Blog Post # 4: The Internet offers info about anything we could ever imagine learning about...

The internet is amazing because it offers so many services, tools, learning opportunities, communication methods, entertainment, shopping, etc for people around the world. The world wide web (www) offers web pages full of information that people look for through search engines. Search engines, like www.google.com allow people to enter keyword information, look up topics in a subject directory, etc. Internet services include anything from e-mail, to blogs, to blackboard, to edutainment for classrooms, etc. As the search section mentioned, it can be very important to use certain search engines to receive specific results, as some may be more for business and one for books, etc. Something that is extremely important, but kind of made me giggle was the “netiquette” section. This section offers online etiquette for users with its golden rule being “Treat others as you would like them to treat you.” It’s so weird to think how quickly our world is changing and how now we even need rules for behavior for this web tool. What made me laugh though was the translation of abbreviations and acronyms because I have really only used BTW and FYI, and also TTFN when I was in 5th grade. haha

I found the in-class web hunt to be amusing because while looking for the specified websites, a lot of other interesting websites came up! I also liked doing the word training/practice test because it showed me a lot of simple ways to complete tasks. It also showed me a lot of features that I didn’t know Word even had! I think all of these training assignments will help me out in the long run. I’ve been using Word 2007 for another class though and it’s amazing. I definitely recommend getting the 07 edition because it feels like there’s so many other options to make your paper (or whatever it is), look better, plus it’s just easier!

I cant believe we’re already so far into the semester; time has been flying like I’ve never experienced before. This year has kept me really busy and I feel like I’ve actually been learning a lot in my classes -- maybe the things they’re talking about have just been more interesting to me? This weekend was fun though -- my family came in for Parent’s Weekend and we had so much fun at the game, even though it rained! Going to school so far away from home really makes me appreciate my family more than I already did. :-)

Blog Post # 3: Online learning games (edutainment)... meant for our future students, but still fun for us! haha

Chapter 4 included input/output devices, storage media and devices. Input is basically anything recorded into the computers memory. This data is put into the computer through several different devices including the keyboard we type on, the numeric keypad we type numbers with, the mouse we point to items with/direct computer to, and many other technologies for either more specific programs or more technologically advanced programs, like joysticks, touch screens, digital pen inputting, etc. We also use these devices for activities like downloading pictures onto our computer from our digital cameras. Output is everything in the computer that can be “processed into a useful form called information.” This is presented on the computer through things like text, graphics, audio, video, etc. Some output devices include the monitor itself that we use to see everything we perform on the computer, printers for turning our text/images into tangible items, data projectors, etc. Storage media and devices are the way we store or save what we have done. Some methods for storing include floppy/zip disks, CD’s/DVD’s, CD-rom, etc.

I thought this chapter was very similar to the previous chapters in that it covered many concepts I already knew. However, also like the other chapters, it put a name on items that I did not know the names of. I did get very caught up though in the “Learn it Online” section on page 261 because there is a game called “Wheel of Terms” that I looked up online and played for quite some time hahah yeah it’s definitely kinda goofy, but I have a job where I sit at a computer for 3 hours not expected to do very much -- so let me tell you, it was a fun game!

Since my last posting, I feel like Ive learned a lot of new vocabulary words. I’ve also learned a lot in class about different programs. I enjoyed using the Inspiration program! Most importantly, the Windows XP training and test we did was very helpful. It showed me a lot of little things that I didn’t know that make finding my way around the computer a lot quicker!