Information Galore!

Looking at the standards I can see where the open source material could connect to Standard 3 in the management of the schools. In a time where money seems to be at a low but the need for technology at a high it seems that being able to cut down on the site license cost might be nice. I did like the idea of sharing it with parents who might not have the access or money to spend on the Microsoft version so that the students have the opportunity at home to complete some of the work.

I think that the podcast is a neat way for students to get to share their ideas and what they have learned. I do fear that if things are done too much with movie maker, podcast, or powerpoint that students lose the ability to write effectively. Over the years I have seen a decrease in the quality of student writing since thay use different language when texting and instant messaging each other. I think that there needs to be a good balance between everything.

I think that the conditional formatting with excel was interesting. I use excel a lot and have just highlighted to change things color but this will save a lot of time. I think this connected to both standards 1 and 3. Access would be the same but since it is not a program that all computers most likely have I think that it is more specific to the school or job on whether it can be used.

In looking at Standard 4 I think the Wiki or blog would connect to this. I am not totally sure though how to really use a blog as an administer and in the past I have not always find the Wiki's to be user friendly. I think that a lot of the communication takes place either through emails or even postings on the district web page. But it has to be kept in mind that their are parents and families that do not have internet access who still need the same information.

It was interesting because on the news this morning there was a segment that talked about how technology could be contributing to memory loss. Since people rely on technology holding all their information, their minds do not work as hard at remembering things and begins their ability to remember things on their own begins to slip. I thought it was interesting as we are working on finding more ways to incorporate technology into the classroom.