Blog Journal #3

Hardware of a computer can be categorized into three different categories: input devices, output devices, and storage media. An input device is anything that allows you, the computer user, to put information into the computer. All input devices are controlled by the human and allows you to communicate certain commands. A few examples of input devices are a keyboard, mouse, scanner, microphone, etc. An output device is a piece of hardware that allows you to view information that is being processed on the computer. A monitor and a printer are examples of output devices. These communicate the information being processed in the computer and allows the outside world to see it. Finally there is storage media, which is an outside piece of equipment, such as a USB or a floppy disk, that allows you to save information on a piece of equipment outside of the computer.

Technology is advancing everyday and with the proper instruction it can help to enhance any lesson. Just in a few years the technology in storage devices has increased drastically. Floppy disks use to be the primary source of storing information, but today we use USB memory sticks. They hold more information than floppy disks, and they are more reliable. In addition input devices have advanced in technology as well. For example now there are wireless keyboards and mice that are just as effective and eliminates a lot of the tangles wires. Output devices, such as monitors, have drastically decreased in size and the quality of the picture has increased. Also the clip art and photos available on Microsoft word have increased in quality.

Some skills that I have acquired since the last class was how to use the program Inspiration. Inspiration is a program that allows you to make outlines, webs, and charts in order for you to organize information and understand it better. I have never used this program before until this class, and I find that it will be very useful to teach certain lessons. In class I learned how to create a web to teach someone "How To" do a certain thing, and we also learned how to create a basic web. When creating the web I learned how to change the shape of the bubbles, change the colors, insert clip are, and more features in order to make it more child-friendly. This is a program that will definitely help to organize information, especially when organizing information from a story or a history lesson among many other subjects.