Out with the Old-- In with the New!

Google Docs is a new concept to me.  I had honestly never heard of it until Dr. Krug mentioned it in class.  The general idea of Google Docs is similar to Microsoft Word; only its free and everything is stored online instead of holding up space on your hard drive.  I looked into starting a new document.  I figured since I was green with Google Docs I would start at the beginning.  Creating a document was extremely similar to creating a new Word document.  You would go to "File- New" and then type directly into the blank page that opens up.  Saving your new document was similar to Word as well.  It was in the right hand corner under "File- Save As."  It automatically saves your document as the first few words from your document.  You do have the option of changing the name if you would like.  Another tool I discovered from Google Docs was the upload tool.  To upload a document from your hard drive, you would select the file and very easily select "Start Upload."  By uploading your file, you would then have the options of editing, sharing, copying or deleting your documents within Google Docs.  Deleting a file within Google Docs seemed similar to deleting an email.  You selected the little box to the left of the file you wanted to delete and then selected "Delete" from the header above.  Deletion of document in word does not work the same way.  Sharing files from Google Docs was a new idea to me.  It would make the editing of term papers or essays so simple.  The process of uploading a saved Word document into your email and waiting for the upload to be completed seems so long and drawn out now.  Sharing a Google Doc easily accessible.  You have the ability to allow 200 people to see a shared document and 50 to edit it.  You have the ability to limit the amount of people who can see your shared document or you can share it on the internet.

The Need for Speed!

Keyboarding has always been one of my favorite classes. I can remember sitting at my desk in class working my keyboard until I got every letter correct.  We started with the blinders over our hands so no one could see their keyboard and worked daily until we mastered our typing abilities.  Tonight, I got to relive the action. 

I looked at the website www.freeonlinetypinggames.com  Once on the site, I found three fantastic typing games that varied for expertise and speed.  The first game is called "Typing Passage."  This game gave basic directions before starting the game which included typing for correctness with finger position and letter choice.  It started with repetition of the same letter, followed by the rotation of two letters, and finally words.  Each round got a little harder with letter mixture and level of the word.  To win, the typist had to reach the 26 level and receive the high score.   

The second typing game I looked at was "Speed Typing."  This game would be for more advanced students who had already mastered their basic letters.  I was to type the word given correctly and was only allowed seven mistakes. With this game, if I missed the word I did not get a second chance to try it again. The 14 words given per round drastically got harder as the rounds continued.   

I could have played the games all night! I absolutely loved them, but for times sake, the final game I tested was "Falling Words."  Again, the goal of this game was correctness and speed.  I'm starting to think I have a need for speed. This game was lots of fun and very trying.  I had to type the words as they fell from the sky (or top of my screen) correctly before they hit the ground (the bottom of my screen,) which moved up with every word that hit it.  I was only given seven misses total. "Falling Words" gave the chance to retype the word I mistyped until it hit the ground and then it would be counted against me.  I believe as a student all three of these typing games were very educational and fun.  As a student, I would have loved the competition! 

MAC or PC? You decide.

Tonight, I was asked to tell about my history of computer use.  I started using a computer when I was elementary school age, we'll say 10 years old or so.  My family had the old school Apple computer with the truly floppy disk that could also double as a fan.  Not long after that, the Windows computer was brought into my elementary school. It had the game Oregon Trail which was a big hit! I have been a Windows girl ever since.  I do enjoy using the MAC computers, but just have not had much contact with them.  In college, there were always plenty of Windows computers and very few MAC computers, so Windows was easier although not always more efficient.

Through tonight's Atomic Learning lessons on the MAC, I have learned a few new and interesting things about the MAC computer.  First,  I always knew that on my Windows computer any open applications would appear at the bottom of my screen in blue with the beginning of name of the program.  With MAC, I was completely unsure of what was open, until my tutorial on open applications.  During this tutorial, it was explained that a small circle or dot below the open application would appear to show how many applications one currently had open at that time.  I also found it interesting that instead of having to go to the dock to switch inbetween programs, I could just push "control" with the arrows. Being able to do this makes working with multiple applications much more efficient.  What a great lesson for a beginner!

Blogs in the 21st Century

Today holds a first for me. My first blog! I viewed and read through many other educational blogs today in class and found one in particular to be very interesting. I enjoyed David Warlick's blog and its discussion on Finland's school systems. The differences between Finland and the United States' approach to educating our students are huge. We are in a system that believes in testing both our students and teachers time and time again; whereas Warlick's blog mentions that they rarely test either teachers or students. He also mentions that they have very little economic difference which he said showed higher levels of learning. I also enjoyed his blog about "Six Reasons Textbooks Should Stop Being Textbooks." I have seen quite a few classrooms who touched their books twice in a school-- when they handed them out in August and picked them back up in May. For the most part in those classrooms, the teachers use their access to technology to teach their content area instead of their textbooks.