Resource Evaluation

Here are five tools that I use in my classroom for technology. I have included a link to each (where applicable) and have described their strengths and weaknesses. Try them out!!

Microsoft School Template -http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/release.asp?ReleaseID=11022&LangID=20&LangDIR=enus&OpSysID=9800&Search=Keywords&Value=education&Show=Alpha&Top=%20Microsoft%20Office%20Classroom%20Tools%202&Start=&Page=1

This is a FREE download from Microsoft that offers templates for everything that a teacher needs. The download takes little time and is very easy to install. It includes templates for the following Office programs: Word, Excel and PowerPoint. There are at least five templates available for each program. Included in the Word templates are a calendar wizard, disciplinary action form, medication authorization, and a field trip form. These forms are excellent and contain all the needed information. They can be filled out, saved as another name, and used over and over again. If a teacher doesn’t want to use a particular line in a form, that can also be deleted. In Excel, conversion tables, a grade book, graph paper and a substitute teacher form are all included. The conversion table provides conversion formulas for linear, area, liquid, dry, nautical, and temperature systems. For example, type in the temperature of fifty-three degrees Fahrenheit and the temperature in then converted to Celsius and Kelvin. The grade book is basic and does not allow for the weighting of scores. In PowerPoint, a teacher can find templates for a class welcome, seating chart and staff development. The seating chart allows for customization (desks, tables, circular), however it is very difficult to type in names over the objects. All in all, this package does over a basic starting point and would be very valuable for the first year teacher.

Repede John, Gary Sally and Thomas Cashman. Netscape Composer: Creating Web Pages. Cambridge, MA: International Thomason, 1998.

This is a textbook for students, that teaches Netscape Composer. It is much different from Netscape Help because this book provides step-by-step detailed instructions for creating web pages. It does advise the student to go to help, when they can’t find their answer in the book. The book is broken down into three sections or projects: Creating Web Pages with HTML and the Netscape Page Wizard, Creating Web Pages from Templates and Remote Documents and Creating and Publishing Custom Web Pages. I am planning to teach a web page design course and will probably teach two of the chapters because I will only see my students eight times. This textbook is more thorough than any that I have ever seen. Each project contains: A what you should know section, test questions, applying knowledge, assignments for the student to complete, and case studies that require the students to apply their knowledge to real-life situations. The graphics in the book are excellent and allow for the students to see the screen as theirs should look like. There are numerous dialog boxes in the book that allow for other ways to complete functions (Isn’t there always two ways to do a task?). Web addresses are also present for the students to look up further resources, such as an effective web page checklist. Currently, I see no limitations to this incredible book…check back with me when I use it in the classroom in eighteen weeks! For information about ordering this book go to http://www.scseries.com.

Search Engine – www.yahoo.com

I know that this seems like a very basic educational tool, however it is one that has been troubling me greatly and I am looking for an alternative. My students complete a social problem speech that is worked on for about two weeks. A big part of this speech relies on Internet research. Yahooligans seems to be very limited, especially when a group of students are researching a topic such as the debt or world hunger. So, I have been using Yahoo. The benefits of using Yahoo are that the web site is almost running all the time, it is dependable. The sources that it comes up with are plentiful and offer much information. However, the problem lies with the sources that are not appropriate for children. My students are not allowed to do their problem speech on drugs. Looking up drugs such as marijuana on the Internet leads to sites talking about growing drugs or doing drugs. With twenty students in a class, I cannot be performing we searches on every controversial subject. Where is the search engine that is kid-friendly and that has plentiful web sites?

News site – www.usatoday.com

When using the Internet, I teach my students the basic by performing an Internet quiz. The students seem to enjoy it and it teaches them that they might actually have to scroll down a page and read the information. USA Today is often seen as a “generic” newspaper. It covers the issues and provides an easy way to glimpse over the nation’s news. As a web site, it is incredible to work with for current events. I have found that other web sites like the NY Times requires user registration and CNN can difficult to load with more than 10 users in a room trying to log in to the site. USA Today provides the user with information about news, sports, money, life and weather. It offers special reports such as one on Y2K and even links to interesting sites such as a salary calculator. There are two drawbacks to the site. One is the advertisement. There are many advertisements and the students have a hard time deciding what is news and what is an advertisement. Also, the information can change rather quickly on this site and the test will have to be rewritten. But overall, this is an excellent source for presenting current events and navigating the web.

Smartboard – www.smarttech.com/education/

A Smartboard is a interactive whiteboard presentation platform that is being used in business and moving into the schools. It allows for all of your students to see a projection of the current computer screen on a whiteboard. This allows you to write notes on your applications, and you use your finger as a mouse. The features of this smartboard also allow for the uses of a LCD projector, VCR, digital camera, and a scanner. Once an application has been modified by note making, you may save and print those notes. Collaborating on electronic documents, sharing information and running multimedia presentations are helps perks of the smartboard. Currently, Smarttech is offering a thirty percent reduction in the total package price of $2,600. Its’ main thrust is that it turns the instructor’s computer into a group computer thus promoting an interactive teaching environment.

I feel that this can be done similarly on a thirty-two inch monitor, however it would be very flashy and the students would be interested in the interaction.