Week # 4

This week we used Microsoft word to create a welcome letter as a pod. This tool has obvious ways in which it will help me to communicate with my student, their parents and my colleagues. I will be able to create handouts, letters, announcements, etc and send them out. I will also be able to create things like lesson plans and send digital files to other instructors in my grade level so they can use it for ideas if they would like. Word is an extremely useful word processing software program that I have been using since for school since I can remember. This tool can be used by students to type up assignments, and I can use it to type up the instructions to their assignments. The uses of Word are unlimited as long as you know how to use the program, and since I have been using it since I was very young I know a lot of these ways and I am constantly learning more.

I have really enjoyed watching the videos that have been presented to us in this class. It is amazing to see how much time they say an average 21 year old spends using technology like the computer or television. It is hard to imagine what they world will be like even 10 years from now with the huge explosion of technology. It wasn't even years ago that the first ipod was introduced, and look how much that has changed! They are now mini computers that you can control by touching the screen! Even DVD's and movies are changing. I remember back when it was DVD and VHS, now it's DVD and Blue Ray. With all of these changes and advances it shouldn't be surprising that teachers are now being expected to teach students how to use technology. It really is hard to believe all the advances that are being made in the world, and teachers especially should be paying attention to, and learning about the advances because they will need to show students how to use many of them.

Another part of the video that I thought was interesting were the facts presented on college students in the US, India and China. It doesn't surprise me at all that the United Stats had a lower number because students here are not taught to work hard and many of them never choose to attend college. We are not required to learn another language although it should be an obvious decision with the changing world we live in. Teachers today need to do their best to instill in students a passion for learning, and an ability to work hard or students will continue to fall behind.

The second video this week was one I really liked. It showed what the life of a typical college student was like now days, and they hit the nail on the head. It is very confusing to me that a lot of instructors are not using the technology that is available to teach. Hundreds of students bring laptops to class, and instructors should strive to find ways to engage these students. I believe that most students have access to a computer and would rather learn by using it then by listening to a lecture.