Post #4

The World Wide Web is an exciting and highly dynamic medium that has revolutionized the way people access information. You can display information on virtually any topic you can imagine, if you know the URL. Because finding information can be a massive chore if you do not know the URL or how to use Web search tools, the textbook offers three different resources to help you locate information and useful Web sites. First, they presented The Guide to World Wide Web Sites, which provides specific information about a variety of Web pages organized in 15 different areas of interest (examples: Finance, Travel, Entertainment). These are designed to provide you with an overview of what is available on the Web. The text also provided a variety of search techniques, including both how to use subject directories and search engines to find educationally appropriate Web sites. Successful searching of the Web involves two key steps: (1) Briefly describing the information you are seeking by identifying the main concept and determine any synonyms and (2) Use the brief description with a search tool to display links to pages containing the desired information. The two most common search tools are subject directories and search engines. Last, was provided an extensive list of popular education search tools with a brief description of each. Examples of these include Ask Jeeves, Learning Page and Education World.
In the previous class, I learned a lot about the Inspiration program and how it works. Before this assignment, I had never had to design a concept map and had absolutely no idea how to include any of the required elements. However, after working with the program and completing the assignment, I learned what a node was, how to create one, how to make lines, arrows and texts in line, how to insert shapes/images and how to insert a web link. I also found it interesting how you could see the concept map in two different formats: an actual digram or a written outline. I found the second concept map to be a little bit more difficult in the way that it had to make sense logically rather than just demonstrating technological proficiency.
I learned much more from the text that went beyond just using the World Wide Web. For example, I never knew the difference between the Local Area Network (which covers a limited geographical area such as a school or office) and the Wide Area Network (which covers a large geographical region such as a city or school network). These networks are beneficial because administrators, teachers, and students can share computer hardware, software and data resources. This allows administrators, teachers, and students to instantly access the unlimited educational resources available on the Internet and communicate with other educators and students all around the world. I believe that knowing this kind of information will be very useful when I am an educator.