School Days, School Days... #1

When I was in Kindergarten, I remember being so excited to go to the library, because we were able to get onto the computers and explore. There were a number of educational programs and games that allowed us to become more acquainted with the computer. We were allowed to express our creativity by being able to print the paint drawings we created or the color pages we made using Crayola. We also learned how to type correctly with a program that was really fun and interactive. It was something myself, as well as the rest of my 5K class looked forward to every week. Revisiting my childhood school memories, I began to realize how important the computers were to our curriculum...and that was 12 years ago. Now, it seems, computers are even more integrated into the classroom. Using computers allowed us to explore the World Wide Web to do research and collect information that could never have been possible to find in our small library. We were able to create creative projects that allowed us to express ourselves in a neat and scholarly way.

Computers and modern software are very important, in my opinion, to modern day curriculum. There are so many more opportunities that will allow students to think and explore outside the "box". The Internet and search engines allows students to participate in research that would otherwise overwhelm students. Students can also explore resources to find other resources. Once the students have obtained the information needed, they can then display the information using programs such as Microsoft Word, Power Point, Inspiration, Excel, and the list continues.

While the technology and resources are for the students, my only concern is that they will take advantage of their time using the computers. Email is fine, as long as it is appropriate and educational, and should only be accessed during free time. Also, the Internet is full of inappropriate sites. Even with software that prohibits access to these sites, it is still possible to get on them. In high school, it was an endless quest to access Facebook. There are so many proxy sites. Even with these issues in mind, computer use in the classroom is still important to the curriculum, as well as, preparing students for life after school.

Referring back to my endless "school days" memories, I recall many teachers not knowing how to use the computers effectively. For the us, as the students, it was difficult to figure out programs because the teachers knew just about as much as we did. In this class, I hope to learn enough about computers where I can be the one teaching the students, not vise versa. I hope to complete this course with a new found knowledge for programs that I previously shied away from. Interesting tricks and short cuts will help me to be able to teach my class more efficiently in the future. In addition, I would simply like to become more aware of the programs on my computer.

If you have any suggestions for me or opinions about my blogs, please do not hesitate to post them. I will be sure to answer back as quickly as possible.

Thanks, Ariel.