Week Seven - Software

For this entry, we who are not teachers are supposed to use educational software we have seen used by others. Unfortunately for me, practically all of my classes, excluding the present online courses, have only ever been very basic in regards to educational technology. As an elementary student I still remember playing educational games such as Mathblaster or about half-a-dozen speed typing programs whose names I cannot remember (probably something along the lines of early 1990’s pseudo-hipster language – “Rad-Typing!!” or “CoolKeys ‘92”). The only software I still remember in any detail is Microsoft Office, specifically Microsoft Word which has been the standard word processing software for many institutions for as long as I am able to recall.

Microsoft Word, of all the word processing programs of which I am aware, is probably the most all-inclusive. Regrettably, this is also a fairly dull topic as little can be said about Word that has not already been said. There are many basic functions for which Word can be used, including typing out this blog post, editing it, adding a large assortment of special features I might wish to add (but don’t), changing the font or the color of the text or even applying special effects to the text, copying the document then pasting it (which is what I do on blogspot whenever I finish the text documents for this class) or cutting and pasting, correcting any grammatical or spelling errors, and even discovering how many letters you have typed. Word is not limited to just being used to type essays or papers, however. Once one really becomes familiar with the program, they could make newsletters, flyers, posters, emails, calendars, letterheads, flash cards, brochures, and booklets, all of which can of course be used in the classroom either for or by students or teachers.

Editing documents is incredibly simple as much of the process finishes automatically as the user is typing. With the ability to change font and add notes, this reduces the time it takes for the instructor to fiddle with each individual paper and bring the students’ attention to various aspects of rules of grammar or more specific topic-related issues.

Perhaps the greatest advantage of Microsoft Word is its digital form. In this, the so-called Digital Age, information transported in the digital form is done so nearly instantaneously and can be communicated almost anywhere at practically any time. Physically, too, there are numerous handheld devices that can be kept on one’s person if security or portability is needed. All in all, this represents a highly versatile tool that is simple enough to learn at any age, while still being practical and retaining high functionality.