This week I realized that I abhor starting a new school...especially when I have already graduated once and am now in this wierd limbo. I know noone, I don't know where anything is, I don't know the professors I don't know anything and that actually scares me. I feel like a freshman again, but worse. Aside from that, classes are actually interesting and it could be a good semester.
Evaluation of reading:
1. A teacher should able to send and receive e-mail and send attachments
Outlook Express in the Classroom, from Microsoft (very good): http://www.actden.com/oe
I enjoyed this site because it has both a teachers as well as a students point of view. The language is comical in places and uses the theme of aliens to grab the students attention. It's also a plus that there is a teacher's guide for using the website. I can see this being helpful in the classroom not only because it's something that the students could relate to and learn from but also because I'm not fully knowledable in the ways of Outlook and this program would help me teach it coherently.
3. A teacher should be comfortable with and be able to use Word Processing software on a regular basis.
Word Processing Tutorials for Word from the Educational Technology Center at Malaspina University: http://web.mala.bc.ca/etc/resourc/students/wordproc.htm
On this site there were actually a variety of links to access. This made it especially useful because from one place you could find many different solutions. I would see using this site in an upper level classroom (though by then I suppose most students should know most of this stuff) or just for own personal information to keep up with changes.
4. A teacher should be comfortable with and be able to use Spreadsheet software on a regular basis.
Software Tutorials, by ClassZone:
http://www.classzone.com/fun/tutorial/software.htm
This is another site where it is helpful to have many tutorials in the same place; your one stop shop for learning various kinds of technology. I think for this course it will be useful to do an update on technology that I may not have used for a while or may not have had much experience with. Tutorials like these, as others well, will help with new technologies I may encounter as well.
5. A teacher should be comfortable and be able to use Presentation software (PowerPoint and HyperStudio) on a regular basis.
HyperStudio Online Tutorial and Resources, by Building Learning with Technology
http://www.education.umd.edu/blt/hyper.html
This idea behind this site would have proved to be useful as I haven't been exposed to Hyperstudio in years. (if what I remember as being Hyperstudio actually was.) However, the site could have been put together a little better as the information was actually quite limited. The screenshots were a good addition to the tutorial, but the fact that they wanted you to have a copy of the manual with you seemed little asinine as it may actually be more useful for the reader to have all the information on screen at the same time.
6. A teacher should be able to understand the Windows Operating System for PCs or the OS Operating System for Macs. A teacher should be familiar with both the PC and the Mac.
A Beginner’s Guide to the Mac (These tips are shown using OS 8.6 and 9. Most will work with OS 8.1 and above): http://www.macoptions.com/os85
I only explored about the half the sections of the link but already it has proven to be a help. I have very little experience with using a Mac and any extra piece of information that I could gather will prove to be helpful. In the classroom, it would be useful in order to expose students to all kinds of operating systems. Most schools will have mainly PC or Mac, so helping them become used to both will help them be able to adapt.
