After discovering this tip I wished I’d known it years ago. Plug in your projector or monitor then hit the windows key + P. So simple it’s scary!!!
Mrs A's Blog
My Rambling Thoughts on Teaching and Learning
Basic ICT Skills – Doesn't Everyone Have Them?
I had the opportunity yesterday to assist at a PD session on the use of Word, PowerPoint, and Audacity. Things that I’m sure a majority of teachers take advantage of everyday sometimes to the detriment of learning. Now this was a session for those who felt they had a beginner level. I was surprised. I have been spoilt working at a school with a high level of technology. Now I know that not all schools offer the PD that is required to keep up to date with the latest technology but surely at least everyone can use Word and PowerPoint. I was proved wrong yesterday. And was wondering if this was a major mistake of those of us in education – the assumption that everyone can use Word and PowerPoint. Do we ever really teach our staff or students for that matter the correct way to use these tools?
Basic skills such as inserting WordArt, Pictures, Symbols or manipulating these to display the way you want them to. Adding transitions and sounds to slides to make them viewable without the teacher. Just using these basic skills to make nicely displayed worksheets with lots of colour or using PowerPoint to create flashcards.
Perhaps our failure to our students is not making sure that our teachers have the basic ICT skills to create the resources which keep them engaged in learning.
Windows 7 Tip – Finding Programs
Simple enough – you just simply type it in – this was created more to show people the end result rather than the process.
To Share or Not To Share? Is it really a question?
- Image by 姒儿喵喵 via Flickr
I have been teaching for 6 years plus my 7 years of study (yes I know I took my time!) and during this time I have created many resources. During my second year of uni as I stayed up late one evening trying to find a better way to teach an economic concept as every uni student does I turned to Mr Google. I was struggling and I figured that many teachers before me had taught this concept I should be able to find something. Did I find it? You guessed it I found nothing.
Why as teachers do we constantly reinvent the wheel? Why when we all teach from similar syllabi’s and courses do we not share our resources? How much time would we save?
Ever since my evening with Mr Google I have openly shared my resources figuring that what goes round must come round and the resources will eventually be shared back with me. It has taken 10 years for something to return. When I first started teaching in the classroom other teachers didn’t understand why I was sharing my hard work. Why was I making them look better by doing all the work? My response was quite simply we are all teaching the same skills and content why are we wasting precious time creating the same resources? Slowly my colleagues have come around.
Over the last few years with the take off of PLNs through platforms like Facebook and Twitter the sharing has become prolific. You find something useful you share it. So why are some educators still too scared to share?
In the age of social networking and content creation (Web 2.0) there is no question. Everything we create as educators should be shared no matter how small or insignificant we think it is.
The answer is To Share.
Windows 7 Tip – Changing Backgrounds
This is a really simple thing that most of us know how do to – my reasoning behind putting this video together was I found this cool little option which allows you to have your background change on a regular basis.
Enjoy!