Project #8 

As a future teacher, this course was extremely beneficial for teaching with computers in Elementary and Secondary schools. Technology has become a major material object of the human race. It serves for many useful purposes and has recently become evident in the classroom setting. It has affected society in many ways and thereby, this course serves as a mile stepping stone to my future teaching profession.

When I first walked into this classroom, I was a bit apprehensive about working with computers. I always liked technology but I was never resourceful using it. There are so many required websites, knowledge of tools and techniques needed to use a computer that I did not know about. I was afraid I might fall behind or not pick up the skills required. However, as time progressed my fears had vanished and later turned into excitement. I now love working with computers and I have thankfully met the requirements asked. I also learned many useful skills that I can eventually carry over into my classroom that I would have never known if I had not stepped outside my boundaries and engaged in learning.

A few of the new skills I had learned was uploading websites, publishing websites and linking them to my home page that I created. I always thought it was amazing how many different websites there are on the internet and always questioned how they were published.  When we first started learning how to publish links using Nvu and filezilla, I was overwhelmed. There are so many mistakes one could make while uploading a link. You need to have the appropriate links in the correct files, need to make sure the pictures are in the correct files, etc… It was a lot of information but after practice and hard work, it became more familiar to me.

The more familiar I became with computers, the easier it was to create the assigned projects. Each project entailed different techniques we had learned throughout the semester. We used many different programs and websites. Microsoft Word, Microsoft Publisher, Word Art, Photo Story, Google Sites, etc… were some of the valuable programs that were used to carry out our tasks.  I had always known about these sites but I was never fluent in using them. Thereby, the information acquired was resourceful and I will forever be grateful for this knowledge I have gained.

Using the skills I now have with computers, I can enhance my future teaching in the classroom setting. I feel it is extremely influential to teach students about computers because they are fun, interactive and informative. Students are always using computers at home or outside the classroom, so why not put this information to good use. If a teacher can guide students to use these skills with computers inside the classroom and help carry out projects and assignments, why not take advantage. I think assigning projects on the computer is a good way for students to gain knowledge of information using different teaching styles or techniques.

Overall, this course has had a major impact in my future teaching career. I have learned valuable information that I will be able to pursue in my future profession. I now love working with computers and will remain forever grateful to my heightened sense of technology I acquired from this technology based course.