I think that it is quite important that teachers know about the technology that they would use in their

classes. Technology in itself is important because it is what todays and tomorrows generation will be using to explore the unexplored and discover what before might be unknown. However, if educators do not have the knowledge and expertise to use this wonderful media to teach, then what is the use of having such in our lives? I would have to say that my experience with technology in my earlier years as a student is quite rich. There may not have been a lot of new software to teach me how to read and write back then, but what I learned in the past accounts for my computer literacy today. From our discussions I have come to learn about the wide array of opportunities that technology in education can provide. Much about these opportunities will surface as this paper goes. From my experience, I am aware that the sequence of instructional events may not always be followed. The learning experience depends mostly on the teachers creativity in handing out information to the students. For newbies to the teaching world such as myself, maybe I would look back on these helpful how tos when I get to teach my first class. I am both excited and terrified as to how my first class would go, but now, since I am more aware of how everything proceeds The terrified part of my emotions decreases. Earlier, I have talked about the opportunities that technology can provide for education. Among a lot of the presented opportunities is the presence of instructional software. Back in my elementary and high school days, I remember having been exposed to some of the talked about instructional software but only during my Computer class. This might be why I look forward to students having the same kind of experience in other subjects like English, Social Studies, Math or Science. Using instructional software in class may help the students develop a more insightful point of view because it is a great deal more refreshing compared to the usual board and chalk strategy of the teacher. I sincerely hope that I would someday be able to use these types of software in my future class, especially since I am majoring in Special Education. I think that this makes everything more stimulating and fun for the students, which I believe, is the most important part of how learning proceeds. Another striking chunk of the first days of Educ 190 for me was the examination of Linux and Windows side by side. At first, I was questioning Sir Noel on having an unquestionable siding to Linux. This suspicion however, slowly but surely began to ebb away when we watched the video called Revolution OS and also when we were required to research on the benefits of both Linux and Windows. I am now more aware of how both kernels (is this right?) work and I realize that my teacher has not been siding with Windows simply because the right choice is more apparent! I have been accustomed to working with Windows all my life so maybe this causes
Mariquit Evangeline G. Aguila 2007-15581 BEED SPED 07/11/12 EDUC 190

my resistance to change. Linux offers a different interface and options that are all brand new to my daily use. Despite this, I am seriously considering changing my OS to one that Linux offers. I have also enjoyed the lesson about the topic on visual literacy dos and donts. The lesson seemed so well-rehearsed. Every slide appeared timely and not much text can be seen in the slides. The slides contained more pictures or videos that really captured the class attention. I am not really sure if I could quote it right, but I really appreciated the video wherein the masked men were passing balls with each other. The quote mentioned during this part somehow goes You cannot find what you are not looking for. This is true, especially for instance, if the lesson is not interesting enough for the students. They are not engaged in whatever the teacher is talking about, and therefore, they will not find the topics relevance in their own lives, may it be related to their studies or not. The role of the teacher in this situation is also relevant. If he/she emphasizes the point well enough, by modifying the format, the learners will be able to immediately absorb those concepts. A well prepared teacher will not find this emphasizing task a problem. The ASSURE models A stands for Analyzing the learners. If the teacher is well prepared, he/she must know of the interests of the students that will aid the teacher in better emphasizing the point to be made in the lesson. I have yet to experience my first webinar, and I am expecting to gain a lot by participating in one. Our class was tasked to do a webinar, the first one to be done in Educ or in the University, I am not sure. But that poses a lot of pressure on us! I am quite worried as to how ours will go so I hope that I will be able to do more research in the coming weeks on how to do one. I also plan to participate in a webinar in the coming days not only because I need to, but also because I have heard a lot of good things about it. Creating a webinar is definitely a challenge for our class to undertake but I am sure that this will favour us much as well. We have been watching several videos in the class and I really appreciate how these videos were strongly related to not only our academic life, but also in our lifestyle in general. Most of the videos taught me how fast paced the world is and can be. It made me realize that we should be more open to change in our lives, and in one way or another, we must also try and start a change either for ourselves or for others. The videos shown, documented how anything can be possible given that we have the technology we have today. The Sifteos, the Sixth Sense technology and even the Revolution OS videos show that if we really want to create something and we have a strong will to do it then it would not be impossible. To conclude, I think that my first days in Educ 190 taught me that I have the ultimate power on how to use what I know. Todays technology and an understanding of the planning and theories make effective teaching achievable.
Mariquit Evangeline G. Aguila 2007-15581 BEED SPED 07/11/12 EDUC 190