Journal # 9 Collaberative Documents

Web 2.0 Review

I chose the Collaborative Documents tool. I chose this tool because I have been obsessed with it ever since professor told us about it. I suggested it to other classmates who are working on group projects, and to my project partner as well. This tool allows people to work on projects with people without even having to meet up. Google docs is the favorite in the blogs I read on web 2.0. To use Google docs the only thing a person needs is a Gmail account, and it free. You can create fact sheets, outlines, tables, add images, make corrections to the other persons work, change fount, color or size, and again it is FREE. Students can collaborate on a project together, teachers can work on lesson plans together, students and teachers can communicate, it is awesome.

I personally love this tool because it is very hard for me to meet up with other students, seeing that I live in Temecula and most everyone else lives in San Marcos or vista area. This tool has benefited me tremendously. There were a few bloggers that ran into problems finding a collaborative document site that would work in their District. This is because of the Internet protections but there are quite a few, and usually if you submit the site to IMS (the computer tech crew) and tell them what you are using it for they will approve it. Some of the sites mentioned were Facebook, ABAtechblog, Whiteboard, and KMWord, but Google Docs was most defiantly the the big hit.

When I become a teacher I will use this in my classroom to have students work on group projects with other classes, or have a sister school either in the same town or across the country. This is a wonderful tool that allows people to collaborate many different types of documents in any location, as long as they have Internet access.

Journal # 8 iMovie & Inspiration 8 Review

My iMovie Software Review:


I thought this was such a fun assignment. I am a bit of a perfectionist so it took me longer than it should have. I had used windows movie maker so I was familiar with the process. I think that iMovie has more options and is more user friendly than windows movie maker for sure. I believe that students would enjoy creating their own movie. It gives you a sense of accomplishment to know that you actually put it together piece by piece and it looks good. It was very helpful and less time consuming to have all the clips and music already downloaded. This is not a difficult stem, so students can do it, but in a time crunch it helps when the teacher sets it up for them.

This could be something that the class worked on as a group or in pairs. I will be teaching High School Special Education mainstreaming them so that they can work together with another class would not only benefit my students, but the other students as well. It can be a movie on any number of things. I believe I would have them create a movie about team work. This would be a fun experience, and can be done on campus. My students could do any number of movies on their own though. They could do a Biology iMovie on different plants and animals in different habitats. They could do an iMovie called a day in my shoes, showing other students how they spend their day. This is a grate piece of software that I would love to have available for my students.

I think that the visual tutorial is key. This particular software has many different abilities and you want to know about them all, how to use them and access them. With the video tutorials this is easily done in a step by step process. The user can choose what they want to learn first and start the project and continue on watching, listening, creating and learning all at the same time. I love the Atomic Learning site, and would love to have a subscription when I become a teacher, to not only benefit my students, but to keep me updated and ready to implement technology into my class.

Inspiration 8

This is my Inspiration 8 creation. I decided to create a Homework to do list for the week. This would benefit any student no matter what grade.
I am teaching High School Special Education students, so creating a fun visual chart to help them remember their homework would help them tremendously.
Not only do they get to see what they need to do and when it is due, they get to have fun creating the chart, which in turn is helping them get excited about their assignments.
They can print it out or just save it in a file and continue checking it. If they save it they can also add on another link to each assignment and create an image for their grade.
Awesome software!

My Inspiration8 Software Review:

I loved this program. I thought it was very user friendly. I watched a few of the tutorials, but the computer I was working on didn't have sound at the time, so I just navigated it on my own. It was not difficult to use at all, that is good for me, and anyone else that has a computer deficiency. I created my project from scratch, and had no problems. Later I was given headphones to listen to the tutorials but I had almost finished by then. I believe that I will watch a few more tutorials to further my education with this program so that I can learn all the tricks and cool features it contains.

There are so many different ways to incorporate this software into my classroom. I would love to have them create a weekly Homework chart, like I did, so that they can see what needs to be done and when it is due, they get to have fun creating the chart, which in turn is helping them get excited about their assignments and teaching how to use a great program. They can also use it to brainstorm for papers and move the brainstorm into the outline stage to create their paper. This software will be very beneficial to my special education students because most of them are visual learners and this program helps them create a visual look at what needs to be done, written or whatever.

I personally love the Atomic Learning site because I need that kind of help. I thought it was so wonderful to find all of these different software programs on there. It is very important for me to be able to watch, listen and learn. This is a fantastic site because I can go on and look up any of the software I have and find out how to actually use it. I have a tendency to learn the basics, and thats it. With Atomic Learning I can actually see what my software has to offer and what I as a user can do with it. Each little step by step program gives the learner just enough information, not an overwhelming amount to learn. I will definitely continue to use this site or any other site that offers video tutorials as a learning tool.

About Me

I have never worked in a blog before so this has been an interesting experience for me. I have made several attempts to make it look the way I want, and get my information out for everyone to view. I am hoping this is the winner.

Anyway here is a bit about me:
My name is Brooke Langley, soon to be Brooke Hart. I am 28 years old and currently live in Temecula, moving to Vista area in August. I just got engaged 3/22, at dinner just after this class, it was an awesome surprise :)
I have lived in Temecula for 21years. I went to Rancho Elementary School (starting in 3rd grade), Margarita Middle School and then Temecula Valley High School. I have seen the city grow tremendously, to me it is sad. I work Full time for the Temecula Valley School District, and go to school full time at CSUSM. My goal is to become a High School Special Education teacher for any district that needs me and won't pink slip me the following year!


So lets see my technology experience. I am a computer problem (it is never the computers fault it is always mine!) I took a Computer science class and learned all about Word2007. I am use to Word 2003 so it was very different, it took me forever to find the new page, and save icons, they are under the office button in case you wanted to know. I need the computer every day for school, because of my online classes and my classes where the teacher implants webct6. I find that once I navigate my through the entire program I am good to go, but I know there are features I am not using because I don't know about them.
I also use the computer for work every day. It is pretty much the same think I use what I know how to but I know I am missing out on short cuts and awesome features because no one has ever taken the time to show me how to use the programs fully.
I also send personal e-mails to friends and family, I am trying to get my Grandma to buy a computer, but she says she isn't ready for the technology upgrade, she would be starting from the very beginning.

In reading the Mission Statement I think that "We are committed to educational equality" stands out to me most. I think this is awesome, because there are so many different types of students out there with different things going on in their personal life who depend on school being their constant. In some students lives school is the only place that they have access to any type of technology. This statement is extremely important to me because every child is an individual and learns in their own way and this to me demonstrates the understanding of all this.

In answering you question about implementing technology into the classroom, I am very excited. This will be a wonderful opportunity for students and teachers to learn and keep up with the constantly growing and ever changing technology world.