During the past 7 weeks, I have really come to grip with the fact that I am an antique when it comes to technology. I have struggled with projects that I know younger students breezed right through. But, one thing you can say about old people (other than that they are old) is that they adapt. I lived before computers (I was a bank teller and we wrote all of our transactions by hand), and cell phones, and I think color TV. But, I digress.
Through the years, changes in technology have made life so much easier. I cannot imagine what it would be like now without a cell phone and I certainly cannot imagine what it would be like without a computer. Honestly, typing any sort of document used to mean a typewriter. Mistakes were not back-spaced away. So...
#1. Microsoft Word
#2 Email
#3. Excel - Being a reading coach, I spend much of my life analyzing data so excel is a lifesaver.
#4. Online Banking - What a time saver!
#5. PowerPoint - This is another reading coach's answer to the problem of finding expository text.
If there isn't a good book for young children that explains a concept - write it yourself!
#6. SmartBoards - The old saying is that a good teacher can teach with nothing but a blackboard
and piece of chalk, but boy do interactive lessons make them more interesting.
#7. Google - I never realized until my husband got an iPad how great it is to be able to look up
information the instant you need it.
#8. Social Networking - While I am still not the greatest fan, it is wonderful to keep up with
family and friends.
#9. Social Bookmarking - I had never heard of this until ED505, but it is a wonderful tool to
collect websites and categorize them.
#10. Any sort of digital photoshop software - I love to play with pictures and create all kinds of
projects (for school and for personal use.)
