510 Blog 4

I am a person that is always willing to learn. I do not know a lot about computers and their parts so all of this info is new and useful to me. I don't know if I will ever use a lot of this information but that doesn't mean that it is useless. I will never build my own computer, nor will I probably ever do my own upgrades or major troubleshooting. I do find this information useful when it comes to buying a computer. As we begin to talk about computer components and how to build the perfect computer, understanding what certain parts do and how they work makes it easier to make an educated decision when buying. I understand RAM and memory pretty well, but in this class I have learned about things like motherboards, processors, and virus software. When we are done with this class, if I can discuss computer parts more intelligently and make good buying decisions then it is worth it. The only addition I might make to this class is a resource listing full of links and information on the topics we research just to make finding quality information a little easier.

510 WK 3 what would I lose?

My laptop and I have not been getting a long for about 3 months now. When we started this program, my laptop often decided not to boot up or would not turn on at all. That computer has all of my music and about 4 years worth of college and work related files. Most of that stuff I have backed up on an external hard drive, so I am okay if it decides to die. The computer I am using now works great but all of my work is web based so I do not have to worry about it. If my work computer at school died, I could have issues. I have done a lot of work on that computer in the last two years. At the end of the year I backed it all up on my external hard drive and all year this year I have been meaning to do it again. If it crashed over the weekend I would be lost. I have a ton of files on there right now that are not backed up. I have letters, curriculum, power points, and pictures all saved on that computer. I have been thinking that I need to have an external hard drive at school at all times so that I am more likely to back up on a regular basis. Online storage is also an option, but not one that I prefer. I like the external hard drive because I know right where all of my info is, but if we had a fire or if someone stole it I would again be out of luck. This weeks data recovery assignment really made me think about what I am going to do for my school computer. I am glad all of my course work to date is done online and I have really begun to love google docs. I will probably end up backing up again at the end of the year and kicking myself if anything happens again. This is one of those problems that is easy to fix if you can just get yourself to do it!

510 wk 2 microsoft desktop future

I think this is an interesting topic. This blog is going to end up being a lot like my response to triumph of the nerds. No one can tell where this industry will be in one year much less five or ten, but the one thing I do know is that it will be constantly changing. When you talk about PC's and desktop computers, I think we are already seeing the change with PDA's, Iphones, and blackberrys. These types of mobile devices are quickly replacing many forms of computers that we currently use. As for Microsoft, I don't believe that they will fall out of favor with the world becuase if nothing less they will be able to provide services to business for many years to come. But for the general public, I think software as we know it will change. In the future I think that cell phone companies will provide all of our internet service because we will want to be mobile and have access all the time. As this new technology (mobile access) develops that will give opportunities to other companies to come in and supply the customer with the software and operating systems that we need. The consumer will always be looking for something newer, better, faster, and easier. That type of demand will always provide customers for business like Microsoft and any others that want a piece of the pie.

510 week 1 my computer history!

If you want to get technical, my first computer was a Nintendo. haha! As far as a PC is concerned, our first was an apple 2E and then an apple GS (I think). I was about 6 at this time and the year was somewhere around 1987-89. The first thing I remember on those computers where the games. Oregon trail was a favorite at home and school. We also had army games like Howitzer and Parachute. Howitzer worked kind of like battle ship, you put in coordinates trying to blow up the other persons tank. Parachute was the game where little men parachuted out of the sky and you had to shoot them as they fell before they blew up your gun. These games were really simple, but at the time very entertaining. I refused to type or do anything constructive on the computer, at that age it was purely entertainment.

When I was in middle school (1996) we started to use the internet. I mainly learned to type so that I could instant message my friends, it was a big thing back then. During that time, many of our teachers began requiring typed reports and papers over hand written. I still could not type very well and I often paid my older sister to type everything for me! If you would have told me then twelve years ago that I would be using a computer for a good portion of my daily life I would have laughed at you. I never would have dreamed that I would become so dependant on a computer and the internet. Years ago I could have gone weeks or months without turning on a computer and now I rarely go more than a few hours. Boy how the times have changed!

Week 6

Well, we are all done with 515 and I feel pretty good about it. This class is called technology tools and I feel like that is exactly what we covered. We started with the graphics and presentation programs which for me was a bit of a slow start. I had no use for the graphics program, but I did find it fun to play with and thought it could be used on a free day or as a introductory activity. The presentation programs like Empressor however, I did find useful. I thought the slide design was useful and easy and I played with adding music and links which I thought was easier than using power point. Next we got into search engines and the Boolean techniques. I had never compared search engines before and I just used whatever came on my computer. I soon began to like foxfire a lot more than before and through the use of our Ning and the evaluations, I found some issues with Internet explorer. It was also nice to be reminded of Boolean techniques, because that is something that I had been taught years ago and forgot about. Week three got us further into google docs with spreadsheets and again I was pleasantly surprised. I have used Excel quite a bit and had also used some simple formulas. I was impressed with google docs again by the ease of use, access, and collaboration. Being able to share and access information from any computer hooked up to the web is a lot better than having years worth of spreadsheets backed up on one computer. The recipe formula also made me think about different and creative ways to use a spreadsheet that maybe I haven't done before. The most valuable and useful information for me was probably the software evaluation. I found that the software evaluation tool we used (Sun Prairie) was pretty much everything I would consider on my own and somethings that I never thought of. This was very useful to me because I have just begun to process of purchasing some new automotive software and I was able to evaluate it and share it with others to get a second opinion or two. This class was pertinent to what I am trying to do in my classroom, it opened me up to some new technologies and ideas, and even made me a little more open minded and creative with things I already use. I am looking forward to see how the next class will help me improve my teaching.

Week 5

This week I am really happy with what we are working on. The software evaluation was the most important thing we have done thus far. I reviewed a web-based software program for my automotive classes called Modern Automotive Technology Suite. This program allows for the instructor to teach from web-based power point presentations that include interactive learning modules and activities and assessment tools. This is really exciting for me because instead of creating all of these presentations and activities, all I have to do is log on to this website and deliver the information. The information is updated every six months instead of having a text book that is out dated by the time it hits the shelf. The presentations are better than anything that I have every created on my own and my students will love it. I use a similar program for my autobody classes and I have had great success with it. This is a perfect example of how I want to use technology in my classroom. I am so greatful that my district sends me to these conferences so that I can learn about great teaching tools like the Modern Automotive Technology Suite. This will increase student learning and interest as well as making my job easier and more fun!

Week 4

I used "In time" and found an aviation lesson that will work well for my middle school class next year. We actually have a flight simulator in one of our tech classrooms and the only thing it is used for right now is a toy. This lesson includes ideas like using the simulator to teach the parts of the plane during which I could also include minor physics and principles of flight. The students could also develop a flight plan and learn how to use flight controls. This type of lesson could be done in small groups or individually. I am excited to see that others still have simulators like this and actually make useful lessons out of them. During the preparation process for this class I will explore the flight simulator and its capabilities so that I can use it to its fullest extent. I can also incorperate other technology like computer and internet usage to have students do some research on different types of planes and aviation.