I commented at this blog for this week's assignment.
look for blaine205 :)
Friday, February 29, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
Blog #2-- Software
Here is the order in which I would place the different applications:
Word processors can be used for a number of things in addition to merely assembling sentences and paragraphs; today's advanced applications, like Pages from Apple, make it very easy to add images to stories. My son has written stories on Pages and then we go online to try and find images to illustrate the story. It's loads of fun (for him and me) and he learns a host of skills in the process. I believe kids should be introduced to this as young as 7 or 8. It should not be used to substitute for actual handwriting, since there certainly is value in learning how to write by hand, but once those skills are firmly rooted they should move on to Pages, or Word.
Similarly, the web browser is a tool that should be learned by kids early on--in fact I would wager it's probably the app that most kids first learn to use. However, for reasons that should be obvious to anyone who has spent any amount of time on the web, they need to be monitored carefully, and by all means use whatever filters are available, especially for younger children! Having said that, there is so much out there for kids to learn just by surfing the web that it is important to teach them how to use it. As mentioned above, it can be used hand in hand with other tools to build projects and add value to even simple projects.
Spreadsheets are useful tools that should be part of the basic toolbox of any high school student; they should have mastered their use by that time. I think the optimum time to introduce them would be around fifth or sixth grade. Because they have so many and such varied uses, spreadsheets along with the two above should be a part of the fundamental canon of technical knowledge of students.
Presentation software (Keynote, PowerPoint, etc.) is used to enhance the kinds of presentations that students should be required to give at frequent intervals. Most adults list public speaking as a high ranking fear. Early and frequent practice in front of one's peers can help give confidence to students and prepare them by introducing skills like critical thinking, and thinking on one's feet. Keynote can help that in a couple of ways. First, it gives the student a solid outline to use as he gives his talk, and it makes the talk more interesting via the use of images, etc. It is also more interesting to prepare than writing an outline on a piece of paper, increasing the student's learning capability. They should be using this by the time they leave middle school, at the latest.
Finally, some sort of media editing software should be used by students to help unlock the creativity in them. Although much creative possibility exists in the programs above, it is in the media editing that they can truly let their imaginations loose and create what truly speaks to them. For some it might be making videos with iMovie, for others maybe they record and edit their own music with Garageband. Those with an interest in photography will no doubt want to explore Photoshop to see the amazing things that can be done with it. Most likely this would be done by high school students, though I imagine there are a good many in middle schools who would have both the interest and the ability to do so.
- Word Processor
- Web Browser
- Spreadsheet
- Presentation software
- Video editing tool
Word processors can be used for a number of things in addition to merely assembling sentences and paragraphs; today's advanced applications, like Pages from Apple, make it very easy to add images to stories. My son has written stories on Pages and then we go online to try and find images to illustrate the story. It's loads of fun (for him and me) and he learns a host of skills in the process. I believe kids should be introduced to this as young as 7 or 8. It should not be used to substitute for actual handwriting, since there certainly is value in learning how to write by hand, but once those skills are firmly rooted they should move on to Pages, or Word.
Similarly, the web browser is a tool that should be learned by kids early on--in fact I would wager it's probably the app that most kids first learn to use. However, for reasons that should be obvious to anyone who has spent any amount of time on the web, they need to be monitored carefully, and by all means use whatever filters are available, especially for younger children! Having said that, there is so much out there for kids to learn just by surfing the web that it is important to teach them how to use it. As mentioned above, it can be used hand in hand with other tools to build projects and add value to even simple projects.
Spreadsheets are useful tools that should be part of the basic toolbox of any high school student; they should have mastered their use by that time. I think the optimum time to introduce them would be around fifth or sixth grade. Because they have so many and such varied uses, spreadsheets along with the two above should be a part of the fundamental canon of technical knowledge of students.
Presentation software (Keynote, PowerPoint, etc.) is used to enhance the kinds of presentations that students should be required to give at frequent intervals. Most adults list public speaking as a high ranking fear. Early and frequent practice in front of one's peers can help give confidence to students and prepare them by introducing skills like critical thinking, and thinking on one's feet. Keynote can help that in a couple of ways. First, it gives the student a solid outline to use as he gives his talk, and it makes the talk more interesting via the use of images, etc. It is also more interesting to prepare than writing an outline on a piece of paper, increasing the student's learning capability. They should be using this by the time they leave middle school, at the latest.
Finally, some sort of media editing software should be used by students to help unlock the creativity in them. Although much creative possibility exists in the programs above, it is in the media editing that they can truly let their imaginations loose and create what truly speaks to them. For some it might be making videos with iMovie, for others maybe they record and edit their own music with Garageband. Those with an interest in photography will no doubt want to explore Photoshop to see the amazing things that can be done with it. Most likely this would be done by high school students, though I imagine there are a good many in middle schools who would have both the interest and the ability to do so.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Online learning
The best part of an online class-- by far-- is the ability to shoehorn the study time into your own unique schedule. That has worked out fairly well, for the most part, in this class. I do wish that the readings for the upcoming week were posted early so that we could look at them over the weekend; that would take a lot of pressure off during the week.
In other online classes I've taken we had video lectures. I'm not sure what I think about that, although I do enjoy a good lecture and it certainly hits my learning style. But sometimes they ran to 45 minutes or an hour and that got pretty tedious. So maybe there's a happy medium somewhere. Last spring/summer I was part of the Ireland studies program at GRCC. We had three online classes during the month of May, followed by three weeks in Ireland in June. May was a ton of work; hundreds of pages of reading each week, a few hours of film/lecture online, and a handful of posts on Bb discussion boards. What was amazing was how many of us posted dozens of times during the week; we had some very lively discussions! Of course we were all very excited to know that after all the tedium of the online part we'd be actually going there and seeing all the things we'd been reading about and discussing.
I actually liked the Atomic tutoring videos. I was able to pick and choose from the ones I wanted to learn more about beyond just the ones that were assigned. (I also found them useful after I bought my Mac)
Overall I've enjoyed the class. Whether I would take another is still an open question. I don't think there are many of them offered in the classes I need from here on out. I certainly would consider it if the option was available.
I think history classes could be done very well as an online class. Since much of it is reading and discussion, with lecture to fill in the gaps, it lends itself to an online venue quite well I think.
I think many people (outside the education establishment) believe that you can take just about any class at any school anywhere online. A number of people have made comments to me that lead me to believe this. Few of them seem to know how few classes really are offered.
In other online classes I've taken we had video lectures. I'm not sure what I think about that, although I do enjoy a good lecture and it certainly hits my learning style. But sometimes they ran to 45 minutes or an hour and that got pretty tedious. So maybe there's a happy medium somewhere. Last spring/summer I was part of the Ireland studies program at GRCC. We had three online classes during the month of May, followed by three weeks in Ireland in June. May was a ton of work; hundreds of pages of reading each week, a few hours of film/lecture online, and a handful of posts on Bb discussion boards. What was amazing was how many of us posted dozens of times during the week; we had some very lively discussions! Of course we were all very excited to know that after all the tedium of the online part we'd be actually going there and seeing all the things we'd been reading about and discussing.
I actually liked the Atomic tutoring videos. I was able to pick and choose from the ones I wanted to learn more about beyond just the ones that were assigned. (I also found them useful after I bought my Mac)
Overall I've enjoyed the class. Whether I would take another is still an open question. I don't think there are many of them offered in the classes I need from here on out. I certainly would consider it if the option was available.
I think history classes could be done very well as an online class. Since much of it is reading and discussion, with lecture to fill in the gaps, it lends itself to an online venue quite well I think.
I think many people (outside the education establishment) believe that you can take just about any class at any school anywhere online. A number of people have made comments to me that lead me to believe this. Few of them seem to know how few classes really are offered.
Friday, February 1, 2008
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