skip to main |
skip to sidebar
I can't wait to get into evaluating some of the software programs available to 
our students at school. Most of what has been listed on our computers, up until last year, was total garbage in my opinion. Some of them looked like they were still running on the DOS operating system, if not made for Commodore 64! So now that I've dated myself terribly, lets get down to business. Crumby programs that serve no conceivable purpose beware... you are about to get a severe rubricized slap down!
I'm not quite sure where I will begin. I may ask students which of our programs are the most popular, or least popular. Which programs they go on when they have free time or w
hat programs they find the most useful. I'd be interested to hear their responses. While my grade 5's are not as techno savvy as my grade 7's were, there are definitely a few who are old hands at word processing, power point slide shows and even some animations. I bet they would actually have some worthwhile suggestions that these software creators could take some lessons from.
After talking to my mom about all the night courses she had to do while teaching and raising a young family I am a firm believer in the fact that on-line courses are the greatest thing since bread cut into evenly measured slices by a bread slicing machine. Reading the PDF about on-line courses reinforced that fact for me. Under the heading of “disadvantages” the major flaws were mostly about people not having access to the technology. Once you do have the technology the advantages outweigh pretty much everything else. One thing I personally struggle with however is the self-motivation needed to keep logging in and completing assignments on time. I’ll be honest. It’s tough. On the other hand driving to Brock in the evening when it is pitch black outside or driving into school in the summer while everyone else is golfing is not for me. So I will have to continue reminding myself how lucky I am that on-line courses like this exist, and keep on logging on. 
While thinking about on-line learning for adults, I was reminded of the One Laptop Per Child program that has started making cheap, durable, wifi capable laptops available for children in developing countries. What a sense of freedom and opportunity those kids must have when they first log on. While I now completely take for granted the access I have to the Web, these kids won’t need to be worried about how to get motivated to get on-line and learn. So on-line learning is not only convenient for Western adults, it’s a whole new world for kids who may never have had a chance for any kind of learning period.
