Post 10

This weeks assignment was to make an interactive presentation in powerpoint. I chose to make a quiz on the first Act of Macbeth. I never really realized until now the amount of effort it takes to create fluid quizzes. Linking each slide to a specific follow up slide got real confusing and hard to follow in the creation of my powerpoint. I do feel like I have fully mastered the art of the hyperlink now. This project enhanced my appreciation for my past  teacher's efforts. As a middle schooler, Jeopardy review days were the most exciting and they really did help me to learn. I do think the interaction forces kids to pay attention and links memorable experiences to facts they need to know. I would totally use interactive presentations in my future class. Next time I make one, I think i'll make it jeopardy style rather than a flow multiple choice style because that means fewer slides to work with and get mixed up because everything is linked to a central page. Here is a glimpse of my quiz:

I am excited to begin working on my Data Collection project and to get to play around on Qualtrics. As an educator, I think I would like to use short surveys at the end of each chapter or particular section of my curriculum to get feedback from students on what they liked and what they didn't like. I think I would also try to take learning style surveys at the beginning and middle of each school year to see if there are any places in my curriculum i can tweak to fit the class's preferred learning style. I think really short quizzes embedded in lessons to get a grasp on what the students are understanding and what they need help on. Common Board Configuration now requires public school teachers to take learning scaled at intervals during each lesson and sometimes students are to humiliated to show their true level of understanding by holding fingers up publicly, so maybe by taking anonymous poles via Qualtrics quizzes during a lesson could fix that problem. The amount of use surveys like those on Qualtrics get is tricky though, because it relies upon the idea of common access to computers in the classroom, so it is much easier in theory than in real life, but not totally unfeasible. 

In reviewing my classmates blogs, the most interesting and helpful point of discussion in my opinion was the section of blog post 7 that talked about assistive technologies. I think I so often forget that teachers have to really work hard to balance the many different disabilities and learning impediments in their classroom at once. As a student, it is easy to forget that not everyone functions in the same way I do. I thought it was the most challenging prompt and I had a difficult time coming up with examples, even after reading the book. It was helpful to see and take note of all the different examples of assistive technologies that don't break the bank my classmates had in mind. 

The biggest skill I would like to gain in technology is Excel literacy. Excel deals with so many functions and equations and i get very lost and stressed out with the extent of it's abilities. I think it is not only helpful and interesting, but also a necessary skill in the life on an independent adult. I am coming to the end of an era where I can still be financially dependent on my parents and I really need to learn how to make my own budgets. Excel computes and organizes and is overall the best tool for making a professional, functioning budget. I believe it will introduce some organization to my life if only I master it.

I plan on gaining skills in Microsoft Excel by taking advantage of the free programing the university provides to it's students. I have also seen multiple adds for Excel tutors around campus and even in the library, I think with a little one on one instruction, i could master it no problem. In the meantime, we are about to tackle Excel in class, which will give me the basics and there are thousands and thousands of instructional videos on websites such as youtube that are very informative and can teach all sorts of skills in Excel that I plan on taking advantage of.