As a teacher, using software programs such as word
processing, spreadsheets, and presentations will be beneficial for both me and
my students because they improve productivity, appearance, and accuracy and
promote interaction and collaboration. However, an issue with the use of these
software programs is that many students need to learn 10-finger keyboarding and
many teachers feel the time spent teaching this to students would be better
spent on more important skills. Another issue with the use of software programs
is most programs have a built-in auto correction feature and sometimes the
software program selects a word as more correct which can lead to typos that
interfere with the intended meaning.
Word Processing Software
Word processing software saves time, enhances document appearance,
allows sharing of documents, and allows collaboration on documents. Word
processing offers high versatility and flexibility and allows a teacher to use
it to support any directed instruction or constructivist activity. Although
word processing has many great advantages, it has a few disadvantages such as
frequent use of it can lead to handwriting becoming less legible and less time
will be spent on developing fine-motor skills." Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. H. (2013). Integrating educational technology into teaching. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.
Spreadsheet Software
Spreadsheet software saves time, organizes displays of information,
supports “what if” questions, and increases motivation to work with mathematics. "Spreadsheets can be used in the classroom to keep budgets, grade-books, and
help teach mathematical topics. Spreadsheets, however, can be an issue for
students who fear mathematics and processing numbers. Teachers must take time
to allow students to become comfortable with using spreadsheets and realize it
can help them, rather than challenge their math ability." Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. H. (2013). Integrating educational technology into teaching. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.
Presentation Software
Presentation Software helps organize thinking about a topic,
enhance the impact of spoken information, and allow collaboration on
presentations. "Presentation software is most beneficial when made dynamic and
engaging to students. Although presentations can be great visuals, they can
cause people to focus more on the slides rather than the message. Sometimes when
presentations are used during lectures, students tend have a boring experience
and the whole purpose of the presentation is diminished." Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. H. (2013). Integrating educational technology into teaching. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.
Classroom Use - Presentation Software
Presentation software in the classroom can support teachers as they present information to their students. In the classroom I could use a presentation when teaching a lesson on the presidents of the United States. Through a presentation I would be able to add a photo of each president we discussed and add key facts about the president. I could also include links to provide more information, photos, documents, or speeches relating to a specific president.
This video demonstrates how presentation software in the classroom can be used. This teacher uses a presentation to teach a social studies lesson to her students. The presentation includes vocabulary and pictures. What I love most about the presentation is the slides either only have pictures, which allow her to further discuss, or they only have the definition of a vocabulary word, which allows the students to focus on just that. This presentation keeps this students engaged without overwhelming them with too many words or visuals.
I love your post. You included a lot of important information in it. Zeroing in on where you discussed presentation software, I have to take a minute to point out where you said that students can have a bad experience because of so much information being packed into each slide. According to Roblyer (2016), presentation software should be integrated into the classroom via the “presentation of information summaries” (p.131). This is a point some people tend to forget. Then even if the presenter has not forgotten this, the presenter might have a different belief of how much information is okay to put on a slide. Thus my question, what is a proper amount of information to put onto a slide for an elementary classroom? Obviously, we do not want to overwhelm the students with too much information on one slide, but we also do not want to loose them because we created too many slides, thus I wonder what the happy medium is.
ReplyDeleteRoblyer, M.D. (2016). Intergrating Educational Technology into Teaching (Seventh ed.). Upper Saddle River NJ: Pearson Education Inc.
I believe the happy medium is the key word(s) or point(s) of what is being presented. I would keep it very limited for the younger grades with few words and bullet points per slide. For the upper grades, still limited with no more than 5 bullet points and no more than around 5-7 per bullet point. I think we as teachers just need to take in consideration what is developmentally appropriate and go from there. We may not get it right on the first try, but with practice of presentations I believe we will be able to determine the happy medium.
DeleteWord processing can be beneficial in the classroom in many ways. Students will be more excited to work from allowing them to use processing software. I would like to know at what age a teacher should allow the student to use work processing and what length of time should a teacher allow the student on them. Another negative is when sharing documents, some devices are not compatible and can cause problems.
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