This week I learned...about how word processing and desktop publishing programs have changed the way that people communicate with each other for the better. Gone are the days of late nights spent typing and retyping papers with revisions, only to realize that you made a typo or left out a paragraph and have to retype the entire paper. Gone are the agonizing hours spent learning the proper way to cite references in that same paper. Now, thanks to word processing programs such as Microsoft Word, error-free bibliographies can be produced in minutes. Inserting references is also quick and easy with the help of the same program. Spell-check and grammar-check help make sure that we are producing relatively error-free documents. Word count also helps us monitor the length of our documents-some of us may get a little wordy, others not enough, but regardless, we know where we stand with a quick click. This week’s lesson also pointed out that students who use word processing programs write more than if they had to hand-write the same assignment. It’s simply more fun on a computer.
If word processing software gives our documents structure, then desktop publishing makes it look complete. The polished documents that are now easily produced by students and teachers alike were not possible not that long ago. Inserting pictures, adding borders, using the wide variety of available fonts, text colors, etc., not to mention the existing templates that are available, make the job of creating professional-looking documents easy and fun. Students enjoy personalizing their papers with different fonts and colors. They like searching for pictures on the Internet to make their research paper stand out. They actually ask to be able to type up their short stories or poems in the computer lab. These types of programs have changed the way both students and teachers go about the process of writing. As a part of this assignment, we were supposed to review a document that we had created that went home to parents or students and review it based on what we have just learned. I chose a flyer that I produced to advertise my school’s drama club. My original version was effective, but maybe a little “blah.” It had the necessary information on it, but wasn’t a real attention grabber. At the bottom of my blog is a flyer that I created for the drama club that I coach. I revised it and added more graphics and color font.
Also extensively addressed in this week’s lesson, was the role of assistive technology in helping students achieve more in the classroom. Adaptive keyboards with “word predictive” programs allow students with physical disabilities to use computers more effectively by offering students a selection of words to complete the two or three characters that they had typed. Voice playback software, such as “Simple Text” also helps students who are struggling readers, by pronouncing difficult words or reading complex paragraphs. On-line textbooks or websites allow teachers or students to “redisplay” text at different difficulty levels to accommodate the different performance levels of readers.
If word processing software gives our documents structure, then desktop publishing makes it look complete. The polished documents that are now easily produced by students and teachers alike were not possible not that long ago. Inserting pictures, adding borders, using the wide variety of available fonts, text colors, etc., not to mention the existing templates that are available, make the job of creating professional-looking documents easy and fun. Students enjoy personalizing their papers with different fonts and colors. They like searching for pictures on the Internet to make their research paper stand out. They actually ask to be able to type up their short stories or poems in the computer lab. These types of programs have changed the way both students and teachers go about the process of writing. As a part of this assignment, we were supposed to review a document that we had created that went home to parents or students and review it based on what we have just learned. I chose a flyer that I produced to advertise my school’s drama club. My original version was effective, but maybe a little “blah.” It had the necessary information on it, but wasn’t a real attention grabber. At the bottom of my blog is a flyer that I created for the drama club that I coach. I revised it and added more graphics and color font.
Also extensively addressed in this week’s lesson, was the role of assistive technology in helping students achieve more in the classroom. Adaptive keyboards with “word predictive” programs allow students with physical disabilities to use computers more effectively by offering students a selection of words to complete the two or three characters that they had typed. Voice playback software, such as “Simple Text” also helps students who are struggling readers, by pronouncing difficult words or reading complex paragraphs. On-line textbooks or websites allow teachers or students to “redisplay” text at different difficulty levels to accommodate the different performance levels of readers.
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