Types and Functions of Application Software - Assignment Example

Production of a portfolio of educational and/or professional resources using ICT Name: Institution: Course: Tutor: Date: A portfolio is a focused compilation of student work that demonstrates the student's efforts, improvement, and achievements in one or more areas of the curriculum. The collection must include the following: · Student participation in choosing contents, criterion for selection, criteria for judging plus points and evidence of a student's self-reflection. Background Orientation:             Teaching challenges have become more intricate and as society’s expectations towards schools have amplified, it has become apparent that, teaching simple guidelines or formulas widely and uniformly is not sufficient enough for responding effectively to the needs of the varied group of students. Rather it has appeared that successful teachers address the complex challenges by putting into consideration every case in light of their professional knowledge and by reflecting as insightfully as possible in order to make the best professional judgement in such a responsible and ethical manner (Brown, & Irby,2001). Experiences of using computer software This chapter presents an overview and benefits of the major types and functions of application software that are always available to computer users. Information systems depend on software resources to help final users use computer hardware to transform data into a variety of information products. Software’s are needed to accomplish the input, processing, output, storage, and controlling activities of information systems. The software is typically classified into two: •Application Software - Programs that direct the performance of a particular use, or application, of computers in order to meet the information processing needs of end users. •System Software - Programs that manages and support the resources and operations of a computer system while its performing various information processing tasks. (1)Application software are called application packages because they direct the Processing required for a particular use, or application, that end users want accomplished. Examples include: Business Applications - accounting, sales management, transaction processing, electronic commerce, etc. Science and Engineering Applications – research and development   Personal Applications – finance and home management Education and Entertainment Applications – schools, learning institutions, DVD movies Others are of general-purpose application programs that perform common information processing jobs for end users. Examples include: • Word processing programs, Spreadsheet programs, Database management programs, Graphics programs • Web browsers, Electronic mail, Groupware etc. Some advantages of integrated packages that I have come across are: • Combination of some of the functions of several programs into one software package. • They require a relatively less disk space than software suites. • Can are relatively cheap i.e. cost less than a hundred dollars. • Are usually pre-installed on many low-end microcomputer systems. • Many integrated packages have enough functions and features for many computer users. Example of a spreadsheet working: Name age level total fee paid balance Abrose A. John 4 Pre-primary 10000 7466 2534 Jacinta B. Blair 3 Pre-primary 10000 2356 7644 Chris Modis 6 Pre-primary 10000 7876 2124 Marion Zipporah 5 Pre-primary 10000 5432 4568 My journey so far has been successful; I love motor sports and education fitness. I love organizing groups which has greatly built my social life; I do also enjoy visiting the gym and attending swimming. I love swimming since it refresh my mind and thus well manages my professional interests. I am a member of several organizations set up to bring students together as a way to brainstorm one another in terms of ideas, thoughts as well as giving opinions. Reflection Using various innovative technologies has showed me how pupils cooperate with technology, and how beneficial it is for students with an assortment of learning needs. I have found it motivating in teaching pupils the skills they usually learn in a traditional style which most of the time is about reiterating what the teacher is saying. Deep learning is achieved as the child feels involved and is willing to contribute (Dixon, & Dixon, 2003). Active learning approaches are effective solutions to instigate and engage learners and foster motivation, as they contribute to exploration and analysis. Preparing of children certificates pertaining to different fields is one way that really motivates children. These are some of the certificates I prepared for my preschool children; I am witnessing a shift in the role of the teacher from merely being the source of all information to a facilitator/moderator of learning thus guiding children towards learning. Pressure is increasing in schools to respond to rapidly changing conditions brought about by improvements in technology. I have been working in preschool for a number of years now. Over this time I had developed an interest in Information Communication Technology (ICT) and this has led to seeing how ICT can fit in the preschool teaching setting in a meaningful way. The school am currently teaching is equipped with a number of computers, digital cameras, a video camera, a photocopier, a laminator and a spiral binder for the children to use. These are some of the computers we use: Interest in ICT between the teachers and the students is a long storytelling, which came about through the use of Learning Stories. This makes children’s assessments possible not only to parents but also to children as well and in this article I share the story of my interaction with children as their teacher. Many children in the preschool shared their interest in, and development of ICT. Many of the preschool children are in the age of 4-6 years old. Most of the children have an amazing sense of humor and are keen to share stories by way of conversation with the teacher. This is kid pix. I worked with the children using Kid Pix, showing them some of the tools and how to use them. I first showed them how to draw pictures using drawing tools and how to save the pictures on slide show. The children usually learned this quickly and it had developed further within a short time. rther. With my support, some of the children were able to make a story book by typing the word themselves and used Kid Pix to draw their pictures and inserted them in a slide show, and then they had to photograph each of the pictures and made book covers from them. It became apparent that the children became interested in the design aspect of their stories. My Engaging Classroom "I can teach a lot to respectful students, I can “I listen I forget. And I only make them imagine." I focus I reflect. -- Dominic I do I understand.” Kevin Mosh, Militon North Primary School http://thcw.edublogs.org/. This is a blog I generated so that I can share and remember with my strategies to effective classroom management. Since I am aware of ways regarding classroom management am confident in my ability to implement and use technology. Software classroom implementation benefits my children such as interactive dartboards, digital cameras throughout their life. I enjoy working with technology and it is important that students have familiarized technology and made it a focus on my most recent teaching classes. After an insightful interaction with the children, I have prepared a report letter to take to the parents regarding the students’ achievements. This has supported teaching and learning by providing feedback to students, teachers and parents. I am aware of practices and tools for conducting parent teacher interviews which has strengthened my other stakeholders. I am familiar with report cards and how important it is to provide achievement feedback. On lessons where students do struggle with an aspect of calculations, I make sure I include time at the beginning of the lesson so that I reflect and discuss the lesson to help clear up misconceptions by my students. This is a sample of a letter to parents. Student Progress Report Letter to Parents   Date  Dear Parent: I have enclosed a report regarding your child’s progress in meeting the goals in his or her Individual Education Program (IEP).  This report will let you to see how your child is making progress towards mastering the targets by the end of the school year.  Have a look at the column on “Mastery Criteria Level”.  The percentage (%) written indicates your child’s level of performance in relation to the previous grading.   The following is an explanation of the evaluation codes: C              Continued – this indicates your child’s continuation on the goal set. D              Discontinued – this means that the objective is not appropriate for your child at the moment. M             Mastered – This means your child has effectively completed this objective. N              Not initiated – this indicates your child’s failure to work on this goal. Please check to see your child how he/she is performing and whether he/she meets the set targets. I will be sending a copy of the same each grading year and you will assess your child’s performance. Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate calling me. Sincerely, Pre- School Teacher Conclusion Videos are effective tool of teaching since many students prefer video teaching rather than face to face teaching. This is because the students will be a position to comprehend the information more effectively. Although videotaped content is not an effective vehicle for instruction it increases learners motivation and interest in course material. This is because the learner is able to tape his or her own work and thus can note on his or her performances by watching and reflecting upon their recordings. Using videos as reflective diaries can promote critical thinking and reflection and thus it enhances learning development. Also the ability to see oneself perform can be beneficial and revealing for the learner. For example in teaching children a foreign language one can use computer video capture to record students’ behaviour during their audio conferencing study, the recordings can be an effective tool in assisting students to visualize and subsequently they can know and correct their errors. The use of a kidpix is another important tool as the children get to know diverse ways of representing their artistic work in form of pictures. This brings the students together as they are able to work in groups, it enhances team work and this greatly motivates the students. The children’s level of performance improves as their artistic skills improve and this prepares them for other greater and complex work ahead. The children are able to learn quickly with the use of this kidpix as they are able to draw pictures and later insert them in a slideshow. Microsoft word program is very important in today’s living for example in letter writing. Letter writing is a method of communication that can be used by one to send the messages to one’s dear ones. Another method of sending information which involves the knowledge of Microsoft word is emails. Emails are more efficient and quick method of communication as compared to letters. There are certain situations when the use of letters is preferred to the emails and the method of the letters is chosen mostly by the companies for official purposes. Emails have an advantage over the letters because the information can easily be accessed easily and can’t be mishandled. Emails require an output devices i.e a computer and also being access to the internet. Therefore with the use of such technology, students are in a position to acquire various skills that empower them explore and develop in terms of technology usage and application. It also helps students manage self guided studies which are a vital strategy in learning and also make what they are taught in class in a movie video and they find it very interesting and this way they get motivated to learn. This often improves their level of understanding as well as their scope of perception. References Barrett, H. (2008). Electronic Portfolios for learning blog. [Retrieved in April 13, 2009 from: http://electronicportfolios.org/blog/2008/07/necc-2008-update.html Brown, G. & Irby, B. (2001). The principal portfolio 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Dixon,C., & Dixon, K.(2003). An evaluation of a professional portfolio project for principals in Kilbane, R., & Milman, B. (2003). The digital teaching portfolio handbook. Boston: Pearson educational publishers. Western Australia. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Higher Education Research and Development Society (HERDSA), Christchurch: New Zealand. Read More