Technology in Physical Education and Coaching

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Technology in Physical Education and Coaching
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Re: Discussion Number Three (3)

I got started using computers in late college. I had to go the computer lab and it was very uncommon for a student to have a laptop computer. I still remember hand writing my lesson plans, which seems so long ago! I bought my first home computer when I got my first job and I can't remember all the specs. I know it was a Hewlett Packard and was outdated as soon as I walked out of the store. For my very first teaching job I didn't have access to a computer and didn't have email either. We still used paper and pencil on cards to take attendance and to grade our students. My second teaching job I had a computer but it was huge and the monitor took up more than half of my desk. It was a mac of some type. About three years into my teaching career we got Mac laptops and we were all in heaven!

Currently I have a Dell computer at home that I rarely use, except to print coupons. Basically it's used for my children to play educational games. I use my laptop from my school for virtually everything that I do at home and at school. It's a Mac laptop, version 10.7.4, 2.5GHz Intel Core i5, 4 GB 1600 MHz DDR3, 13 inch mid 2012 with Mac OS X Lion software. All those numbers don't mean a whole lot to me honestly, I just know that it gets the job done for me! I have access to a printer at home for my home computer and I have wireless access at school for my laptop.

Again, my computer at home only serves to allow me to print coupons at home. I use my work computer for virtually everything I need a computer for. This includes the following: grading, email, communication, videos, social media, research, graduate classes online and word processing. These are the daily activities that I use it for.

There are a few more things I would like to do with my computer that I havent' done forn numerous reasons. I would like to have better access and control over my Smart Board in my classroom. I would like to have a printer in my classroom to be able to print directly to for students that need additional copies etc. for use in class. The only thing I wish I could do with my home computer would be to be able to print to my printer from my school laptop and to have it search faster.

The main thing that is preventing me from being better able to use my Smart Board is fear of failure. I have tried to use it in the past and have had minimal success. I have always run into technical issues that do not allow me to deliver instruction in the way I intended. I also fear wasting class time to present information in this way, if things go wrong and don't work. I don't have a lot of class time and my students seem to get restless while waiting for me to figure out the technical issue.

Ways that I could overcome these barriers is to take a class on how to better use my Smart Board or calling technical support during after school time to come and explain and set up the board for me. I also need to put some additional time into preparing my materials and having a back-up plan in case the lesson and the technology piece doesn't go as planned.

Re: Discussion Number Three (3)

I echo your sentiments about fear of failure with using something new in class. You can feel like you have your ducks in a row and then, some technical issue comes up and, poof, there goes your lesson. I hate to waste class time trying to figure out what I did wrong. I love technology, but I don't like that sometimes when it doesn't work I can't troubleshoot it and have to call our IT guy. Even if it is something I can figure out - time is ticking and kids are waiting.

Re: Discussion Number Three (3)

I started using a computer when I was in 1st grade, circa 1986. The computer I was using was an Apple and it was a DOS (I think) processor. I progressed to Microsoft in the later elementary grades. I used the computer mostly for games (Oregon Trail anyone) and word processing. It wasn't until high school that I was introduced to the World Wide Web and email. I purchased my first personal computer when I went to college in 1999. I don't know much about the specifics of memory or speed, I just knew that I had to have one for all of my school work and social networking (AOL at that time) I currently have a Dell lap top at home and a very dated Dell at school. I have access to an iPhone, iPad, printer, scanner, fax machine, and a kindle. I use technology in almost every aspect of my life. I do everything electronically. One thing I wish I could do with technology would be to upload my pictures from my camera to a website online immediately after taking the picture. I know this can be done with the use of wi-fi but I do not have a camera with wi-fi capability. At school, I wish that I had an endless app store account on my iPad. I am not able to download purchased apps currently on my iPad. I have found many apps that I would like to use but I am not able to purchase due to the school owning the iPad. I would like to see the school allot monies in the future for the purchase of educational apps.

Re: Discussion Number Three (3)

I remember that my first personal computer was from Radio Shack in, maybe 1988? I think it was a Tandy(?) Besides playing a really "cool" computerized Jeopardy, I used it for word-processing, putting all my lesson plans and worksheets, etc on it. I had a dot-matrix printer. Currently, I have a MacBook Pro laptop; an iPad 2, and iPhone 4, and an iTouch. I have an HP printer/scanner at home as well. At work I use a PC desktop with access to several copy/printer/scanners through our network. This summer we will be switching from desktops to HP Thin Clients with docking stations. Each teacher is issued one that they can use to transport between home and school. It is enabled with Citrix so that we can store and access our network and all our school data/programs wherever we are. I haven't tried it yet but the difference is we will not be able to download any programs or data ON the machine. It is simply a conduit. We still have iPads for our use however - that is where I have a lot of the apps I would like to use in PE.
At home, I would like to organize my pictures. That includes the ones that are already digital as well as the physical photos I'd like to scan and add to my digital collection. Two things prevent me from accomplishing that - time and better understanding of how to use my scanner for this project. Perhaps there is a better tool for picture scanning that I need to purchase. Again, time is needed to research such things.
At school, I am just re-entering the classroom after two years of athletic directing so I am not sure what changes or new things I want to add. Ask me again at the end of the school year. :)

Re: Discussion Number Three (3)

I got started using computers as a student in late elementary school. This time period would have been the late 1980s. So both at school and home I had access to the Apple IIe. At that point I remember doing basic typing and games. By Junior High we were using the Mac desktops. This was my first experience with spreadsheets and data bases. It wasn't until I got to college that I used Microsoft/PCs. Currently we have a MacBook and iPad at home and I use Dell computers at school. Our MacBook has 2 GB memory with a Intel Core 2 Duo processor. A memory upgrade my be needed soon to run some programs. I can't say much about the computer I use at school. I got a "left over" laptop and our wireless signal just got extended into the gym this past school year. Before then I had to use the computers in the computer lab. It allows be to do basic functions in my office, but i have to check out anything else from our media center in order to use it in the gym. While I make this work, it is a bit of a pain. This has to be one of my biggest obstacles as it makes doing my job a little bit harder. I do have access to a classroom with a Promethean Board, but that involves taking the students our of the gym to another location and in a 25 minute class period time doesn't alway allow for that. One way to overcome the time obstacle would be to combine 2 classes to create a 50 minute period on days when I want to use the Promethean Board.

Currently the thing I would like to do most with my computer to purchase the Fitnessgram software. If I can get the funding, I would like this so each student could get a personalized report from their fitness testing. If I look hard enough I might be able to find or create something that is similar without the cost.

Re: Discussion Number Three (3)

My computer experiences before I graduated college were very minimal. i had a Commodore 64 growing but only used it to play games and occasionally used for word processing. I had a Brother Word Processor in college to type papers. I did not have a cell phone or e-mail address until I met my wife in 2001. Pretty pathetic. My wife had a Dell laptop went we bean hanging out. I used it a lot. I started to get the hang of it but it was always difficult to troubleshoot. I checked my e-mails and used it for fantasy football. Not until the school I worked for purchased all the teachers macBooks did I really begin using technology. The macBooks were so much easier to use and troubleshoot for me. I use iMovie and GarageBand at home and work to create slideshows for my family for Christmas every year and use it all the time at school. The laptop and the internet is were I get most my news and info. I think that time is the biggest obstacle for me to do other things or projects. I have three kids in three travel sports and the time seems to pass me bye.

Re: Discussion Number Three (3)


I first started using a word processor at home and was introduced to the old apple computers at school. It was for basic questions and answering through a school program. I truly do not know any specs or memory speed since I was young and truly never paid attention to them. The one things I always remember was the picture of the apple on it. At work, I have access to printers and cameras. All of the "extra stuff" would be made available through the tech aide at the school. I find this very frustrating because most of the time he is nowhere to be found. I would love to use my computer at work as an interactive tool with the kids. I would love a smart board in the gym. What prohibits me from this is money, space and safety issues. One creative way to get around this is by using my computer and a projector. I still have the safety aspect to think of.

Re: Discussion Number Three (3)

I have a HP desktop computer at home that has an intel core processor, with 8GB and I use Windows 7. My printer is also an HP Photosmart C6180 All-in-One. I mainly use it to print, scan and copy things but rarely ever use the fax. I use my computer at work and home to keep excel spreedsheets for rosters, timesheets, and attendance records for my coaching. I use Microsoft word for flyers, lesson plans and letters to parents. Powerpoint is useful for presentations.
I would like to use a computer attached to a projector to stream videos for the students. I would like to show them videos on sports skills, dances or nutritional facts/sites. Financially the school can not provide a computer to the phys ed department so we do not get to use videos as much. I am sure we as teachers could find a way to fundraise for a computer.


Re: Discussion Number Three (3)

Ive been using a home computer since i was in middle school, my PE job was the first job that i used a computer at work. I have a 2008 Mac at home with a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2 GB 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM of memory, a 20-inch (1680 x 1050) display with ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT 128 MB graphics, and im running OS X 10.9.1 software. I have an epson printer/scanner.

I mainly use my home computer to browse the internet and to handle emails. I also use it a lot to breakdown film for basketball and to diagram plays using my fastmodel software. At school i use my computer to update my school web page, answer school emails, record data and assessments, and do a lot of coaching paperwork.

I would like to be able to use the computer in a way to show the students things but its a desktop that cant be moved, and even if it could the screen is very small and would be tough for the students to see. I would like to get a smart board in my gym but so far i havent been able to. The district wont think about funding it until all classrooms have smart boards, i could try and write a grant to help get the funds for one.

Re: Discussion Number Three (3)

Sean
I have the same issue with a smart board for my PE classes. The district says we will not get one until the classrooms all have one. We have been talking about a fundraising project to help with all technology, but have yet to fully jump into it.
Dom

Re: Discussion Number Three (3)

I started using computers at home when I was in high school. My family had one desktop computer with the dial up modem. It took forever to say the least! I started using computers at work when I first started teaching. I did not use them daily like I do today. I used them just to enter grades and that was pretty much it. Now, I can’t function without my laptop. I have an work issued laptop as well as a laptop at home, and an iPad. I’m not too familiar with all of the specifics, but we have access to WiFi both at work and at home. The iPad has 64G with LTE services. I have access to several printers at work, and one at home. I also have access to a scanner, and copy machine at both work and home. I use my work computer primarily to create documents and calculate grades. My home computer is solely used for leisure and surfing the net. There is not much else that I really would like to do with these computers as I can pretty much do whatever I’d like. I am very satisfied with all of my technology both at work and at home.

Re: Discussion Number Three (3)

I was always interested in technology. When the computers first came out I got one and basically learned on my own with trial and error. I worked at the post office back then and I was a PC person. When I got my teaching job I was issued a Mac laptop. This was a whole new world for me, I took the laptop home with me and tried to learn as much as I could. I also watched a lot of tutorials on Macs and Apple products. I am now hooked on Apple products. I have an MacBook Pro at home. It is OS X 10.9.4, with a 2.9 GHz Intel Core i7, and 8 GB of memory.
I have a Hewlett Packard Printer 6520. This printer is wireless and also has a scanner. I have G-Drive slim external hard drive.

I use my computer to go on the internet to check websites and to find information. I use it to check my email. I use it to download videos of my team. I use it to watch videos of my team and breakdown plays. I use it for for power point presentations. I use it to download photos and to make videos of family and friends. I use it to listen to music and I input my activities for the day into my calendar.

I would like to be more proficient in using Excel. I really don't have the time to sit down and learn how to use it. I need to make time. I don't feel I know enough about it and I feel intimidated by my lack of knowledge of it. Most things come easy for me on the computer except the Excel program. I could get someone to help me. I could learn by trial and error. I can put my budget into this program and make myself use it everyday. I can have my students do a project on it and then I would have to learn how to grade them.

Re: Discussion Number Three (3)

Hi Kathy,

There is a lot of great information on Excel on the Internet and if you search Excel in You Tube you will can get a step by step video explaining different ways to use Excel. I hope this information was useful.

Re: Discussion Number Three (3)

I began using computers at work immediately for word processing tests and entering grades. Computer usage at ome happened shortly after graduating from college, around 2002. Currently we have a MacBook Pro laptop with 2.2 GHz Intel Core processor and 4 GB of memory. We have a printer/scanner that we can use for printing and we have smartphones for usage as well. The home usage of computers is ample! Nightly we are checking or sending emails, finding info on the internet, texting co-workers or friends, etc. I also use computers at home to complete school work, do grades, communicate with parents, and the like. There are not many other uses for our computers at home that I can think of that I would want to do and am not currently doing!

Re: Discussion Number Three (3)

My first computer was in 1997 when my cousin refurbished an old computer for me to use at home. I cannot explain the speed or memory and all I know is that it was very slow. The computer did not contain any type of Microsoft office tools and it had dial up Internet which was very slow and the only thing I could really do was send and receive email, which was new to me. The next year in 1998 was my first year of college and I was shocked once I got there. Everything was now being done on computers and I had no idea what I was doing, lucky I met a lot of good friends that learned about computers in high school so they showed me the ropes of the Internet and programs like Microsoft Word.
Today I use a computer at home and at work with both computers containing a 4 GB memory. My home computer has wireless access to a printer and my work computer has access to a district network in which I can view, save, or print files from any computer in the network by using my user name and password. My computer at home is used mainly for looking up information and my work computer is used for attendance, grading, power point presentations, and looking up information for my classes.
At home I would love to develop a business on fitness related information using a webpage but I do not have much time after work to develop this and I am also not that knowledgeable about business. The way that I can overcome these obstacles is by scheduling an hour each night to work on the webpage, along with taking a college course on business.

Re: Discussion Number Three (3)

I really like this prompt. It's something I do not often think about....especially since nowadays our students and kids probably think they started using computers at birth! I started using a computer in late elementary school for a program called the Oregon Trail...many countless hours playing this. The computer that I use from school is a MacBook Pro, 4 GB 1600 MHz DDR3. At school our technology department sets up our printer options but we do have access to the main copying machines. I am unsure if we have scanner to use as I typically email myself from our copiers (which is a very similar process.) I feel like I use my computer for everything. I don't currently have my own personal computer (aside from the one given to me to use for school purposes.) I create my curriculum, assessments, lessons, communication with all, webpages, and of course use it for my graduate courses as well. As for what I'd like to do with my computers at home or work, I feel like I'm able to do whatever I need (within appropriate limits.) As a professional educator I feel like I need to make responsible decisions with what I do on and with my computer.

Reply to Leann Huber Re: Discussion Number Three (3)

Leann,

You said that you use your computer to write lesson plans like many other teachers. Do you have your own format or do you use a program online? Some of my colleagues have recommended for me to start using PlanBook. You can view and print lessons by day, week, or class. You can connect to national, state, and local standards easily. You can attach files and links to you lessons. You can allow students to view your lessons as well as share with your colleagues. There are many features, it keeps you organized, and it is very user friendly. You should check it out!

Re: Discussion Number Three (3)

My first computer I owned was an old Dell computer. That was about 16 years ago. I purchased it for my use at home. I have been fortunate enough to work my entire career in a district that has ample access to computers. I feel lucky to have gained knowledge and experience in technology through work. I can remember when I first started teaching using bubble sheets to fill in grades. That seems like a long time ago!
Our work computers allow me to connect with the Internet, e-mail and anything I really want to do with a computer. I have access to Microsoft Office, so I have Word and Excel that I use most often. I have my own office and a PC in the office.
At home I own a MacBookPro. I have a printer/scanner/copier along with it. I was allowed to download the Office disk to my Mac, so I have the same capabilities at home as i do at school.
I am still learning all the fun and exciting things I can do with my Mac. My goal is to take a class at the Apple store this summer to get optimal use from my Mac.

Re: Discussion Number Three (3)

I got started using computers when I was in middle school. At home my parents had a desktop and I used it to type up papers for school, browse the Internet, and social media. I started working as a P.E. teacher 6 years ago and you were expected to use your work computer for PowerSchool to keep my students grades updated and typing up lesson plans.

My home computer is a desktop touch screen Gateway 2012 with Windows 7 Home Premium. The processor is 2.6 GHz Pentium. The installed memory (RAM) is 4.00 GB and the hard drive is 750 GB. My work computer is a laptop HP Probook 2009 with Windows 7 Professional. The processor is AMD Phenon™ II N930 Quad-Core. The installed memory (RAM) is 4.00 GB and the system type is a 64-bit Operating System. At home and work I have access to printers and scanners. At school I have access to a photocopier as well.

Currently I use my home computer for browsing the Internet, social media, gaming, and editing pictures that I take in my spare time. Mainly it is just for my personal use. With my work computer I use it in my classes to show the students’ video/audio clips for new games, skills, and drills we are learning. I personally use my work computer to type up unit plans, lesson plans, handouts on rules to different games, quizzes, and rubrics. Also, I use PowerSchool for grading and I have created my own school/teacher website. Lastly, I use my work computer to complete coursework for my FRESNO Pacific University classes.

I would like to use my computer at work more to research new games to incorporate into my different units. Also, I am interested in creating new units to keep up-to-date and keep my students interested and engaged. I could find these new activities on sites like PE Central or other teacher websites that I find. Time is really the only thing that is preventing me from doing this. As a teacher the school day is very busy with classes. After school I run a couple different programs for students and volunteer for particular activities the school runs. I take classes in my spare time as well and I commute 50 minutes to work every day so time is limited.

Some creative ways I could overcome this obstacle is by using my time wisely throughout the school day. I could be efficient during my prep time at school. Also, days when I do not have an afterschool program or activity I could stay a little later at work and set time aside to research new activities and games. Even on weekends I could bring my laptop home and set time aside.

Re: Discussion Number Three (3)

When I was growing up we had a computer Apple IIe. I thought it was great. The internet was just starting. In order to use the internet we had to give up using the phone. If someone tried calling they would hear a loud static noise. When I was in school we had computers just to type and do some internet searches. The computer for me was just used for schoolwork or play. Our printer took forever to print, especially banners.
In my school I have a desktop computer that I use for planning and internet use. I have a laptop for attendance and grading. Sometimes use it with the projector for class. we have a printer for school but it is not always reliable.
It would be neat to see if a printer could be a laminator too. Instead of having to print then go find laminator would be time and cost saving. The companies could make an all in one printer with laminator or have an attachment for lamination. I think technology is good for some things, but I also think we shouldn't rely on them entirely.

Re: Discussion Number Three (3)

We had a computer in our home when I was a teenager of which my father was using to write books. I had some access through my high school but I did not really use the computer until college and even then it was limited. After college I bought my first computer and I had a computer at my first teaching job to input grades. Slowly but steadily my usage increased and now I have a laptop given to me by my school district and I use at home and school. We have 3 IPads and 2 smart phones and a chrome book that my family uses, as well as my husband has a laptop for work. We have a copy,scanner, fax, printer and a paper shredder. Now days I have easy access to any type of computer and can usually find and do what I need. I do however wish I was a little more knowledgeable and new more about google docs and spreadsheets. I have decided to take an online course for that as well.

My specs are as follows:
MacBook Pro (13 inch, Mid 2012)
Processor 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5
Memory 4 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics Intel HD Graphics 4000 1024 MB

Karen Pineda

Re: Discussion Number Three (3)

Computers have been a part of my home, school and work place for as long as I can remember.
I can remember the first computer lab at my college and what a big deal it was back in the mid 90's when everyone got a university ID and email account. You had to sign up to use a computer in the lab.
I had a desktop computer at home but never had a laptop for college in the late 90's.

Currently, at home I have a MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2011), 2.8 GHzIntel Core 17 Processor, 4GB Memory, Intel HD Graphics 3000 384 MB Graphics and a Brother MFC color printer, copier, fax combo.

At work, I have a school issued Ipad with 4G (only for PE teachers to use outdoors) and a HP ProBook 4440s with Intel Core i5 3210M CPU @2.5 GHz, 4 GB memory, 32 bit operating system with Windows 5.1.
I have access to color, phaser, laser, and 3D printers. scanners and copiers. I also have a SMART board, projector and monitor to use with both devices.

At work it would be almost impossible to teach without these devices. They are used for attendance, grading, assessment, teaching, viewing, music, daily lessons, objectives, presentations, etc.

At home, I use the computers for research, web browsing, grading, lesson planning, and for my children's school work.

Nothing comes to mind as a further need for work or home. I have no complaints about the support and access teachers and students have with technology.

The PE department also has access to an ipad cart with 20 units and a computer lab.

My only problem with the ipads is the network can be tricky.

I can move my class to an area with better network connections when needed or have student pair up on ipads so there is less of a demand on wireless.

Re: Discussion Number Three (3)

I first started using a computer in the late 80's when they became more available to have in the home and or office. I believe that we had an HP to start back then , that probably took up the entire table. They hardly had any storage on them maybe 8 GB the were super slow and we might have had dial up. We had a basic printer that had the holing feed on it. As for now we use our home and work computers for almost everything ranging from finding recipes online for meals, banking, creating memory videos for my sports teams, things that we think are basic to this day and age that we would have never thought about back when we first started using computers. At work I use it for email, classes instruction, research, grades, attendance, showing films, etc... I would really love to implement more forms of technology ie i pads for my staff, into our PE classes but with the low funding from the school district PE is not a top priority for the funding. As a department we could try doing some fundraising for these forms of technology but we have to go through our school leadership teacher in order to be able to do fundraising and we get vetoed quite often again because we are PE.

Re: Discussion Number Three (3)

I started using computers in elementary school at home for homework and using programs to help introduce me to typing such as “Type to Learn.” At work I have always used a computer. My home computer is a 2011 13-inch Mac Book Pro. It has a 2.8 GHz Intel core i7 processor, 4 BG 1333 MHz DDR3 memory, and Intel HD Graphics 300 384 MB Graphics. The software the Mac uses is Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5. At work I use a 2005 Dell Computer. It has an Intel Dual Core 2.6Ghz processor, 4GB of memory and a Windows XP Professional - 17" inch monitor. The printer I use at work a HP LaserJet 2200dn laser printer.

At home I use my personal laptop mainly for listening to and downloading music, social media, editing pictures, and researching personal interests such as shopping, places to travel, etc. Sometimes I will bring my personal computer to work when I am on duty in the hallway for an extended period of time and also when I am mixing music for my dance classes and making playlists for school tournaments such as the Annual Senior Badminton Tournament. At work I use my computer to take class attendance, input grades and data, check and send emails, work on lesson plans, and work on my Fresno Pacific classes. I would like to use my school computer more for researching new ideas for activities to offer my students and to keep up to date with applying other popular technology such as Google Drives and Google Classroom to my everyday work life.

Obstacles can be having minimal time in front of my computer during the school day. My office (in the locker room) is where the computer is and being in different locations for class sometimes makes it challenging. If students have questions about their grade in class sometimes it is difficult to discuss the information with the student because the computer is not available, also only the girls can be in my office. A way to overcome this obstacle is to use portable devices such as iPads and also encourage students to download the application Infinite Campus (grading portal the school system uses) to see grades they are able to check up on classes and message me with concerns. This year, having a study hall duty in a classroom every other day has helped me keep on top of my grades. Scheduling time throughout the school day and at home is an efficient way to use technology productively.

Re: Discussion Number Three (3)

I remember having a computer for most of my life. My parents purchased me a Commodore 64 computer that I would be able to play games on. The games were either from a cartridge or a floppy disk. From there my family purchased a x386 computer that had both DOS and Windows 3.1. As a child computers were mainly for games. In middle school I began using them for word processing, encyclopedia, and was an active participant in chatrooms on mIRC, Prodigy, and AOL. Even though technology quickly progressed through the 1990s my reasons for a computer did not.

As an adult I mostly use the computer for work. At work my computer has an Intel Core 2 Duo at 3.00 Ghz with 4 GB ram and is running 64 bit Windows 7. I use the computer for email and calendars, maintaining my eboard (school webpage about me and my class), word processing and documents, lesson planning, record keeping, and for social media. I also use Spotify to manage my music that is played in class. I am not sure what else I'd like to be able to do with the computer. It has been able to meet most of my professional needs.


At home, I do not have a computer. My home computer has been replaced with my iphone. I am able to email, word process, listen to music, sync photos, video edit, and anything else I can think of with specialized applications.

Re: Discussion Number Three (3)

I was trained on the Macs with floppy drives when I was growing up through middle school. We never had a computer at home and my first full time use of a computer was at the college library each night. When I began working in 2002 we had desktops in every classroom. As mentioned in the previous post I now work with a smartboard and all students are 1:1 with iPads.
My personal computer is a little dated, but I'm using a Gateway laptop with 4 GB DDR3 Memory, 500 GB HDD, Intel-Core i5-2430M, with blu-ray disc, and a 15.6" LCD screen with a webcam. My school has discouraged photo copies and we instead convert files into PDFs or downloadable images for the students device, while at home I have a 3in1 Scanner, fax, copier. My home computer is used for games, bills, research, entertainment, and work. I'd love to have network access to my work materials while at home. This is in the works. The obstacles of sharing data have already been answered with 3rd party drop boxes or clouds. This allows access wherever and whenever.

Re: Discussion Number Three (3)

George you could also share files through google drive as long as your school has a gmail account and you have one at home as well. I don't use Cloud storage very often but if you have lots of pictures and music that is also a great option.

Re: Discussion Number Three (3)

There were no home computers when I was growing up, we did have an Atari game system but that was it. It was not until well into my adult life that computers came into use both at home and at school. My first home computer had less that 1G hard drive.
My current school computer is a HP ProBook 15" with 500G hard drive. it has a i3 1.7Ghz processor. It also has a dvd burner, multiple USB slots, a SD card slot, 1 HDMI slot, a port for connection to a projector, a built in camera, and a jack for headphones. It is also both wireless capable and Ethernet capable.At school we are connectd to network printers and have LCD projectors for use with our computers. We have a portable camera that can be connected by HDMI.
My home computer is an ASUS 17" with Intel i7 processor, dvd burner, multiple USB slots, a SD card Reader, a HDMI port, a firewire port, a built in camera, head phone jack,is wireless and Ethernet capable. At home I have a multi-function printer connected to my home network.

Re: Discussion Number Three (3)


We did not have a home computer until I was in high school. The only thing I can remember is it was a Dell, and we used dial-up for internet which was really slow. We had access to a printer and scanner a few years after we got our first computer. I can remember printing off assignments for school and scanning papers for college.

Currently, I use an iPad and and a Macbook Pro 2.4 GHZ Intel Core 4GB at home. I use my iPad for surfing the internet, downloading iTunes, and checking email. I use my MacBook to organize my online lesson book, keep track of my calendar, send emails, and grade assessments. I also have an iPhone that does everything my iPad does but with a smaller screen. I don't really have a need for anything else right now.