PC Maintenance & Security

As I worked through the PC Maintenance and Security Lab tutorials, I was surprised at how much of the information that I was already familiar with. Scrolling through and watching several videos, I found three that I have not heard of or ones that I wanted to know why we should do a certain task.

The first video tutorial that I watched was about clearing an internet browsing history. It was something that I have heard about, but never really carried out. I can see the importance of clearing the browsing history as a way to protect private information and protect privacy. It is a very easy task that I can share with others so privacy can be assured, especially on computers that are accessible to many users or the general public. I found it funny that in the tutorial the presenter mentioned that sometimes a computer in a household that is somewhat private generally does not have a cleared history and that if you find a cleared history and you have kids, that this might be a sign that they were up to something that maybe the should not have been up to.

The second video tutorial that I watched was about backing up files. I have heard of others backing up files or backing up their system, but it is not something that I have ever done in my life. After watching the tutorial, I see how it can be a benefit to back up your files in case something happens to your computer. Many people never anticipate something happening to their computer or files, they say "it won't happen to me". Backing up your files and your system helps the user have a way to recover their files or restore their computer in the off chance something bad happens to it. In the long run it is a way to save time, energy, and prevent a stressful situation.

The third video tutorial that I watched was about defragmenting the various drives on your computer. I found that it is a way to keep things in check to keep your hard drive functioning at it's best, at the same time preventing unneeded wear and tear. I have defragmented my computer in the past, maybe once a year. In the tutorial I learned that it is best to do every month to keep things working smoothly.

While many of these tutorials covered information that I was already familiar with, I was able to take away some new information to share with others.

RSS Page Reflection

As a newbie to RSS feeds and using the RSS reader I am slowly but surely learning the ropes to using these programs to keep up to date on news and current events taking place through the feeds that I am watching.  Based on the feeds that I am following, I need to visit and peruse the various postings on a daily basis to prevent them from building up. I missed a couple days over one weekend and one French news site that I am following had over 1000 new posts. It only makes sense that a news site would continuously be adding new news to keep people up to date. Other sites that I am following, such as the Michigan Department of Education and NPR’s Education site have updates that come at a much slower pace, so if you miss checking your feeds for a day or two, you do not get too far behind on keeping current with what is going on. There were even some feeds that I am following such as MSU EduTech Newsletter and Weblogg-ed site that have had no updates since I have added them to my reader page. Based on what I have experienced so far, it brings all my news and updates to one easy place so I do not have to navigate through a bunch of websites. It also allows me to quickly access any information quickly by scrolling through my list.

With all the information being shared through my different feeds I have experienced many things. I have learned about new technologies available to teachers or new upcoming things that teachers will be able to utilize in the classroom as ways of integrating technology. Following the Michigan Department of Education’s website, I have been able to keep up on some major events related to teaching professionals as education in Michigan is undergoing some change at this point in time. One of the French blogs that I am following is a place to share tips and resources for those traveling to Paris or for just news about Paris happenings. It has been a great resources for little culture tips to share with my students along with some funny stories about various faux pas that have happened to people. As I add new feeds to my page and keep up with my current feeds, I find that I am able to stay current with new technology, new thoughts in education, and keep up to date with various topics in the francophone world which will help keep me in the now with my colleagues, students, friends, and family.

I think it is important that students keep up to date with the new technology available to them. I was surprised the other day when I introduced Prezi to my students for a project that we are working on and how many of them had trouble navigating the sign up page, starting a presentation, and actually completing the task at hand with this very user friendly presentation software. In my opinion many students are lagging in the new technologies available to them, so it is important for any teacher to introduce new tools for students to help keep in touch with our ever so growing technology based future. In my classroom, I think introducing students to RSS feeds and RSS reader programs would be a way to open up our world to the francophone world around us. Students could be asked to follow specific sites that cater to things such as French art, history, culture, politics, news, food, etc. They could have a weekly assignment possibly where they would report or share some interesting news related to a topic. This would be a way to keep current with the culture and community we are studying. It would also allow us to form connections with the francophone world. In some instances, students would be able to compare things here in America with things that are happening halfway across the world. This could open the door for students to add additional feeds to their page either for my specific class or for their other interests. 

Below is the information from my previous RSS Lab Post.

This is an updated screenshot of my RSS Page.

This is a screen shot of one of the blogs I added to my RSS page. It provides unique insights into different things related to Paris. I left a comment regarding some interesting tips for people traveling to or learning about Paris. It is also something that I can share with my students.

Getting Things Done

After reading about the Getting Things Done process, I looked back at the ways that I have kept myself organized in the past. I am generally a very organized person and pay close attention to deadlines or due dates. However, I may not be organized in the stereotypical way with everything in its place. I like to think of my way of getting things done in the past as organized chaos. In the past and still to this day I frequently use my monthly agenda for important dates, meetings, and deadlines. As for day-to-day or weekly tasks, I frequently use lists or the forever trusted post it note. Post it notes seem to be one of my life lines with notes and mini agendas that give me daily goals, weekly goals, or possibly a note of something coming up in the near future. After reflecting upon my ways of organization and reading about the Getting Things Done process, I tried it out.

To organize my process, I choose to use paper and pencil. At this point in time, it seemed to be the fastest way for me to get everything out in the open and to be able to edit it with ease. While I am an owner of a Blackberry smart phone, I have not used it for many of the features is possesses. I would like to rely on it to help keep me organized, but due to the cell phone policy at our school, it is not something that I can use during the school day in front of students, as students are not allowed to have them out during the day. When cell phones are used and learning and organizational tools in the classroom (Which will hopefully happen soon), I think I will utilize my phone more as an organizational tool for myself.

Going through the process for the first time was a bit tedious for me. I understand that once it becomes more familiar and second nature, the process will tend to streamline and speed up.  The collect step was fairly easy. I was able to create quite a comprehensive list of tasks to complete ranging from short-term tasks to long-term tasks and to focus on deadlines of certain tasks. For the process step, I felt that going through the 5 steps was too much to think about or ask for each step.  The organize step allowed me to prioritize and organize the tasks in an easy manner to keep me on task, meet deadlines, and complete the tasks in an easy manner. I agree the review step holds the whole process together, but when looking at your organized list you should constantly be reviewing your process and making changes concurrently. As far as the final doing step, I don’t think it was necessary to ask all the questions associated with this step. Once you have your list, get to it. There are some times where it doesn’t matter what you can do, the time you have, or the energy you have. These are the times that you just have to get the task done regardless of the fact that it may be something you want or do not want to do at that moment.

I think there are components of this process that I can apply to my everyday life that can help me stay on top of my organization skills. I think the organization step will benefit me the most by helping me prioritize what needs to be done and to do so in a timely fashion.

Other than taking some of the parts and applying it to my already organized chaos of planner and post it notes, I do not think I will continue the entire process in my quest to get things done. In the time that it takes to go through the steps and ask the questions, I could have already completed some of the simple tasks on my list versus sitting down and going through a process that seems somewhat tedious and unneeded at this point in my life.  I do think that when I transition to using my smart phone as an organizational tool, I will be able to keep myself organized quicker by using software available to me and keep the tasks organized as they arise from the moment I enter them into my phone or software program. Until that time, even though it may seem to be a bit old school, I am going to stick with my tried and true post it note system and my monthly agenda.

Social Networks

I can remember when Facebook first came out. I remember sitting in one of my French classes at Saginaw Valley State University in the language lab. I was talking to one of my friends in class about this new Facebook thing and what all the fuss was about. We were both very curious, so in class we both set up an account, just to see what was so exciting about this new technology. I would have never thought it would have grown to what it is today when I first signed up all those years ago.

Up until this point, the only social network that I have been a member of has been Facebook. It is not something that I regularly use. Originally, I only signed up to see what it was about. However, it has been a great way to connect to people that I don't see on a regular basis and to re-connect with people that I have not kept in contact with. I also had the opportunity to connect with a foreign exchange student that I hosted at our high school and who hosted me when I travelled abroad. I use it sparingly to connect with friends and send messages to people I know who regularly use the social network. I am not one to post every single thing that is going on in my life at every waking moment.

Despite all the great things Facebook has to offer, Facebook has been quite the topic with regards to educators, if not other professionals. I remember all the warnings given about Facebook while finishing my education courses. They warned us how students could get a lot of personal information from us and how employers were using it as part of the hiring process and keeping tabs on their staff. After that, I continued to have my account, but took all my pictures and personal information off. I also set the settings to private for everything. I still use it today minimally.

My students and peers are all over the social networking scene. They use Facebook and My Space the most frequently. They use these social networks to post pictures, send messages, write journals, among many other things. It is a true glimpse into their daily lives. In a way, it is a digital document that tells the story of their daily life. On the other hand, these social networks have also led to students being bullied and harassed via the internet.

Through this lab I have gained some basic insight into some of the social networking tools available. I hope to continue my exploration into some of these social networking sites. There are many positive ways that these tools can be integrated into the classroom and I am looking forward to finding out which ones will work for my classes and my students. As schools begin to embrace more technology, students will have a greater opportunity for learning and these social networking tools will allow for more access to learning tools and collaboration across the globe.

CEP 810 Calendar Lab

Here is a blog post of my google calendar. It lists important dates and times for the remainder of the school year. 

CEP 810 RSS Feed Lab

This is a screen shot of my RSS page. 

This is a screen shot of one of the blogs I added to my RSS page. It provides unique insights into different things related to Paris. I left a comment regarding some interesting tips for people traveling to or learning about Paris.

810 Blogging Lab : Traditional Web Pages vs. Blogs

The Internet is powerful tool that is used to communicate information to a broad audience. Traditional web pages and blogs are the similar in the fact that they are a way to share content and information. They differ in the way the viewer or reader can interact with the information. There is little to no interaction for the viewer or reader with a traditional website. Traditional websites merely present the information and are only updated as needed. Traditional websites usually have basic information on the front page with tabs or links to the more detailed information. It is difficult to know when new information has been added or when certain pages have been updated. On the other hand, blogs allow viewers or readers the opportunity to communicate with the author of the blog. Blog posts not only allow the viewers to read the post, but viewers can leave comments to the author or the post. This allows conversations to take place via the Internet. Blogs are also different in the way the information is presented. The information that the readers are looking for is always on the front page and is generally presented with the newest information at the top of the page for ease of navigation.