselves.   Pamela Sharma

 Yeah this is true but there is somewhat of an established guideling for the internet. Its called the “The Internet Society” also known as ISOC. This is a nonprofit organization of volunteers which assume the responsibility for guiding the technical and practical growth of the Internet.  

  

Peter Nieznalski                 

There is also another  area where rules exist. The works presented on the internet is self governed but because computers are made by different manufactures and operate at different speeds, there is a need for consistent communication between them. This is why there are standards and protocols in which computers must follow in order to connect. Every bit of information sent through the internet must be broken down into manageable pieces called packets. These packets must conform to the transmission control protocol/ Internet Protocol or TCP/IP. By following this standard any computer connected can send and reassemble packets of information. 

The World Wide Web 

Peter Nieznalski                 

Hypertext or Hyperlink, In my understanding they are both the same. By definition, hypertext is any the word or words that when clicked on, present some information beyond the word itself and link one webpage with another.     All About Hyper Text and Hypermedia  http://www.kevcom.com/words/guide/guide.02.html 

 

Pamela Sharma  

Yes Peter, it’s the same just different terminology, both hypertext and hyperlinks will navigate you to a specific page. This avoids the searching through page by page for specific items.     
Devon Ragbir

Well I am not the most computer literate person and I have a few questions. Hopefully someone could clarify these for me;  

1 – The Purpose of Web Browsers?   2- What exactly is HTTP and why do we need it?3- How about search engines? Is Google a source or a search engine? 4- What is a Wiki? How does it relate to wikipedia?    Peter Nieznalski               

Web Browsers –  

 Well Devon, the purpose of a web browser is to keep the Internet accessibility consistent, all information on it can be viewed by any computer that has web browsing software. The Web Browser performs two tasks. It seeks out and retrieves a document requested by clicking on a hyperlink or by entering a web address called a uniform resource locator or URL. A web Browser also allows you to see the document you have requested. Documents on the web must be written in hyper text markup language or HTML, which is a coded language that gives documents a specific layout.  Pamela Sharma 

HTTP-  

To answer the second question,  A URL or uniform recourse locator must start with http://, which shows that the document requested follows the hyper transfer protocol and rules that are set up for transfer.    

Search Engines- 

A Search Engine is a web application that indexes websites and allows you to search for a websites by inputting keywords. There is a number of strategies that each Search Engine provides in order to narrow your search to find efficiently what you are looking for.   

The two most popular search engines that everyone might know or heard of are Google and Yahoo!  www.google.com   www.yahoo.com Peter Nieznalski               

Wiki-  

A wiki is a type of website that allows users to easily add, remove or otherwise edit and change some available content, sometimes without the need for registration. This type of interaction and operation makes a wiki an effective tool for collaborating. It is a new and interesting way that people can collaborate and while staying motivated, an ideal project based learning solution.      

Wikipedia is a great source of information but since people add and edit this information you may want to double check with another valid source to ensure the information is accurate.   
Devon Ragbir 

Thanks for that insight Peter and Pamela, it was really helpful!