Journal+4

Reflect upon the process of learning and using Microsoft Office as an effective tool.

Excel provides a convenient means of tracking student grades and attendance as well as analyzing academic progress of students. Utilizing some basic functions allows a teacher to immediately see how an assignment or test impacts a student's grade as soon has he enters that grade into an Excel gradebook. A command can also be entered to randomize students and create pairings or groups for group work.

Access can be very useful in school-home communication. If a teacher has parents' names and contact information in an database, she can pull those fields into a form letter created in Word using Mail Merge, thus personalizing communication but bypassing the time such personalization would traditionally entail.

PowerPoint is a very interesting tool, and I think I am beginning to see new possibilities for it aside from the traditional linear lecture. Linear or non-linear, lessons can be designed (such as the one I turned in today) which students can do on their own at school or on home computers. Because of its non-linear capability, it can be used to design something much like a website, thus enabling students to simulate web production without the teacher having to worry about a student getting off-task with the internet or accidentally coming across unsavory content. As a future English teacher, I may allow my students to use this program to write hypertext poetry or fiction as they explore their writing styles and how those intersect with modern technology and the way we read and write today.

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