Week 2: Some applications of Microsoft Office.

This week we used Microsoft Publisher to make a travel brochure. I made my brochure about Canada as i have always wanted to visit there (you can see my final brochure above). It was great to be able to choose my own topic and explore my own interests further. I will have to keep this experience in mind for my future teaching- that learning is much more engaging when you are relating it back to something that interests you. 

It seems there are so many situations in teaching where we are telling our students what they have to know. Aside from being more engaging, I think letting students pick their own topic is a great way to let students think about whats important to them and develop their own sense of identity. It won't always be practical as there are certain topics we have to cover in the curriculum but I will be looking for opportunities to give students some freedom. Choosing a topic for the products they create whilst learning how to use new programs is one way it can be incorporated.

Aside from exploring and researching a topic, getting students to design their own brochure is a good way to get them to consider the conventions of brochures and develop their creativity and design skills. There is also a little maths involved as they have to think about which order the flat pages they see on screen will appear once they are folded into a brochure. This activity also gives them practice at considering the audience and purpose of their projects.

This week we also started an ePortfolio using Microsoft Publisher, you can see an example of mine below.

The ePortfolio has a number of applications: 

A teacher could use it to show off examples of their work and technology skills when applying for a job.

Our students can use it to show their work off to parents, but also to keep track of how they have progressed over time, by giving them a visual representation of their improvement. This gives children some responsibility for their own learning. At the same time it is building the student's proficiency with technology. The ePortfolio is also a useful tool for the teacher to track a student's progress, and for the student's next teacher to get an idea of the student's prior knowledge and skill level.

Other benefits of using an ePortfolio rather than a paper one are the befits to the environment and budget as less paper and ink are used.