Thoughtful Thoughts about the Big 3

11-15-10 blog Chapter 4.
Blake Stanger
EDCI 320 & 321
Dr. Nick Lux

I was well aware of the uses of word processing software, but I wasn’t cognizant of the fact that it is the most widely used and influential software used in teaching. I understood the ideas about teaching styles and the benefits of word processing software, but the chapter served to crystalize my ideas and put them into a easy to understand sources. I also learned that student decline in handwriting is not proven to be linked to keyboarding, but its my experience that this is true.

I use spreadsheets all the time in my accounting classes ( I’m studying for an accounting minor) but I had no idea that they were used in teaching. Now that I had that idea dropped on me I spent a half hour looking at my spreadsheet program trying to think of ways that I could use it in the class room. I liked how the book put it “it is a system for organizing numbers, just like a word processor is a system for organizing words.”

Data bases are the combination of word processors and spreadsheets. I think my favorite use of databases is the comparison of information in the database. This combination of learning and comparing leads to higher order thinking. Databases have a negative quality though in my opinion. There is no replacement for primary source material. Thought more time consuming it is great for students to understand the process of research and how to acquire knowledge. If there is no database, and students don’t know how to find primary sources, where will they go for understanding and information?

I have advocated the use of word processing since I was in the seventh grade. I have always been a much better typist than a hand writer. I will do everything I can to make sure students have the time, tools and proficiency to use a word processor. A student comfortable with a word processor is much better armed for many professions in life.

Having spread sheet software at my disposal will be so much more convenient for making sign up sheets, grade books, attendance logs, parent teacher conference sheets, pot luck sign ups and a million other things. I will use spreadsheet extensively for the logistical side of my class.

What is the percentage of mac to windows computers in most schools?

Best-

Blake