In chapter 31 the electronics training jackets really interested me. We currently can not access anything about our students unless we are at school on the school drive. Therefore, all 300 IEP's, progress reports, and charting has to be completed at school. The time consuming work really puts a strain on my after school activities when I have to spend many extra hours at school instead of at home or any other place that I would be able to access the information needed to complete my tasks. Even using a smartcard would be beneficial to many of us. Either way I am very excited to hear more about the electronics training jackets.
I thought the most interesting piece of technology that we worked with this semester would be screencasting with Camtasia. I always wondered how some training programs were able to record the screen of what they were working on. Now I know, and now that I have had some time to play around with it I think it is great. It is so easy to navigate and you can make so many different screencasts. It is such an interesting way to show students how to complete tasks on the Internet or to have guided exploration of a new technology tool. All in all I can't wait to create lessons with it and show it to my administration for training uses.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Chapter 30 and Tech Review
After reading chapter 30 I have come to the understanding that visual and audio instruction has proven to be more successful in retaining knowledge than written text. Without reading this chapter I already strongly believe in this concept; however, it made me look at it from a more animated side. Being a special education teacher I use pictures and short commands to relate to everything in my instruction. Now I am wondering how I can create video and audio applications for my students to watch and recreate. Such as an exercise program that they can interact with online while they take the time to do the exercises. I would have to make them short and to the point, but it could be put on Cd's so students can take it home to work out on the weekends or after school. They could choose from different levels of workouts or even skills from different sports they are interested in could be broken down for them to watch and recreate. As in the chapter, I would still have to create the motivation to use the exercises or skills. In this maybe it would be a two person simulation were they have to watch and then perform offense and defensive skills in basketball. When they are finished they could play online against each other and earn points for correct moves choosen. It would be great to have this at the tip of your fingertips and maybe with more knowledge from this masters program I will be able to accomplish this application in the future.
I reviewed Google Documents and Phixr. Google Documents is a great free online applications. It provides everything Microsoft Office provides (at least that I can find), but with the option to publish directly to the Internet. The site is easy to navigate and resembles the look of Microsoft so if you are comfortable using this application than you should be able to easily transfer to Google Documents. It also has and quick and easy share button for you to instantly share your work with anyone you need to. You can go from one application to another with a click of a button because the Google application is organized and all connected in one. You can go from making a spreadsheet to a presentation without leaving a site. I personally like the fact that you can publish and share directly from the application. Otherwise, I find it very similar to Microsoft.
Phixr is a photo editing application that I reviewed. I found it to be a good site, but I would prefer Adobe Photo shop instead. You can change coloring, red eye, rotate, do effects, and add text. However, it does provide cutting out of your pictures or adding more to you pics. You can also upload your photos to your photo sharing account right from the application. Don't get me wrong its a good site for basic editing, but I like to get nitty gritty and do all sorts of things with my pics and this doesn't allow it.
I reviewed Google Documents and Phixr. Google Documents is a great free online applications. It provides everything Microsoft Office provides (at least that I can find), but with the option to publish directly to the Internet. The site is easy to navigate and resembles the look of Microsoft so if you are comfortable using this application than you should be able to easily transfer to Google Documents. It also has and quick and easy share button for you to instantly share your work with anyone you need to. You can go from one application to another with a click of a button because the Google application is organized and all connected in one. You can go from making a spreadsheet to a presentation without leaving a site. I personally like the fact that you can publish and share directly from the application. Otherwise, I find it very similar to Microsoft.
Phixr is a photo editing application that I reviewed. I found it to be a good site, but I would prefer Adobe Photo shop instead. You can change coloring, red eye, rotate, do effects, and add text. However, it does provide cutting out of your pictures or adding more to you pics. You can also upload your photos to your photo sharing account right from the application. Don't get me wrong its a good site for basic editing, but I like to get nitty gritty and do all sorts of things with my pics and this doesn't allow it.
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