Friday, 17 April 2015

A Day at the Office


Amongst the software I have viewed in this lesson I would say that some of them are good as a resource for teaching and learning of Literature in English. There are a variety of tools that one could choose from but it is also important to choose the most appropriate of them for that particular subject. The subjects differ in presentation as well as in content and can therefore not use the same App across the board. Maths is not English just as History is not physics. The choice of the App to use depends on the subject the person teaches.
I have tried out some like Microsoft Excel and discovered that the arrangement of the cells is not the best for subjects that use so many words. In their nature they have cells and literature rarely needs them apart from when one is just highlighting points without using so many words. However, in cases where the teacher or learner is interested in brief outlines, it serves the purpose well. Microsoft Excel would do well more with numbers and keeping of students data regarding grades and marks. Just like Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access is structured in cell like divisions and good for keeping a tab on students performance as well as the important things about them (Bio-data).
Literature being a wordy subject requires an App that allows for as many words as one would love to use.  Microsoft PowerPoint on the other hand uses slides that can accommodate the alignment of points as one would wish to present them and also offers space for giving comments or adding notes and is therefore a more appropriate instrument to use in Literature. I have actually enjoyed myself working with Microsoft PowerPoint. It has designs you could choose from to make your product more attractive to the learners and hence chase boredom. You can also put sounds in the background of the text as well as decide how you would wish the slides to move. All those options are there and they are geared to give us the skills to have more interesting products and also make lesson more interesting as we discover more and more about technology. If students were to use Microsoft PowerPoint, they would find it very interesting and captivating because of what it has to offer.
Another tool that I have grown so accustomed to using is Microsoft word processor. This is also a very valuable tool as it allows for spelling checks, can offer substitute words and has dictionary facility that learners can use in the process of typing. Mine being a subject that requires one to get the spellings of words right, this is an appropriate instrument of technology integration for teaching and learning processes.
I do not think that these software stifle in any way the depth of knowledge of activities. Personally I think it depends upon what the person who is using the App wishes to include. It is up to the learner or teacher to choose whatever App is appropriate for the task at hand, and having the choice to do so gives one the opportunity to choose the best.

10 comments:

  1. Hallo Maggie, just like you, I have found Microsoft word and Power point to be very good and appropriate for my subject. They will both help us to move to higher levels in the two models we have been tackling of recent.

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  2. Margaret thanks for the post. For your case XLS may be useful mainly for you as a teacher to summarise students performance.

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    1. Thank you Twaha. I noticed that I could use it for summaries of performances and when I need to tabulate data.

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  3. True Twaha,the Microsoft suite is very versatile. However, one needs time tolearn to use them effectively and we have started that journey, haven't we?

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    1. Yes my dear. We shall master the art in the long run

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  4. Thanks Maggie. This is a very good reflection of office. Office is the starting point towards ICT integration. Well done and you can also try out some of the activities in the lesson topic 3.2.2. You will definitely find these activities (scenarios) excellent and they will improve your office skills. Here is the link: http://www.schoolnet.org.za/PILP/ict-skills-teachers/index.html

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  5. Well done Margaret. You are right when you say the choice of the office to use depends on the subject and i think basically also on the kind of data.

    thanks.

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