Saturday, March 31, 2007
Usage?
I think it is amazing how litte most of us use computers during the school day in middle and high schools. The only time I used computers was in computer class or when teacher's had a big assgnment and took us to the computer lab for a class period or 2. At home, I used my computer a lot for research and such but during the actual school day there was no usage at all. Besides the teacher's computer, most middle and high school classrooms I have observed do not even have any extra computers and the computer labs were not used very often. I persoanlly had a lot of free time when finishing work early during class and could have benefited from using supplements on a computer during this free time instead of sitting there and gossping with others around me.
Academy for Technology Excellence
NEWS-PRESS ARTICLE
Dunbar High School has a program that allows students to earn up to 13 different certificates from software companies including Microsoft. The $3.3 million dollar grant is shared with two other schools and is used to infuse technology into the classroom by purchasing hardware and software to be used in the classroom. The grant is due to run out in July but committee members are not upset because it gave them a great way to get the technology into the classroom and now they are looking for other ways to fund their programs.
When I was in middle school and high school, schools like Dunbar were known for not being grade A schools so I think bringing programs like this into areas that can really benefit from it is great. Without programs and funding like this, schools may not have been able to get their student grades up and get their students motivated. I really hope they get some of the businesses that have benefited from these students to help with some of the funding to keep their program running.
Dunbar High School has a program that allows students to earn up to 13 different certificates from software companies including Microsoft. The $3.3 million dollar grant is shared with two other schools and is used to infuse technology into the classroom by purchasing hardware and software to be used in the classroom. The grant is due to run out in July but committee members are not upset because it gave them a great way to get the technology into the classroom and now they are looking for other ways to fund their programs.
When I was in middle school and high school, schools like Dunbar were known for not being grade A schools so I think bringing programs like this into areas that can really benefit from it is great. Without programs and funding like this, schools may not have been able to get their student grades up and get their students motivated. I really hope they get some of the businesses that have benefited from these students to help with some of the funding to keep their program running.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
My Project
After my mom began her own small business she asked me to do the recording and bookeeping for her. After taking a computer class in high school I became familiar with Microsoft's Excel and decided to use that for my recording. After setting up a new sheet for each of her clients I had to add all the categories I needed and imput all the formulas to make everything run smoothly.
Excel has taught me a lot of organization skills along with how to input numbers and formulas and I have been able to use it when putting together information for my classes throughout the rest of high school and now college. When others are drawing out graphs and data, I can easily input it and have the program make the graph for me. It also helps me with other Microsoft programs because many of them have similar characteristics and formatting techniques.
The challenges in doing this for my mom was making sure I didn't change or lose any of her information when using trial and error to figure things out. I also had to be careful that I linked the formulas and other information to the right boxes so that if I changed one thing it didn't change others. To avoid these problems I first had to make hard copies of all the information so that if something was wrong in the end I could go back and fix it or start over again. I learned that I like to figure things out by myself when doing this project and also that I enjoy working with formulas and numbers. Knowing that I enjoyed this kind of work made me rethink what I wanted to do with my college major and possible career.
Excel has taught me a lot of organization skills along with how to input numbers and formulas and I have been able to use it when putting together information for my classes throughout the rest of high school and now college. When others are drawing out graphs and data, I can easily input it and have the program make the graph for me. It also helps me with other Microsoft programs because many of them have similar characteristics and formatting techniques.
The challenges in doing this for my mom was making sure I didn't change or lose any of her information when using trial and error to figure things out. I also had to be careful that I linked the formulas and other information to the right boxes so that if I changed one thing it didn't change others. To avoid these problems I first had to make hard copies of all the information so that if something was wrong in the end I could go back and fix it or start over again. I learned that I like to figure things out by myself when doing this project and also that I enjoy working with formulas and numbers. Knowing that I enjoyed this kind of work made me rethink what I wanted to do with my college major and possible career.
Examples of Integration
Ways To Integrate Technology Into Math
In the article I posted a link to above the author gives a few different lessons in integrating technology into math lessons. The lessons can be tweaked to be made appropriate for higher or lower grades. I like that the author gives examples of software and websites to use with the lessons he provides. The author uses everyday items such as Dixie cups in his lessons and does not give step by step directions leaving room for the teacher to add their own personal touches to the assignments.
I chose this article because it shows different ways to use technology with math along with a couple other subjects. When it comes to technology and math not many teachers use it and I believe it is because they do not have enough information on it. This article gives examples and might spark some of people's own ideas for integrating the technology. This article responds to my thoughts on different ways to integrate technology into math in the classroom.
In the article I posted a link to above the author gives a few different lessons in integrating technology into math lessons. The lessons can be tweaked to be made appropriate for higher or lower grades. I like that the author gives examples of software and websites to use with the lessons he provides. The author uses everyday items such as Dixie cups in his lessons and does not give step by step directions leaving room for the teacher to add their own personal touches to the assignments.
I chose this article because it shows different ways to use technology with math along with a couple other subjects. When it comes to technology and math not many teachers use it and I believe it is because they do not have enough information on it. This article gives examples and might spark some of people's own ideas for integrating the technology. This article responds to my thoughts on different ways to integrate technology into math in the classroom.
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