Explain how you might apply the blogging tool to your classroom or future classroom?

According to (Richardson, 2010) there are ways to apply the blogging tool to the classroom setting. His ways are: Online Filing Cabinet Students' record of activities will be kept safe electronically.  Students post and therefore archive their work. This opens the door for peer-to-peer interaction online and collaborations too.

Class Portal

Class blogs can serve as a portal to foster a community of learners. As they are easy to create and update efficiently, they can be used to inform students of class requirements, post handouts, notices, and homework assignments, or act as a question and answer board.

E-Portfolio

Blogs present, organize, and protect student work as digital portfolios. As older entries are archived, developing skills and progress may be analyzed more conveniently. Additionally, as students realize their efforts will be published, they are typically more motivated to produce better writing. Teachers and peers may conference with a student individually on a developing work, and expert or peer mentoring advice can be easily kept for future reference.

Collaborative Space

Students can brainstorm on interesting topics together to become experts on a topic, and then share their knowledge with others. Blogs provide a space where teachers and students can work to further develop writing or other skills with the advantage of an instant audience. Teachers can offer instructional tips, and students can practice and benefit from peer review. They also make online mentoring possible. For example, a class of older students can help a class of younger students develop more confidence in their writing skills. Students can also participate in cooperative learning activities that require them to relay research findings, ideas, or suggestions.

Knowledge Management and Articulation 

Class blogs can serve as a portal to foster a community of learners. As they are easy to create and update efficiently, they can be used to inform students of class requirements, post handouts, notices, and homework assignments, or act as a question and answer board. 

School Website 

Blogs should be updated in a flash, and then used to communicate school announcements, reflections on school events, parent-driven newsletters, etc.

       

Comment about something you found interesting on blogs from the chapter readings that you were not aware of before?

The most interesting thing I found out is that the Blog has become a teaching tool across the curriculum in all subjects. Students can work on Math problems with peers of other classes. Science experiments can be run concurrently across the country or around the world student researchers comparing and reflecting on the results on a weblog. (Richardson, 2010) Students create language conversations with native speakers, in Physical Education; they analyze their workouts or diets. Then in History, students construct resource sites for their study of ancient civilizations and conflicts. In Music, the students create a blog by picking a musical instrument they are considering playing in band. Students research the history of the instrument, link to sound files of the instrument, as well as use pictures and link to videos of how to play the instrument. Purchasing price, as well as other pros and cons can be explored. I had no idea; I could do all that using the blog, interesting!

About PowerPoint

About PowerPoint

PowerPoint is part of the Microsoft Office series of software, and has become the premier presentation software format. It is definitely a staple of modern computing, and has become somewhat of a cultural icon for those growing up in the PC generation.

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History

PowerPoint has its roots in a program that was originally designed for the original Apple Macintosh in 1987. This original black-and-white version was developed primarily to design overhead transparencies. Microsoft bought the rights to the software a few months after its development for a then jaw-dropping $14 million. The software first appeared on Windows 3.0, and has become a staple of the Microsoft Office Suite, which traditionally includes programs like the database icon Excel and the word processing standard Word.

Function

Creating an electronic slide show presentation, PowerPoint gives users an incredible amount of flexibility. You can create your own animations and transitions for your slides, and some very creative types have even harnessed the power of this program to create rudimentary flash-like animations. PowerPoint is mainly used in business and educational settings to help teach and reinforce key concepts and ideas.

Significance

Microsoft PowerPoint is culturally significant, especially in the United States, because it is used so predominantly in educational settings, from early grade levels all the way to college. Many students learn to use the software in middle school, and it is often a requirement in student presentations. Because PowerPoint is so important to the modern education establishment, it has become iconic of both school and business life, and for many people, the PowerPoint software is synonymous with effective presentations.

Features

PowerPoint's features have evolved over the years to bring presentations to life, including the ability to add sound and video clips to slides to take projects to a new level. Other significant feature milestones have included custom animations and transitions, weblink capability, premium slide backgrounds, master slide templates, and movable titles and text.

Benefits

PowerPoint bolsters speeches by reinforcing key points of speakers. It also helps those who are weak auditory learners absorb the information presented. PowerPoint features such as the ability to embed audio and video can really hold the interest of those watching your presentation.