Online Word Processing and Search Engines

This week we have learned about many different things. We have looked into different search engines, online word processors, and important things to know about internet browsers.

I looked at a couple of different online word processors. These have the advantage of being able to access documents anywhere there is internet access. Many of them are very similar to Microsoft Word, so the students would probably make the change easily. I find that these could easily be implemented into my classroom. I do many projects and assignments for which the students use Microsoft Word. Using an online word processor would cut down on paper usage, ink costs, and storage space. This is very beneficial to a small district with budget problems.

We also are investigating different search engines. I have always used Yahoo for my searching needs, ever since I started using the internet. I haven't had the opportunity to use many other search engines, but have occasionally used Google or Swagbucks. Swagbucks checks other search engines for results to a search which is advantageous. We also discussed mistakes people  make when using a search engine. I found I need to improve my search skills to maximize my results. I am excited to use Boolean searches more to find better results. Hopefully I can then help students become better searchers.

The beginning of 515

As I start a new class I am always nervous. Am I going to understand what we are learning? Am I going to have enough time for the work required? How many technical problems am I going to run into along the way? Well, so far I understand what we are learning and I have found time to get my work done. I have had a hiccup at home with my internet access, but it was brief, so on I go.

I managed to create my graphic using Image Chef. It was very easy to use. I chose to create a word mosaic, but it had many other options to choose from. Some of the other programs allowed you to create a short video with a character that you create and script the character and have them do certain things. Other programs allowed you to create a comic strip. Some programs were like paint programs. I could easily use many of the programs in one class in particular. I teach Intro to Business. One of the projects is to market a new football team. The student must create a new team logo, which could be created in one of the programs I have looked at. If we have time, I also do a short unit on advertising. The project for that unit is to create a cereal box for a new cereal. Part of the project is to create a TV commercial and draw the story board for the commercial. Instead of drawing the story board, the students could create a comic strip for it or actually create the commercial instead.

I also use many presentations in my classroom and sometimes the students have to create presentations. Any of the presentation software programs could be used instead of PowerPoint. PowerPoint is available at school on all of the computers, but if a student needs to work on the presentation at home and doesn't have PowerPoint, they are forced to find time in study hall to finish their assignment. Also, if students are working on a group project, they all would be able to access it. It is risky for students working in a group to save on the public drive at school. I have had many students lose projects because of other students deleting them. This would eliminate the possibility of other students deleting work. We have also had server problems at school this year and some of the students lost work on their personal drive. Using online presentation software would eliminate that. I would also not lose work by using online presentation software.

So far I am enjoying what we are learning about and am excited to learn more!

Applying to my world, Part 3...

This week is the final episode of Triumph of the Nerds. I have never seen the series and really enjoyed it. I have enjoyed learning about the history of computers and where many of the computer ideas have come from. Surprisingly, most of the ideas came from people not associated with Microsoft or Apple, two of the computer giants today. One of the things we discussed was if the "giants" stole ideas from other people or companies. Stealing becomes an interesting word to use here. If people willingly allow others to see their products and share their ideas, can you really think of it as stealing? If one person cannot realize the importance of their product, why shouldn't someone else realize it? If the "giants" hadn't capitalized on what other people were sharing with them, we wouldn't have much of the technology we have today.

Discussing my individual back-up plan made me think about how I am going to protect my computer and my files. This was a great thing for me to do as I did not have a back-up plan in place. I am slowly making myself adhere to the guidelines I set for myself. I also found it interesting to find out what my school district is and isn't doing to protect information and files while researching for my organization back-up plan.

I am looking forward to working on creating my perfect computer. I did an assignment similar to this when I was in my fourth year of college, but computer components have changed dramatically since then. I also think I have a better understanding of what I would like in a computer now than I did seven or eight years ago. I am currently using a laptop that I purchased in 2005. It is the first computer I have owned and still does what I need it to do. However, it is not nearly as fast as it used to be. I am looking to upgrade and it could be helpful to know what I should be looking for.

Finally, I need to answer the question of what would happen if all microprocessors failed? Personally, I would lose a lot of information and things that I consider important. I am still in the process of backing up my photos. Currently, my pictures are housed on my laptop at home and some are housed on my school computer. I hold all of my pictures very dear because they represent memories and serve as reminders of fun and important times in my life. I also store some class assignments on my computer, but have backed them up in DropBox. But others have asked the question, how much backing up is enough? Is there really enough backing up that can be done? When I consider all of the things that could fail or that could occur, I don't think there really is a fail-safe way to back up all information. After all, more could happen than just microprocessors failing. Fires, floods, theft, etc. are all things that could affect backing up. I can only do as much as I think is necessary to protect myself and my files.

Applying to my world Part 2

As I work on assignments for this week and think about this week's blog, it makes me think about many ways of applying our school work to my own world.

This week we are expected to research 3 different virus products and compare them. I have been "lucky" enough to have used 3 different kinds of virus protection. Apparently 2 of them did not work well, since I had 2 computer crashes because of viruses and malware. I am eager to research the companies into more detail to see which one would be more useful to me. Everyone wants to have good protection against viruses, malware, and spyware. I want to make sure I am using an effective product and that I don't need to upgrade to a better version of what I am already using.

Another assignment for the week is to discuss my disaster plan in case of computer failure. Currently, my disaster plan is to call my nephew and say, "Tyler, there's something wrong with my computer. Can you fix it?" Somehow I don't think that is always the best plan. He is busy and I need my computer and the information stored on it. I am hoping after this assignment that I will have a better plan than The Tyler Plan. Although I have complete confidence in him, I would be like to be able to fix the problem myself and save a bit of money in the process.

Applying to my world

Whenever I learn something new, I always think, "How can I use this in my life?" I try not to have a similar outlook as my students do and simply say, "I'm never gonna use this!" I love to learn new things and love to broaden my thinking. So, this course has been interesting for me.

I had some exposure to computer parts in the past, but I needed a refresher. At the school I teach at, we have a required course called Computer Lit. It is taught at the high school level and covers computer history, computer parts, and Microsoft Office programs. I do not teach this class and the teacher that does, is not leaving in the near future. However, I teach about an hour away from where I live, so it is possible that I would leave soon. As curriculums and course offerings differ from district to district in business ed, I could be expected to teach something like Computer Lit. somewhere else.

I might have to opportunity to help fix problems that arise in computer labs. We only have one computer tech in our district and he has more work than one person can do in the amount of time he is expected to do it. So, if there are things that I can do myself that would alleviate some of the tech's workload, I will do them. Also, it is helpful to be able to assist other teachers in troubleshooting their classroom machine.

I enjoy being knowledgeable on subjects that can help me in my own life. In the past, I have had problems with my computer and haven't been able to fix it. By learning more about computer systems, I will have a better understanding of how to protect my computer or how to fix it if problems arise. It also is helpful if my parents have problems with their computer, if I can fix it.

Computer History for Emily Bartels

My first computer is the one I own now. I have a Dell Inspiron E1505 laptop that I purchased in June of 2005. I was very excited to be able to have a computer at home for the first time, not just at school. At the time I purchased it, it was an incredible laptop and now it seems to crawl along. But, it does what I need it to do. I realize it may be hard to believe I never owned a computer before 2005, but it is true. When I was in college, it wasn't as customary as it is now for each student to have their own computer. When I first bought my laptop I primarily used it for surfing the Internet, downloading music, paying bills, and managing pictures. I still use it for those things, but now I use it for school purposes also.

I have dealt with two crashes with this laptop. However, having access to computer geniuses has proved to be very helpful. I had a complete crash last December and my nephew was able to recover pictures from the hard drive, as they were the most valuable items stored there. He cleaned up the hard drive and reformatted my computer for me. That experience was painful, but eye-opening.

My first experiences with computers were in elementary school. We had about eight Apple 2Es and 2 Apples that had color monitors at the private elementary school I attended. Every other Friday we went to the computer lab and played games that were stored on the 5 1/4 floppy disks. We had some of the classic 80s games, Frogger and Oregon Trail, and we also had educational games. In 5th grade we were introduced to Paws, the software that tried to teach us how to type. I will never forget my experiences with those wonderful Apple computers that introduced me to technology.

In school I deal with Dell computers daily, as I teach in a computer lab. I have learned some basic troubleshooting throughout the years and also have learned about installing different software programs that we have at school.

I appreciate computers and the conveniences they provide me. I think it is incredible how they have evolved and how many different things they can do now compared to when I was a child. When I was a child, in my head, all computers were used for were to play games. Now I use them for so much more. It provides me a place to do homework, research lessons, social network, update my bank accounts, and so much more. I can't wait to see where computers will take us next.

My 2nd Blog!

Happy Sunday everyone! I am very excited about some of the new technologies we have learned about so far! I really liked learning how to use Google docs. I had never used them before we started class and enjoyed the compare/contrast assignment. I often find myself "playing" with a new technology to learn about it. I appreciate how easy Google docs is. I would love to use them more in my classroom to minimize the amount of storage space used at school and also to minimize the amount of paper being used. In one of my classes we do a chapter on ethics and social responsibility in business and their project for that chapter is to research green businesses in WI. If I am promoting businesses that have gone green, it would be nice to lead by example with my students. However, I believe Google docs is currently unavailable to students because of needing to access email. Our students do not have access to email accounts at school. But, if I could find justification, I may be able to convince the administration and computer tech to allow the tool. That might be a goal of mine by the end of the school year.

I also am excited to learn more about the webcams and use them more. I met with my study group on TokBox this week. We have 4 members in our group and all were able to get in and talk. We really enjoyed seeing each other! I found it very simple to get an account and invite people into My Contacts. It was very nice to have multiple people on the call at once. I sometimes forgot though that I was visible to three other people! I can make some weird facial expressions sometimes and need to be aware that others might be able to see them!

I am still learning more about the social bookmarking and online storage. I could see myself using the social bookmarking in many of my classes. I reference many different websites in my classes and either have to include the web address on the assignment or have to write it on the board. Inevitably, at least one student tells me that it didn't work, which is because they didn't type it correctly. Social bookmarking could definitely cut back on those errors. I think the online storage could also help our district cut down on the amount of storage space our students use on the network. It also would be helpful for students who choose to complete work at home. They wouldn't have to worry about using a flash drive or some other storage device.

I am very excited to learn more! We have a lot of restrictions on what the students can access at school and I am excited to see if they will be able to use any of the new tools I have learned about!

My expected outcome

First of all, I have never had a blog before, so I have already learned!

As a business teacher, I am hoping to get many things from this program. I use technology in my classes everyday, but would like to improve assignments and increase opportunities for students to learn. I have wanted to incorporate tools like Moodle or edmodo and have not had the chance to learn about the programs and their capabilities. If there is a way that I can minimize paper use in my classroom, I would like to do it.

I teach in a small school district and we continually have problems with technology and server space. I am excited to learn more about google docs and tools that can be used to eliminate space used on our server at school. I would also like to become a resource for other teachers in my district who are wishing to improve their technology skills or wishing to incorporate more technology into their classrooms and lessons.

In my opinion, things change in the business world all the time, especially technology. If I can teach students how to continue learning about new technology, they hopefully will continue that practice in their lives if they pursue a business career.