#2 Becoming a professional online

As a student Microsoft word has become a necessity. Almost every assignment and class I have taken in high school and in college requires at least one essay or use of word. For awhile my dinosaur laptop I owned would not allow me to use Microsoft word so I was stuck using the weird note application that came with my computer. Every single assignment I turned in had some sort of problem with the formatting, or when downloading. It is after this sad year of struggle that I began to truly appreciate Microsoft word and all of its amazing qualities. Another issue I had when using the weird note app was all of the documents my teachers posted were on Microsoft word so opening these attachments was a chore to say the least! Having gone through this rough time in my Microsoft word experience it is safe for me to say that I appreciate word and all that it does for students and teachers.

Thankfully, being a student I have never quite had to worry about copy right and fair use but ever since middle school, teachers have made me aware of the rules. When I was in middle school I remember sitting in the school library watching a video about fair use. It was some sort of Disney-esque video that told us all about the copt right rules. I thought this use of Disney clips to teach us about this issue was very clever and I intend on teaching my students about this in a similar way one day.

I have been using social media for awhile now and have been on twitter for quite some time, but I have never thought of using social media for a more professional agenda. But after using twitter as a professional, I truly see all of the benefits that it can have. Using social media professionally instead of personally makes transmitting and receiving information much easier and faster and also helps professionals to stay up to date on news that is happening. I am very happy to now have a professional twitter alongside of having a personal one!

#1 Computers, Technology, and ISTE, OH MY!

Growing up in "the digital age" I have seen first hand how important technology is and the positive ways that it can facilitate learning. Now a days, almost every classroom you walk into has one or multiple computers in it. This causes the question to arise "Are computers beneficial to a child's learning experience?". I believe that there are two sides to this argument. I think that computers are very important in a classroom setting. Computers can be used in the classroom to conduct research, create projects, and make learning more active and hands on. Teachers can use computers to create their lesson plans more efficiently and they can also create informative PowerPoints that can appeal to most learning styles. On the other hand, computers can have a negative affect if used improperly. The use of computers makes it easier for students to use short cuts instead of actually learning, ie: sparknotes, mathway, wikipedia, etc. In my personal experience, computers have been beneficial in my learning experience and I think that as long as it is used correctly, it can greatly impact a learning environment.

While reading the ISTE standards for teachers, one standard really stuck out to me. The standard "Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity." This standard really gladdens my heart because I think technology is such a wonderful tool that is extremely beneficial and I think it inspires creativity. Technology allows students to explore a creative side of themselves. Whether it be while working on a project or while researching. One standard that seemed a little outside of my personal comfort zone is "Model digital age work and learning". This is slightly outside of my current skill set cause I am not a tech pro at this point. There is many programs and technological things that I would not be able to use or demonstrate if it came down to it. I have a lot of work to do in my tech learning experience before I am able to properly model it for students.

I do agree with the term "digital native" for today's youth. Technology is everywhere you turn now-a-days and it seems every time I see a child out now they have some sort of iPhone or tablet in their hands. This showcases the definition of digital native, because these kids were born exposed to technology, it is native to them, almost like its an innate ability. A situation that almost confirms this "digital native" concept is a recurring conversation that I have with my dad. My dad is an attorney and he is probably one of the smartest men I have met, but almost on a daily basis he is asking me questions about the computer, his phone, and social medias. This is also true of my teachers. In high school if anything ever went wrong with the projector or computer my teacher would always ask one of us to try and fix it. I think that because there is always so much technology coming out and theres always something new, eventually I myself will become a digital immigrant and my students will be the digital natives.

0- The beginning

Prior Experience 
My relationship with technology is a love hate relationship. I love it, but it hates me. I use technology on a daily basis, maybe even too much. But without fail I feel like every time I use technology for something important I mess it up. As an avid smart phone user, I use social media on a daily basis. Also being a college student I am on my laptop every day using the internet, word, power point, and such. I have always been an apple product type of girl and thoroughly enjoy using my macbook and iPhone. In high school I was on the yearbook staff and became familiar (keep in mind I still have a love hate relationship) with In-design and Adobe Photoshop. 

My hopes
In this class I hope to be more proficient in the uses of technology. I think that technology hates me so I would like to develop a better relationship in that aspect. Also when it comes to powerpoint and word I know most of the basics but I do not take advantage of all that these programs have to offer. In the future I would love to be a teacher and in taking this class I hope to learn how, as a future teacher, I can fully take advantage of the greatness that is technology. 

Learning Styles
The results of this learning styles test did not surprise me too much. I have always known that I am predominately visual learner. In my classes, I have always struggled with teachers and professors that do not use visuals and are just "lecturers". Looking back on my educational career I see that the one class that I retained the most information in, was my junior year of high school American history class. This is due to the fact that my teacher drew pictures on the board, made extremely visual timelines and made the information easy for me personally to remember. I am very sensory and visually motivated in everything that I do. All in all I am more of a practical thinker and learner, I enjoy visuals, trying things out, and "doing". All of these things ring true in these results!