The first article, “The World Wide Web,” seemed extremely technical at first like it was going to go over my head. Once I got past the beginning paragraph though I found a lot of useful information. I never knew web-based databases even existed, never mind have three parts. I have entered information on web pages and searched web pages but never thought how it would be organized and so easily accessible behind the scenes. I can see myself using a database for assignment submissions, I have used this for courses and think it is a perfect way to track and submit work. Also, completing online evaluations allow students more time to put thought into these evaluations and also allow anonymity, which is huge when you are looking for honest feedback. Finally, I plan to take part in research in the future so I will most definitely use a database for research. Having the information entered by participants into the computer takes away my least favorite and most tedious part of research and gathering results, entering the data into a database to analyze the information. I never knew there were so many uses for what I thought to be a “simple” database!
The second article, “The Database American Presidents,” had some great idea in it. I thought the six “C‘s” presented were interesting and very relevant in today’s world where technology is becoming a way of life for many. Allowing students access to these simple databases and letting them organize their information allows for visualization of their organizational processes. I like that the article recognized that when teachers have ideas on what exactly to do with technology they use it, because sometimes when a new tool is given to us and we are unsure of what to do with it, it goes to waste. I foresee myself using a project much like the president one in my classroom one day. I also like the idea of promoting responsibility of the student’s work by combining all information into a database together. I definitely agree with the article when it stated that a database is a flexible tool with unlimited potential!
The third article, “Bells and Whistles,” will be useful to refer to when teaching about databases. It was short and to the point with the descriptions of various aspects of the database features. First of all, I like how the article mentioned databases are ideal for one computer classrooms. Many activities involving computers are ideal for computer labs, but this one will be useful since the reality of our classrooms is that we will only have a computer or two if we are lucky! I also enjoyed taking note of the various skills the database use touched on (higher order thinking skills, critical thinking, new ways of seeing information), this will make applying content standards to activities with databases easier.
Using the Inspiration Database was extremely easy. Also, since we had to download the free trial in class to use it I know now I can download the trial again for a month long project my first year teaching if I do not have the funds to purchase a program. Thinking of a record as an index card and the fields as the information on the card opened my mind to the possible uses of a database within education. I often have teachers who have collected data on index cards at the beginning of the school year and I always wonder if they ever use or look at the cards. Having students get exposure to technology by entering the data in the database the first week of school is a learning experience in itself. Then having the data in the computer and easily accessible will allow for use, easy access, and searching of the student’s information is needed. In the higher grades I think using databases for research is a valuable tool and takes away from some of the time consuming jobs related to data collection and entering. If students set up a survey in a database for participants to fill out it allows for anonymity and easy data collection. When classmates have time they can jump on the computer and fill out the survey. Also, personally I would be more interested in filling out a computer based survey because it is something new and different than traditional paper and pencil surveys. Databases are something I never was familiar with but now I feel very comfortable and have a little “bag” of ideas as to how to effectively use the technology.
