listenup

This class has been quite an eye-opener for me on how little I know about the “web world”. I must say though by taking this class on-line versus in-class I learned over and over again how to do many things I may have just had help with if I could have asked an instructor. One area I found to be most helpful is learning to communicate on-line. I have never enjoyed writing I would much perfer to talk live. This class has made me participate in classroom discussions I most likely would not have. I am not hundred percent sure I would take an on-line class where I was not comfortable with the material I was going to learn. I find that I spend quite a bit of time searching for information and then I still have to put it all together. I believe this class takes me as much time on-line as it would have in class, probably longer because I do not have a total grasp of the computer as of yet. I definately feel this type of learning is only going to improve my skills as an educator for both my students and myself.

How do we decide what is most important when trying to teach children software applications? I would have to say the most important software that young children should be taught is word processing. These programs most likely will be used daily in the life of a student. But, to say that this is the number one program to be taught is unfair to many students who are mathematically inclined. But by the fact that we must list them in order of importance I guess I will have to say what programs I find most useful. That would mean under no circumstances would excel ever make my list.
Second on my list would definitely be power point. This program may be used in many different classroom settings from social studies to theater. Presentations in schools are a must for all students these days. Children in grades as early as 2nd are working on group activities. Power point can help students become much more organized in the presentation of their materials.
Okay, I am backing off on my early statement about excel. I think this program should be taught to students, but because it is more difficult to teach and learn I believe it should not be taught until children have a pretty good grasp of mathematics. So, perhaps we are looking more towards middle school students.
Although I am not to familiar with imaging software or video editing I believe that most students love to work with cameras and anything that can make their presentations unique will be important to them. These programs I believe will become a necessity in the future and most children will enjoy working with them once they have a understanding of basic software programs