todays-work.xls

In this lesson, we were taught the world of Microsoft Excel. It was good to revisit this program, as it is vital for the education world.

Mark had given us the basic fundamentals of Microsoft Excel, and the ways in which to set up the program in regards to Headings, columns, cells, mathematical statistics and totaling data. it was good to revise this program, as it has been some time since I last used this program. A saple of work can be found attached to this document. This is a work in progress, and provides the framework which goes towards the next portfolio item. I think this may only be an example though.

In terms of implementing the Microsoft Excel program into an education environment, with the incorporation of this week’s reading, I believe it is vital for children of all stages to be exposed to this program, from a simplistic times in the early stages, to a more sophisticated approach in the later part of Stage 3. The reason for this is because children are forever exposed to data, and for an auditory and visual learner, this is the best way in which data can be presented, in a graph, which can be made using this program.

I also believe that Excel is beneficial for teachers, as it provides an organisational setting when collating marks, students information and progress over a period of time, which can make life easier.

I look forward to the following week of the  “revising” session of Microsoft Excel.

In the previous lesson, we were presented with the Microsoft Publisher program. It was explained to us that Publisher can be used for a variety of different contexts. It is quite often that Publisher is used for creative activities in an educational environment, as opposed to a business environment where files such as meeting agendas and formal business apparel are designed.

I found that using Publisher wll allow students to design and present information in a variety of contexts. It further extends the Microsoft Word program, as it can give students more options on borders, backgrounds, templates for presenting information, and the type of information being presented, meaning that it is beneficial to the classroom environment. I found, as said in the Portfolio Item page, that making my own document on Publisher was alot easier to do as it allowed me to talk about myself, as well as present the document to represent some of the concpets that represent me such as colour choice, simplistic borders and presentation as well as the photograph. This allowed me to further explore the Publisher program, rather than being under a structre, which was good.

I feel that once I have completed this course, and am teaching in the REAL world, that I will be able to take this information of using Publisher on board, and allowing students to present information, flyers and programs using this resource. As much as I have used this before for an intensive design project for my HSC, it was good to revisit this useful resource.

I look forward to the weeks ahead!

portfolio-4-publisher.jpg

This is my Portfolio 4 Assessment- which is attached to this file. I felt that this was a fun and therapeutic exercise, as it was an opportunity to talk about myself…rather than researching a topic, and then presenting it on a page! This made the designing of the page alot easier!

I just realised that the link may not work for my Portfolio on Web Quest 1. Here it is:

http://members.tripod.com/africa_cms_cwr/home3.htm

The Bibliography for this is:

Ramseur, C.A. (January 5, 2005). Exploring Geography in Our Global Classroom: “The Study of Africa Using a Web Quest”. Retrieved 2 April, 2008, from

http://members.tripod.com/africa_cms_cwr/home3.htm

I didn’t realise that this was unable to be accessed from the page, Sorry also for the delayed Bibliography with this source.

portfolio-4-2nd-web-quest.doc

portfolio-4-pt-1.doc

This entry involves the portfolio of Web Quests. I felt Web Quest to be an interactive server where students can access information regarding a project. I  felt that some positive aspects of Web Quest (since my previous entry) include:

• Teachers providing students to relevant sites for Web Quests
• The information for the project relevant with its captions
• The tasks to be interactive and web-based
• Students were able to express themselves within the tasks through art, and technology.

I felt there were some negative qualities of the web Quest. This involved:

• That the information to be accessed had a more internet bias approach
• Some Web Quests had links which were broken, where as a book for example would have the information presented in it, without a “broken link”.

Overall, I felt that Web Quests were a great and interactive tool for students to use, and it’s great to see the advancement in technology since I was at school, and the way in which information is presented. If I had not taken part in this subject, I would not have known that this worl even existed.

I feel that this supports Vygotsky’s theory of scaffolding as students are able to use the basic information they know on subjects such as “bugs” or “Africa” and find out further information such as the use of technology, and the thought of even being a bug, such innovative and creative ideas. It also gives students the opportunity to be creative with their mind, and think of ways to process informaion and be in the mind of someone else, or another object.

http://members.tripod.com/africa_cms_cwr/home3.htm

a-rubric-for-evaluating-webquests.docx

I have read the reading for this week, and found the introduction to Microsoft Publisher to be quite interesting. I am looking forward to playing around with it for the next portfolio. I think Publisher is one of those programs (which I have experienced before) where it gives you alot of le-way on the sorts of tasks you can do. It also allows an individual to use the creative side of their brain, and create a variety of projects, and information sheets. I feel that this task will be a little easier to grasp.

I found the instructions for WebQuest to be ok. The rubric was fairly complex, but I’m sure over due course that the information will come as second nature to me.

uni-ict-portfolio-assessment-2.docuni-ict-portfolio-assessment-2.docThis tutorial provided me with the opportunity to start some of the work due for this assessment. It was great that Mark was able to re-cover the expectations of the second assessment, as I was unable to attend the lesson. I feel with my learning style (auditory), that Mark gave me a greater idea on how this assessment was to be presented. This week, I feel I have locked into the University life in terms of the amount of work that needs to be done with a certain amount of time. Tjis will be continuous until the break in the middle of the year- which will be great.

I felt the second part of Mark’s lesson this week was good on the WebQuests. I had never heard of them before, and fouund it interesting that students (or children) were not encouraged to not use the search engines as much unless they were looking for information and then evaluatiing. The use of WebQuest allows students to have that interactive tool, as well as analyse, synthesise and evaluate information. This is far greater and more high order thinking I feel for students in a learning environment. I shall remember this tool when teaching in a professional role.. I would like to have more information on the types of Webquests available so that when I am in the professional environment, I’ll know exactly where to go inorder to show the students. I look forward to next lesson.

This week, I was unable to make the tutorial as I was attedning a private matter. However, I have read the tutorial notes, and will be up with speed for the next lesson. I feel with the notes that it is common knowledge that is being given to us. However, what I am liking about this common ground is that the information is being extended, and being put into the context of the classroom- making it relevant to the chosen career of teaching. I feel that this is great, and challenges my way of thinking in the technological world. An example of what I am explaining is looking up the word on the internet (with the students) in regards to a chosen topic. This, according to the notes has to be innovative, rather than common fact. Eg. designing a rollercoaster, as opposed to finding out the name of the countries in the world (as interesting as that is!). These notes I thought were good, and gave us some resources to use, especially when on work placement and in the work environment.

This week has been an ok week. I feel as though the work load has built up quite considerably, and that the long weekend had served its purpose by giving me some time to complete tasks ahead of me, which were due in this week. I hope next week will be a little easier.

In Thursday’s lesson, we were revisiting the task due in this week. This entaled an entry to this blog, as well as setting up the blog, completing the competency test, and then filling in an official entry about what was learnt in class, and how this can be related to the Education/teaching world. The lesson entaled us learning about the internet and its network. I found out in today’s lesson that the word ‘internet’ means ‘interconnected network”.

Another section which was covered was the help and support command. This allows individuals to see how many networks a computer has to go through to get to a particular website. This is achieved by typing the addresss into the command server, and then pressing enter. The computer shows the results.

This information taught to us relates to education as teachers in these current days should have at least a sound knowledge on computers. By typing in addresses, one is able to identify if the networks are working, and which computers are communicating in order to download a website. This lesson was the beginning of the ICT theory, and will follow on next week.