Journey into Educational Technology
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The Boomers Adventures in Technology

Boomer's Learning to maneuver through using current technology

An IT specialist was asked by our church, Cathedral of Faith COGIC, to serve as a computer training instructor for a volunteer program at a senior citizen’s residence home in the mid-city as a part of the Women's Mission Auxiliary Group. This would be an outreach sponsored by that group as an extension of their community program. I serve as her assistant and together we are helping other mature adults to become familiar with using computers, tablets, and smart phones.


Session IX –What I am learning

4/25/2017

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It is a very unique thing that teaching, can be.  You set out to teach others to bring their individual metacognitive levels and skills up and dang if you don’t look around and you’ve increased your own personal knowledge and metacognitive level. I set out on this journey to help other senior citizens to increase their computer literacy so that they will not feel left out of this fast moving computer age. I did not want them to feel as I did when the new century flipped over; that I was I still stuck in the old. Thank goodness for my daughter.  She insisted that I learn these skills and use them in my everyday life.  So I came into the 21st century “kicking and screaming” that I was not ready and didn’t want to be ready! But I am an educator and I had taken any number of computer technology and literacy classes for knowledge and proficiency but was still dragging my feet when it came to application of what I was forced and sometimes eager to learn.  Knowledge without practice is just a lead weight around your head.
                    The only source of knowledge is experience.  Albert Einstein
This session of class with the senior residents was so invigorating to me!  Watching people learn and actually get what they are trying to learn is so exciting and energizing.  I was smiling the whole night as we went through reviewing the previous lessons concepts.  Just watching the students being able to really understand.  The class instructor’s favorite statement to them is “this is what’s going to blow your grandkids mind about what you know how to do!”  And they just laugh!  They all want to be smarter than a 5th grader.  

I read an Association of Literacy Education & Researchers (ALER) proposal were they were trying to help increase elementary student’s literacy in computer usage.   It dealt with a web-based print and media format to help children in 1st-5th grades with online reading.  It’s funny, I have the same problems with the senior adult class that I assist teaching at the evening computer literacy class.  They show the same inabilities that was discussed in this proposal. They listed children as having the following difficulties: lack of knowledge of terminology, orientation of layout of a website, direction of print, website navigation, knowledge of online print and media, synthesis of information, evaluation of information and digital skills. According to Coiro & Dobler, 2007 understanding online text can be a complex process for learners.

These adults are not a part of the digital age and therefore lack basic literacy skills in this area. It just shows that age is not the determining factor, but cognitive knowledge to build metacognitive skills. They also have problems like the first graders with evaluating online information and how to conduct an internet search. Also, they have little knowledge of how to bookmark a website or how to share a website with others. Many of them have laptops that their families purchased and they have no idea why they can’t get them to work.  They have no virus definitions to protect their devices and a few can’t remember the password, their family member put on them, in order to get into the device once they turned them on. This study showed that the 5th graders were more apt but still fell short on many skills needed to be considered computer literate.

I am so proud of these ladies because they are determined not to be left behind.  They are vibrant and eager to learn how to add these skills to the cognitive knowledge bank.  They are going to leave their grandchildren in the dust.  They are learning not only how the computer works but why it works the way it does and how best to use it in their lives.

For out next session we are assisting them in getting a Pinterest account.  Just showing them a little taste of the things they can see on the site made them excited for the next session.  They are learning but they have realized that it is work but fun work.  They do all assigned homework that the instructor gives and always come to class with more questions and what if’s. I believe we will all become smarter than a 5th grader.
 
References

ALER 2017 Conference. (2017). Concepts of Web-based Print and Media.
Coiro, J., & Dobler, E. (2007). Exploring the onling comprehension strategies used by sixth-grade skilled readers to search for and locate information on the Internet. Reading Research Quarterly, 214-257.

 Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_knowledge.
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Session VIII - Protecting your computer

4/7/2017

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This session was dedicated to understanding the icons found on the ribbon of the computer and what each means as well as how to use them.  Discussion was also done on virus prevention and the use of virus software to protect your computer  when surfing the internet.

We talked about the importance of having a virus protection software for your computer and exactly what they are designed to do, how they protect your technology, and what their average cost can be. The top five antivirus software are: Total AV (Ultimate Antivirus 2017, with a 5 star rating) which has a website protection score of 9.9; ScanGuard (Security Suite, 4 ½ star rating) with a score of 9.7; Norton (by Symantec, 3 ½ star rating) score of 8.9; PCProtect (Antivirus Pro 2017, 4 ½ star rating) score of 8.8; KASPERSKY lab, 3 ½ star rating) score of 8.7, all vary in cost and features.

The fact that the resident’s computer center does not have a virus protection actively working is why they are having so many problems with their computer systems.  We plan to make sure the director reinstates their virus protection and that it stays active. With so many residents using the computers and surfing the internet this leaves them open to all kinds of cyber attacks.

We further discussed firewalls and some of the different types of Firewall protection that is available. Also, why large organizations and lending institutions such as credit unions and banks use firewalls. The best top antivirus systems for Windows are:  1.) McAfee 9.8 rating 5 star; 2.) Norton 9.4, 5 star; 3.) Bitdefender 9.1, 4 star; 4.) Kaspersky lab 8.7, 4.5 star; 5.) Trend Micro 8.3, 3.5; ESET 8.3, 3.5 star; 6.)BullGuard 8.1, 4 star; 7.) Avira 7.8, 5 star; 8.) Panda 7.5, 4 star.  All of these are designed to help keep your identity safe and offer the best anti-virus software available in the US. They offer all types of personal firewalls, anti-phishing, anti-Trojan, anti-spam, anti-spyware, anti-malware that is available for the private individual.

The instructor gave them a short briefing on how “malware” works and how it protects your computer  from viruses along with other forms of malicious software that can be created by unscrupulous users. We talked on a small scale about what “worms,” “ransomware,”  “trojan horses,” “keyloggers,” “rootkits,” “spyware,” “adware,” malicious “BJOs” (Browser Helper Objects) and other types of infamous malicious software.  Also, how in recent years these systems have invaded large company systems and stolen or corrupted their operating systems. This discussion was not meant to frightened, but inform so that they will be aware of  what’s out there that could cause them financial lost, invade their personal life or cause an inability to use their devices.

References:
BullGuard. (2017, April 17). Retrieved from BullGuard.com: A Definition of Malware 

Top 10 AntiVirsus Software.com. (2017, April 18). Retrieved from Top 10 Antivirus Software of 2017: http://www.top10antivirussoftware.com

Top Business Compare. (2017, April 17). Top Five Antivirus Businesses. Retrieved from Top Business Compare
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Session VII - More Computers to Come!

4/7/2017

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Good News! The center found money through a grant to supply the group with six laptops and they plan to move us to a larger room.  We are so excited.  The ladies can hardly contain themselves. It will take about another month before everything is settled, but we are glad to know we will have a larger space and therefore more students and more computers.  Many problems will be solved with this new space.  We won’t have to share computers and there will be more room for more students to join the class.

We have figured out a way to get password books for the ladies.  I will just make them. We could not find a size that would have enough space for them to write that was large enough and bold enough for their viewing. If I make our own it will be exactly what they need and without too many places for entries on each page, therefore it would be easily readable. My plan is to get them ready for our next session.

This week we further explored what is found in the Word document and how to center text using the centering text part of the tool bar. We also practice changing the font and enlarging the text. The class spent time practicing how to maneuver through these task and was given a practice assignment so that they can become more familiar with how it works. We gave them a handout sheet with icons normally used and an explanation of why and how they are used.

The Q & A (question and answer) session to check for understanding went very well and they were surprised as to all the many things they were able to recall with so few sessions under their belts. Practice assignments were given and it was rewarding to watch them use their notebooks to record important information that they did not want to forget.
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    Batiste, Nona

    www.linkedin.com/in/nonabatiste/I am a forty-five year veteran teacher who retired from teaching Environmental Science at an inner city Nature Preserve. Currently working on a doctorate in Informal Learning with the use of technology in a museum setting.
     www.linkedin.com/in/nonabatiste/

    Turner, Terrih-Angelah

    Instructor, with more than fifteen years experience in IT, who is currently employed as a manager at DART.  You can find her credentials on https://www.linkedin.com/in/tbturner/

    Program Sponsored by:
    Cathedral of Faith COGIC
    3500 House Anderson Road, Euless, TX 76040
    Pastor: Bishop J. E. Hornsby
    https://www.cathedraloffaithdfw.org

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  • Home
  • Philosophy
    • Educational Philosophy
    • Technology Philosophy
    • Thoughts on Technology Philosophy >
      • LP: Where Did They Come From
      • LP-They Came from Outer Space
      • Tutorial - Using Nearpod
  • Informed Decision-Making
  • Museum Tech
  • Portfolio
  • Integrated Communication
    • Design & Technology
    • Technology Intergration & Communication >
      • Games & Simulations ETEC 526
      • Protopage ETEC 527
      • ETEC 561 IDT
  • Adult Informal Learning
    • Computer Literacy Lesson Plans
    • PP Adult Literacy Class
  • Contact