tech tools

Week 10 – Reflection!

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I have now finished my term in my technology class where one of my main projects was to do an inquiry on something relating to technology that you wish to learn more about.  I chose to do Excel for my tech inquiry. I chose this because Excel was something I have never known much about, but I know how useful it can be for a variety of different functions. I knew that Excel was not learned overnight and that it takes time to fully understand how it works and to learn how to use its various functions. This is why I thought it would be the perfect thing to do for my inquiry as I had 11 weeks to learn it.

My journey learning Excel has been very educational. It was definitely frustrating at times, as some days I felt like I would never be able to figure out how it works, but once you do understand a function it becomes clear and easy. I have learned a lot of unique features that Excel offers, such as how to enter, sort and filter data, how the formulas work, how to insert tables, how to use charts, and more! I feel much more confident in my ability to use Excel since learning more about it, however, there I still have more to learn. The order I learned each of these functions in was beneficial for me and they built off of each other. This allowed me to gain a better understanding of each function since I knew the other functions you had to use. Within these 11 weeks learning about Excel, I have gained confidence and experience using this program.

One of the highlights of learning Excel for me was the basic tasks and learning how the formulas work when creating a budget spreadsheet. Learning the ins and outs of these formulas allowed me to create an accurate budget spreadsheet easily. This is something that I will use a lot when using Excel because it saves you a lot of time and manual inputting. I think that the formulas (SUM, AVERAGE, etc.) are one of the most used functions by those using Excel, so I wanted to spend a lot of time learning these. I now feel confident in my skills and feel that I can accurately use these formulas.

Overall, I am happy that I chose to learn Excel for my tech inquiry, as it challenged me to learn something that I had absolutely zero knowledge on and something that would be of value to me in my years to come. It was definitely not easy to learn since there is so much involved with an Excel spreadsheet and many different functions, however, there are a ton of great resources available online (linked in each of my blog posts) that were a huge help for me in my learning. I am grateful that I had the opportunity in my technology class to learn Excel because it is a skill I can take away with me and it also allowed me to do a lot of research and writing on the topic. I recommend anyone looking for an extra project who does not already know Excel to learn how to use it. You will be surprised how helpful it can be in your everyday life.

Thanks for reading my journey with using Excel 🙂

Week 8 – Pros and Cons Function

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Excel has many templates you can choose from for various different activities such as a to-do list, an inventory tracker, a weekly timesheet and much more. After looking through all these templates one in particular really stood out for me, the pros vs. cons template. I like this one because it is useful when deciding between two things, which is a common occurrence in my daily life.

The pros and cons template is different than just making one by hand because you can rate the value/ importance of each item. At the end when you have inputted all your data excel will calculate the values of each one and tell you which one (pros or cons) wins! This function helps you to make a decision but it also provides a place where you can put your thoughts down. It helps you to compare and analyze the data in your list. Here is what the template looks like when you first click on it.

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To use this template you enter items into the item section and enter values under the importance section (scale of 0-10). You enter the value of importance to indicate the weight of each of those items. 10 is the highest importance and 0 is the lowest. Excel calculates the total value of all the items under the pro section and the con section to show you, which one is more important to you. The rating scale is basic but very helpful. You can categorize the items alphabetically to help you organize your list or just put them in whatever order is most helpful for you. I made my own pros and cons list using this template and I found it super helpful and easy to use. I especially like how they calculate the values up to show you which one wins. This made it easy for me to realize which one is more important to me. Here is the beginning of the list I made. Screen Shot 2018-11-15 at 12.11.08 PM.png

Overall, I would highly recommend this Excel template to anyone who likes to make pro and con lists. It is an easy way to observe and value your items.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for next weeks post!

References:

https://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/pros-and-cons-list.html

Twine and Google Classroom

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Today in class we talked about two tech tools, google classroom and twine.

Twine is a tool that allows its users to tell interactive non-linear stories. It was created in 2009 by Chris Klimas but it is now maintained by several people. Twine is free to use for any way you wish to use it, including for commercial use, and it publishes directly to HTML, which allows you to post your work almost everywhere. It is used by most of its users to develop hypertext narratives and games. It does not require any programming languages that most game development tools do. This makes it very desired for those who do not know any programming languages. It is a tool that can be used by anyone who is wanting to create interactive fiction. In class, we created our own one by an example given to us by our teacher. I have never been good with technology so it was interesting for me to see how Twine works. After some practice, I began to get the hang of it and learned about some basic coding for design elements. Within Twine, you do not have to code, but if you want to add certain design features, such as bold writing, underlining, background colors etc. you can code them into your writing. After you have finished creating your interactive story, you can play it and see it for your self which is a cool feature. You can also share what you have created with whoever you would like.

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This is what it looks like when you are creating your interactive story

The other tech tool we looked at was Google Classroom. Google Classroom is a web tool that was created by Google in 2014 specifically for schools but can be used by anyone who has a Google account. It a free to use and allows teachers and their students to connect with each other both inside and outside of school. Within Google Classroom you can create classes, distribute assignments, post materials, and announcements, communicate and stay organized. It is a great tool to use that saves you time, is easy to set up, and is affordable.  Students can be added to a classroom by a private code or automatically through a school domain. Students can submit their assignments and post questions they have or add to discussions within the classroom.

I used Google Classroom a lot throughout my time in high school and I found it a really great tool. It makes it easy to see assignments that your teachers give you and various materials that are useful for the course. I like how you can ask a question or start a discussion on Google Classroom, this allows you to collaborate with your peers. In class today we created our own classroom to see how easy it is to create one. For someone not very tech-savvy it was very easy to set up and to add materials within your classroom. Google Classrooms is a great tool to stay connected with your students and is a paperless way to give assignments and materials. I am definitely going to use Google Classroom when I begin teaching.

Overall, both Twine and Google Classroom are great tech tools (for very different reasons).

 

Week 6 – Charts

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This week I decided to learn how to use the chart function on excel. Charts allow you to better visualize your data and the relationships between the data.

To add in a chart to your Excel worksheet, you highlight the data on your worksheet that you want to be included, then you click on the charts tab and select the chart of your choice. You have many options of chart types, such as column, line, pie, bar, area, and scatter and within each of these categories there are even more options like 2D or 3D.

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To practice using the charting function, I chose to do a 3D pie chart. Each chart contains multiple different elements – title, axis, labels, a legend, and gridlines. You have the choice of showing these elements or hiding them. You can also choose their location and the formatting of each one. Once you have decided on the chart you want you select it and your data will enter into your chart automatically. From here you can customize your chart and the various different elements by double-clicking on the chart. In my example, I chose to change the background of the chart to make it more fun and chose to show my legend in the top right corner (example shown below). You can adjust the size and the placement of your title and your legend. To fix other layout stuff click on chart layout from here you can choose if you want a title, a legend, labels, etc. For example, if you click the chart title it gives you the option of no title, title at top or title at the bottom if you choose to have a title you click the one you want and it appears on your graph. It will say chart title but you change that by clicking on the text box and then typing in your title. Screen Shot 2018-10-30 at 7.39.55 PM.png

As you can see there are many elements of the graphing function, but once you have played around with it a little it is easy to use and really helps you to clearly visualize your data. This is one function in particular that now I know how to use it, I will use it a lot.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned to learn about the calendar function next week!

References:

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-build-excel-graph

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/create-a-chart-from-start-to-finish-0baf399e-dd61-4e18-8a73-b3fd5d5680c2#OfficeVersion=macOS

Week 5 – Inserting Tables

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Another function in excel that I began to explore this week was the table function. Tables allow you to quickly and easily analyze your data by sorting and filtering your data within the table. You can insert a table into any of your Excel worksheets. Inserting these tables allows for many features that will help you organize your data.

To insert a table into your worksheet, click any single cell inside the dataset then go to the tables tab and from here click on new. There are many different style options that you can choose from. Once you have chosen the one you want you now have a well-organized table. Now that you have created a table you can sort through your data by the category of your choice. After choosing the category you wish to sort your data by you can choose to sort it by ascending or descending. For example, in my table, if I chose to sort my data by names I could choose either A-Z or Z-A. If I were to do it by age I could choose to sort it by highest to lowest, or lowest to highest. In the picture below I sorted my data by age from lowest to highest

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Data Sorted by Age (Youngest – Oldest)

Another function you can do is filtering. You can filter your data within a table. For example, if you wanted to see a specific part of your data then you can specify what you want to see. To do this you click on the arrow next to the category you want to filter by and then click the item you are using to filter your data. By doing this it will show you all the data that has that item in it, but it does not erase your other data, it is still there just hidden. For example, in my worksheet, I filtered my data by the category age and I choose to do 20. This showed me a list of my friends who were 20 (picture is shown below).

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Data Filtered by Age of 20

Lastly, you can also calculate things from your table, such as an average, or a sum, etc. If you had a sales category and wanted to calculate the total amount then you would add in another row and call it total, and at the bottom of the sales category you would write in =SUM and click all the cells you want to include. I practiced this function on my table and calculated the total of everyone’s ages combined (see picture below).

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Sum of Ages Calculated

Overall, I learned a lot of useful tips this week about inserting tables into an Excel worksheet. Once you have created a table there are many functions you can use which allow you to easily analyze, sort and filter your data, which will be of use to me. In these past weeks, I already feel much more confident in my ability to create and effectively use an Excel worksheet

Stay tuned to learn more basic functions of Excel 🙂

References:

https://www.excel-easy.com/data-analysis/tables.html

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/video-create-a-table-bf0ce08b-d012-42ec-8ecf-a2259c9faf3f

 

Week 2: Learning how to sort and filter data

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After learning the basics of an Excel workbook, I felt confident enough to go a step further. For this week, I decided to learn how to sort and filter data.

Within your Excel workbook, you can filter your data, which means cutting down a large set of data to a smaller set that satisfies certain criteria you specify. To filter your lists, place your cursor within your data table and then go to the data tab and click on the filter option. This will put drop-down arrows beside the heading of each column and from there you can click on the arrow to open up the filter dialogue to choose what you want to filter your data set too. Press ok for the narrowed down list. This is a very useful tool because none of your data will get erased, the original data set is still there it just filters what you want to see. Once you know how to use this feature it is easy to use!

You can also quickly and easily sort through large sets of data. This function can be used to alphabetize lists, order sales number by value, or screen down lists to a smaller amount of items based on criteria you specify. To sort a list you position your cursor in the header cell of the column that you want to sort then you go to the data tab and click the quick sort button and select the cell that you want to organize your list too. After learning how to use this function I inputted some random things into a workbook to see how it works. It is easy to use and is a helpful time-saving tool. In my example (pictured below) I organized the data by genre.

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Before I sorted my data
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After I sorted my data

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more excel tips next week 🙂

Social Media Concerns/ Usage as an Aspiring Teacher

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Social-Media-e1518208936600.pngWith an increase in technology use over the past few years, social media has become more and more popular. Sites such as Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, and Snapchat are all being used for creating and sharing ideas/content and for communication. With the popularity of these websites come many safety and privacy concerns, which many people are unaware of.

In our Technology Innovation class, we had guest speaker Jesse Miller come in to talk to us about the concerns of social media with kids, social media and the workplace, and the best practices for privacy online.

A few current concerns of social media with kids is how it is continuing to get younger and younger, it makes them feel special, and there is increased affirmations. There has been an increase in the presence of primary aged students on social media platforms. Without proper knowledge of privacy and safety online this can be a huge issue for kids. Another concern is how it makes them feel special, this makes them want to keep using it and keep adding friends etc. Lastly, children see a lot of the positives of social media such as there favorite Youtube stars making tons of money from creating these videos and they think “I can do that too”, which has its pros and cons but it could lead to a decrease in their academic involvement.

Social media use is also related to the workplace. Social media can be used to search up future employers. This is why your privacy and what you post on social media is a big issue. It is important to balance your personal life with your professional expectations. Especially being a teacher, many students will be searching you up so you want to be cautious of what they will find.

One major focus of social media privacy is digital rights. Before posting pictures, videos, etc. you need the consent of anyone who is featured in that photo. As a teacher, it is important to note that if you are taking a picture of your class you need three levels of consent: the students, the parents, and the school. If a student does not want to be featured in the photo you can use image editing to, for example, put an emoji over their face to keep their privacy respected. To keep your own privacy you should be making sure to read the privacy statements of the platforms you are reading so you know what you are signing into and be aware of how you can make your account more private. You need to have an understanding of what the consequences of using these platforms are.

One topic that Jesse talked a bit about was gaming and the world around that. I did not know a lot about gaming as I am not a gamer myself so this was very informative for me. We learned about a streaming service called Twitch where there are live videos of people playing video games that others can join into and watch. I also learned that there are tons of gaming tournaments that go on around the world where the winner can make up to millions of dollars. This is relevant for me as a teacher candidate as elementary children love video games and gaming is very prevalent in their lives.

Overall social media has a very large presence in many peoples lives and needs to be used with caution and understanding. We should be open about these platforms and have open dialogues with employees, co-workers, friends, and family.

 

 

Tech Tool Review – Google Apps for Education (GAFE)

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Google Apps for Education (GAFE) also called G Suite is a tool available for teachers and schools for free. It allows people to collaborate and communicate with their peers, teachers, and colleagues. These apps include Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs and Sites.

Some ways that Google apps are being used in schools are to easily manage your classroom by creating classes, distributing assignments or quizzes, giving feedback to students and having everything organized in one place. It is simple to operate and you can manage it with confidence. Students and teachers can collaborate anywhere and anytime by co-editing documents and presentations.  Another way it can be used is to compose to-do lists, set task reminders, and to organize your schedule. Google apps enables you to communicate in many different ways, such as email, chat, video conference or you can even create your own website. The reasons why educators choose to use GAFE is because it is easy, affordable, versatile and impactful. The only downside to using Google apps is that it is absolutely necessary to have access to a device, which often some kids don’t.

The tool website is: https://edu.google.com/intl/en_ca/k-12-solutions/g-suite/?modal_active=none

We already use numerous Google apps, therefore we would both consider using it in our classrooms.

GAFE is widely tweeted about and discussed on almost every social media platform.

Below are some helpful video tutorials and resources:

 

~ Elissa and Eliza

Learning goals for my open inquiry

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The goal of my open inquiry/passion project is to explore a topic that has always been of interest to me, but I have never taken the time to research and find out more about. Something I have always wanted to learn more about is healthy eating and nutrition. This inquiry project is the perfect opportunity for me to research more information on this topic. With healthy eating becoming more mainstream there have been many new diets introduced and I am interested to see if these new diets are really good for you, or if they have just become more of a fad. I am also going to research the effects of cutting out certain food groups from your diet. I have created a schedule of what I will be talking about each week.

Week 1: Effects of cutting out artificial sugar / what artificial sugar does to your body

Week 2: Effect of cutting out dairy / what dairy does to your body (good or bad)

Week 3: Effect of cutting out alcohol / what it does to your body

Week 4: Effect of cutting out sodium / what it does to your body

Week 5: Effect of cutting out gluten / what it does to your body

Week 6: Are juice cleanses good or bad for your diet?

Week 7: Is going vegan a healthy choice for your diet?

Week 8: Is the keto diet a healthy choice?

Week 9: Is intermittent fasting a healthy diet choice?

Week 10: Reflect back on the research I have done and create a one-week meal plan for myself from what I have learned

To help me create my schedule and organize it effectively I used an app called trello (shown below), which is a project management website that allows you to create lists for your inquiry topic, your to do, your doing, and your done. It is extremely helpful and easy to use!

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Stay tuned for information regarding these topics 🙂