Collaborative Tools

Collaborative Tools are a useful device when working on something that multiple people need to provide imput at one time. Collaborative Tools such as GoogleDocs are resources on the Internet that allow multiple people to view and edit the same document at the same time. These are useful when doing group projects when students need to work together and each student needs to put in a certain amount of imput. You can view how much each user contributed very easily using GoogleDocs. Also, they can be axcessed using different computers so students can work when they're sitting right next to each other or when each of them is at there own home. Collaborative Tools make doing group work much easier to accomplish and also easier for a teacher to grade in terms of participation.

Engine vs. Directory

It is very common when doing research on the Internet to quick jump onto some sort of search device to help find what you're looking for. However, there are different types of search devices that may make your search easier or harder depending on what type of information you're looking for.

Search directories are subject indexes that are created by humans. People actually go out onto the web and choose which sites will appear when people search using that directory. This has both it's advantages and disadvantages. An advantage of this is that search directories tend to be more relevant. Because there are less hits, the hits that do come up are usually very good at matching the subject you searched for. Disadvantages of using search directories is that they are edited. Not every site that includes what you're searching for is going to come up on a search directory. Also, it is likely that you may come across dead links because the people that are editing the search directory cannot check to make sure that every site is in working order. You also have to remember when using a search directory that the hits may be slightly biased because it is edited. An example of a search directory is http://www.dir.yahoo.com .

Search engines are usually much more common than search directories. Search engines are created by spiders and crawlers that go out onto the web and find sites that match, in some way, shape, or form, the keywords that you are looking for. An advantage to using search engines is that you come across many more hits, which might be useful if you're looking for a lot of resources or what you're looking for isn't common. However, disadvantages to this are that the hits that do pop up may be less relevant to your topic. The sites that you find may be useful to you or they may not be. Also, the rankings of the hits on the search engine may be biased. For instance, ranking can be influenced by the payment of a company (for instance, if they pay, their site may come first), the popularity or number of clicks a specific site has, what they software finding the sites believes to be the most relevant, and the location of the key words (if they all come together or are separated). Search engines also allow misspellings, find variations on what you were originally searching for, and find similar words and phrases. All these may be advantages or disadvantages depending on what you're searching for. An extremely common search engine used today is http://www.google.com .

When searching for something on the web, make sure to pick the search tool that is right for the type of research you are doing.

Gradebooks in Microsoft Excel

Since many of us in this EdTech class are going to be educators, many of us will have to have a gradebook of some nature to keep track of the progress of our students. Microsoft Excel has many useful functions to help teachers keep track of grades. In Microsoft Excel, you have the ability to type both text and numerals into cells so it's very easy to keep track of various types of information. Excel also gives you the opportunity to have multiple worksheets in one workbook so you are able to stay organized with your information. Excel has some very useful tools to make keeping grades very simple. You have the ability to add the numerals in columns and rows using the Autosum function. There is also an Average function to calculate the mean of a row or column. By using the VLookup tool, you can have the computer actually input the grade that each student gets if you set up a small chart that contains the percentages for and A, B, C, and so on. Microsoft Excel is a source that you can use to keep track of grades for individual students and also calculate totals and averages without wasting too much valuable time.

Powerpoint 2007

So after doing our assignment for this week's EdTech class, I've come to realize that Powerpoint 2007 is much different from the previous versions of Powerpoint that I have used in the past for various reasons. I'm not sure which one I like better at the moment, but I'm sure as I use the 2007 version more often and I adjust to it, I will like it more and more. The biggest thing I do not like about the new version of Powerpoint is how there is no toolbar across the top with File, Edit, and such. Instead, everything is placed under different headings then before in a different type of menu across the top of the page. However, Powerpoint 2007 does have some very interesting new tools that make it easier to use and make your slideshows more exciting. First, there are less templates for types of slides but a few of them you can use for multiple purposes. On the old version of Powerpoint, there was a different option for a textbox and a chart and for a textbox and a picture. In Powerpoint 2007, there is only one option and then you are able to choose what to use the second box for. This makes the options seem much less overwhelming. Plus with the edition of new animations and templates, Powerpoint 2007 is much more "snazzy" then the previous versions. As it is with anything new, it will take some getting used to but it is definitely a well-made program!

Current Events

Since this post is focused on Current Events, I just wanted to say first that in recent news, the University of Delaware beat rival James Madison on Saturday 37-34!!!

Alright, now on to the actual post.

When I started researching ideas that would be good to put on the class Wiki, I started brainstorming some of the activities that I did in elementary school that I could remember. One of the things that stood out clearly in my mind was current events. Each of my teachers during elementary school had us do current events in one form or another, whether it was a homework assignment, a classroom activity, or for extra credit. As I thought back on my experiences, I was actually able to remember some of the events that I researched for class.

Current events are a great way to make students become aware of what is going on in the world around them. There are a great variety of topics that students can do current events on, so many students will probably be able to find a topic that interests them personally. Also, there are many ways that a student is able to research and find the information that they'll include in their current event. They can obtain information by watching the news, reading the newspaper, or even by finding information on the Internet. By doing current events, students are exposed not only to the news, but on ways to research. Teachers are able to show students, especially when they are using the Internet, what types of sources are reliable or not. Also, students may be forced to search for articles that they themselves are able to understand.

Current events can also improve the critical thinking skills of students. They have to analyze the information they've found before maybe writing a summary to be turned in or presenting it to the class. Students learn how to search for key words and concepts, and can also improve their vocabulary.

Current events are a very good way to expose children to what is occuring in the world, and also teach them techniques involving research and the Internet.