Unit 10 - ICT to Support...

It is important to realize that while today's digital students are more comfortable with technology in general, most likely, they do not know how to use productivity applications effectively. For example, many of your students may not know how to use the font formatting features available in Microsoft Word. Even fewer will understand or have experience using Microsoft Excel. Some may have experience with PowerPoint, but again, you may be surprised at what they don't know. Your students need to develop their digital literacy skills as well, and the more you develop yours, the better you can prepare them.

• Microsoft's Partners in Learning Network (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. - Many great resources and ideas are available at this site. Be sure to check out some of the Teacher Guides!
• Microsoft Office Product How-Tos for Teachers (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. - Learn how to use Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, and Publisher. Gather ideas for how to integrate these software applications into your classroom. Links to tutorials and lesson plans are also available.
• Internet4Classrooms Microsoft Office Tutorials (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. - Many detailed tutorials on Microsoft Office (and more!) programs designed for teachers by teachers!
• Mathematics for Students and Teachers (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. is a research project with many facets and resources created by the Canadian Mathematical Society.

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Productivity software is a tool such as Excel, Power Point, Word, Kid Pix, publisher, and many more. These programs enhance a teacher’s lesson plan and allow the teacher to take their students beyond textbooks and boring lectures. For example, Excel is a productivity tool that can be very helpful in teaching situation dealing with math and science. Excel possesses the ability to change numerical data and put it in the form of a graph in a matter of seconds. This technique allows the teacher to show the difference in the results of an experiment or survey using a graph or chart. This visual picture is just as important as the numerical data. Some children are visual learners and they may not be able to comprehend the difference of the data without seeing it in a chart or graph. 

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 We learned about three specific productivity tools:

Word Processing. Word Processing is a software program that creates documents using text and/or graphics. An example would be Microsoft Word.

Spreadsheets. Spreadsheets quickly organize numerical information and allows the creator to input formulas into the spreadsheet for easy calculation. An example would be Microsoft Excel.

Databases. Databases allow the user to save collections of information in one easily accessible place. This allows the user to find information about a specific topic much faster versus searching the internet. An example of a database would be Galileo. 

Microsoft Office is a common productivity software package which includes Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Pages is the Mac productivity tool equivalent to Microsoft word. Productivity tools are used all over the world by lots of different people for many reasons. Accountants use Excel to create ledgers, teachers use Word to create tests, and Marketers use PowerPoint for presentations and slide shows.
The differences between Productivity Software and Instructional Software is that productivity Software helps users create products such as a word document, excel spreadsheet, power point, etc.; while Instructional Software has already been produced, cannot be changed, and is used to reinforce a lesson. 

Software is among the major tools that can help teaches to make the good teaching aids which help  learners to improve reading comprehension skills which  not only reinforce skills  differentiating  instructions  or boredom  but also  present information in a new and exciting way, or which engage students’ others senses while they fit  to the target of the teachers.  Software’s are as the shortcuts   to create the teaching aids easily and which strengthen the student’s understanding towards the lesson.  And we might use software to create teaching aids which easily target our objectives and which are not boredom. means teaching  which take all student’s attention towards the lesson

 It can be used every day as regular course material, but it can also be used to supplement other existing ESL materials. All teachers need to do is use it once in a while in class, internet provides unique and creative activities that teachers can incorporate into their lesson plans while students build on their English skills using a complete range of multimedia available on the Internet including: 1.Gain Invaluable Research Skills Through Unfamiliar Topics; 2.2        Internet Treasure Hunt; 3.Presentation Assignments; 4.News Tasks; 5.Email Buddies; 6.Surveys.

Use productive software such as word, excel, power point, paint, publish,snipping tools internet,   ...

can help teacher to create professional looking teaching aids because those software can be used in the action bolow;

• Creating an image
• writing numerical data
• Snipping photo or pucture
• creating tables and manipulate some documents
• downloading or creating videos
• presenting and publishing what they have done
• ect

all those actions above can be used as teaching aids during teaching/learning process.

Here are our top 10 teacher software picks, all of which are guaranteed to make your job easier and which you should be using on a daily basis: 1. Gradekeeper We all know how tedious it can be to keep track of scores, attendance, and all of the other information that is relevant to students' progress. If you've been thinking about investing in some assessment software, Gradekeeper will not disappoint you. This teaching software records grades and scores, keeps track of assignments, and even sends progress reports via email. With individual licenses available for $20, there's no reason not to try it. 2. QuizFaber This is a free teacher software that allows you to create a great variety of quizzes in HTML format, but no previous knowledge of HTML or javascript programming is necessary. It creates true or false, multiple choice, and matching quizzes, just to name a few, that you may publish on the Internet or send via email with just a few clicks. 3. VocabMaker This is one AWESOME vocabulary software for making printable worksheets! For a one-year membership fee of $22.99 you can make an astounding variety of printable worksheets and puzzles, like matching exercises, word search, fill in the blanks, crossword puzzles, or even bingo cards, among countless others. 4. Lesson plan maker Need some help organizing your thoughts and putting together a great lesson? MakeWorksheets.com has the answer for you. Besides their great teacher software for making all types of puzzles and worksheets, they also provide members (one-year membership for $29.99) with a handy little lesson plan maker that will help you plan a lesson from your own custom lesson plan format, but there are also several templates to choose from. 5. What2Learn Every ESL teacher knows kids love games. What if you need a series of short computer games to act as time fillers between activities, or to give your students a break from the more serious type of work? And what if you could give your students a game specially designed by you that they can play at home? Look no further than What2Learn! From their website you can make your own fun interactive game with vocabulary or questions chosen by you, which include options like hangman, word search or multiple choice questions. After you make the game, you obtain a code and a URL you can send to your students. All in a matter of minutes! All for free! 6. Booksearch No matter how much technology we use, we still need to cling to our beloved books. Booksearch is a software that allows you to search and find all types of books, even if they are rare or out of print. A great way to save money, as this freeware lets you compare prices before you make your purchase. 7. Bingo Card Printer What would we do without custom made bingo cards? With Bingo Card Printer, you can make your own Bingo cards and choose the size, font, color scheme, or what they say. No need to waste your time with glue and cardboard anymore. In minutes, you'll have the bingo cards you need ready to be printed. You can download a trial version of this great software for teachers for free. 8. Picasa Picasa is a free software developed by Google, an essential image editing tool that will allow you to edit the pictures you have stored in your PC so you may then use them on worksheets, coloring pages, games, flashcards, and all types of activities. You can also create albums to be shared with your students. 9. TestCommander This teacher software is an invaluable tool for creating professional-looking online or printed tests. You can publish tests online, and they’re automatically graded, with the test results sent directly to you. Or create tests that you will administer on paper and print them out. Also, you can send your test database to others. AND it’s available for free download. Pretty amazing, huh? 10. Hilitext This tool will make your Internet research so much easier as it highlights your keywords, thus allowing you to effectively and quickly scan a text for the information you need. It saves time and there’s no need to pore over a long text and make sure you’re not missing anything; the key information will be highlighted for you and in plain sight.

In order to create professional looking teaching aids Productivity softwares can be used in taking videos or audios related to the lesson to be taught/learnt. they can also be used to present data, take photos and snap pictures to be used in a lesson. they are used to create charts, tables any sort of data to be used in a lesson. they are also used to draw digital teaching/learning aids. productivity softwares are also used to produce quality sound and video that look very good and professional in teaching-learning.

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