Upon reflecting on this week's assignments, I found that it allowed us to experience the use of two categories of educational computer software (as discussed in the text) - Administrative Software (tools that help the teacher with classroom management functions) and Academic Software (tools that help both the teacher and students complete tasks related to instruction delivery, learning, and demonstrating content mastery). The various tasks that teachers and students complete as they navigate course content and curriculum instruction require the use of these software. As there are an endless number of software tools that are available for supporting classroom activities, it is also important to know the purpose for using these tools prior to implementing them. Each tool used should have a purpose. Creating the Lesson Plan provided the opportunity to take a logical and step by step approach of assessing the lesson's objectives and intended outcomes, and then developing a plan for the content to be covered, and the activities that support the content. With this plan, research could be conducted to find the right software that could help achieve learning objections and create interactive learning experiences for students. The development on presentation, and lesson material using Google Docs provided an experience of an alternative solution for educational software upon conducting a needs assessment and recognizing that students did not have the software (Microsoft Office) that most people might take for granted - assuming that most people have it. This was a good way of presenting one of the many challenges that will be faced in the classroom.
Google Drive App Experience
The use of the Google software tools provided an average grade of A alternative to the commonly used Microsoft Office software applications. The only reason I do not give it an A+ is because I found that when working in googles Doc, there were some functionalities that were missing that exist in Microsoft or not as user friendly (inserting drawings, tables, graphics). In addition, it does not have the more advanced assistive technology features as Microsoft Office has, therefore, providing some limitations for use by to students that do not have certain disabilities. However, i do believe that Google has come out with at Text-to-Speech browser app that can be purchased in the Chrome stores that adds assistive feature functions to the current Docs.
When using Google forms, although I find it AWESOME for all the different tasks you can accomplish with it, however, once you've used a program such as Qualtrics, it's hard to not miss some of the more advanced survey functions. BUT I will say that developing my survey was for the most part a smooth process, once I understood the application's capabilities. I have prior experience using google docs and presentation software for course projects and presentations, so I understand the value that this tool has for collaboration (which I give a grade A++ for that feature). This feature allowed for seamless collaboration among our group members. Each of us were able to provide our input, and allowed those with more expertise use to provide strong feedback and offer guidance. Additional features that I enjoy when using Google Drive applications are: it acts as a document management station, instantly auto-saves working documents, ample of storage space, and documents are accessible anytime, and anywhere there is an Internet connection (minimal system requirements). All of these features can help simplify the life of a busy teacher, and allow the teacher to spend more time focusing on retrieving content matter that will best meet the learning objectives.