I can honestly say that this course and this program apply to my world in many different ways. The main way is in my teaching. This course, has already taught me so many different things about computers and how they operate. What I'm learning, I can take to the classroom and educate my students. I find it very cool learning how the inside of the computer is working and showing that to my students can keep them more engaged.
I also feel that knowing what I'm working with on a daily basis will make my life easier. Obviously I know how my computers work, but only the software part, not necessarily the hardware. This course has and will provide me with so much knowledge on the hardware I deal with on a daily basis. With that, I'm hoping that I will learn enough to maybe be have to troubleshoot on my own more and not have to wait for someone to get to it for me.
Like I've mentioned before, my school is a 1:1 school, so learning about different operating systems and free software really can help me to expand the vision of our 1:1 program.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Computer History for Allie Zusan
It's funny that our post is about our computer history. Earlier this week, I was telling my students about our very first family computer. It was 1995 and my dad finally broke down and bought a computer after a LONG time of convincing. The computer was a Gateway, I can't remember what model, but I do remember it was white, with a VERY large monitor. After we got the computer, all I wanted to do was play "Where In The World Is Carmen San Diego." A few years after we got the computer, my parents decided to get the Internet. Due to the fact that we lived in the country, all we could get was dial-up. I thought it was so cool listening to the dial tone as the computer tried to connect to the Internet. A neighbor came over and taught us how to navigate and even set me up with my own e-mail account.
We had the Gateway for a long time. My dad decided to get a Dell when the Gateway just wouldn't run anymore. When I went away to college, I convinced my parents to get something better than dial-up. It still wasn't DSL, but it was MUCH better than dial-up. For college I got a Dell myself, that my grandma bought me as a graduation present. I LOVED that computer. It wasn't until my sophomore year that I decided to get a Compaq laptop. At the time, I was a nanny and it was easier for my to bring my laptop with me to work on homework, than to constantly be switching between flash drives.
Last year, after my Compaq stopped charging the battery and would barely connect to the Internet, I got an HP Laptop. It definitely it was my favorite computer that I've ever owned.
Besides having personal computers, I'm a Business Education teacher, so I use computers ALL DAY long and teach others how to use them. My lab is a PC lab, but our school uses all Mac's. It has taken me some time, but I'm definitely getting used to the Mac. I still prefer to teach from the PC, but the Mac is growing on me for personal use.
We had the Gateway for a long time. My dad decided to get a Dell when the Gateway just wouldn't run anymore. When I went away to college, I convinced my parents to get something better than dial-up. It still wasn't DSL, but it was MUCH better than dial-up. For college I got a Dell myself, that my grandma bought me as a graduation present. I LOVED that computer. It wasn't until my sophomore year that I decided to get a Compaq laptop. At the time, I was a nanny and it was easier for my to bring my laptop with me to work on homework, than to constantly be switching between flash drives.
Last year, after my Compaq stopped charging the battery and would barely connect to the Internet, I got an HP Laptop. It definitely it was my favorite computer that I've ever owned.
Besides having personal computers, I'm a Business Education teacher, so I use computers ALL DAY long and teach others how to use them. My lab is a PC lab, but our school uses all Mac's. It has taken me some time, but I'm definitely getting used to the Mac. I still prefer to teach from the PC, but the Mac is growing on me for personal use.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Online Storage?? Social Bookmarking??? Who would've thought!
Before this class started I never knew that online storage and social bookmarking existed! I sure wish I would've known these things in college...would've saved me a lot of time!
Online storage is something that I find very useful. I'm still getting used to it, but I can definitely see myself using this in the classroom. I have the students do a few assignments about themselves and I also run a digital scrapbooking club. If I introduced my students to online storage, it would alleviate students not being able to bring in pictures from home because they forgot or didn't have a flash drive. If they saved the pictures to their online storage, they could access them at school and be able to participate in the project. In the past, students that haven't been able to bring in photos, have just found clip art photos or used celebrities as their family members.
Personally, I plan on using online storage for keeping files that I use on multiple computers. It will be way easier than e-mailing back and forth or always needing a flash drive handy!
I'm still playing around with social bookmarking, but find it interesting. It's great that I can save all my bookmarks and access them on any computer. I'm not sure that I would necessarily use this in my teaching because each student's internet history is cleared each time they log off, but again, I could see myself using this if I were working on something at home and needed to showcase at work.
It's so exciting that we're learning about all these technologies! I can't wait to put them to good use and explore what else they have to offer me!
Online storage is something that I find very useful. I'm still getting used to it, but I can definitely see myself using this in the classroom. I have the students do a few assignments about themselves and I also run a digital scrapbooking club. If I introduced my students to online storage, it would alleviate students not being able to bring in pictures from home because they forgot or didn't have a flash drive. If they saved the pictures to their online storage, they could access them at school and be able to participate in the project. In the past, students that haven't been able to bring in photos, have just found clip art photos or used celebrities as their family members.
Personally, I plan on using online storage for keeping files that I use on multiple computers. It will be way easier than e-mailing back and forth or always needing a flash drive handy!
I'm still playing around with social bookmarking, but find it interesting. It's great that I can save all my bookmarks and access them on any computer. I'm not sure that I would necessarily use this in my teaching because each student's internet history is cleared each time they log off, but again, I could see myself using this if I were working on something at home and needed to showcase at work.
It's so exciting that we're learning about all these technologies! I can't wait to put them to good use and explore what else they have to offer me!
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