I have enjoyed this final course. It forced me to look into and learn about the way the computer works, which I would probably never have done otherwise. I also have become more aware of how important it is to maintain a preventative schedule of backups and SpyBot searches to keep my computers working for me.
Reaching the end of the Masters Program is bittersweet. It's nice to be nearing the end of all of the work and to have the knowledge to pursue different career positions, as well as earn more money in the position I'm in. Even if I never change positions I will be a benefit to my district as they make technology changes and to my coworkers as they work through the changes. On the other hand I will miss seeing all of the people I have gotten used to working with and learning from/with.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Thursday, June 3, 2010
1 more point
I frequently need to do updates on my computer. I had to do one for my Windows 7 last night so I could install the latest version of Java, which I had to download because I had never used it on this computer.
How a Computer Works
How a computer works…well, my knowledge and understanding here is very limited, but here it goes:
When you press the "On" button on the computer and the monitor, you begin to see the BIOS software doing its job. It begins by doing the power-on self-test (POST). On many machines, the BIOS displays text describing data ,such as the amount of memory installed in your computer and the type of hard disk you have. During this boot sequence, the BIOS does a lot of work to get the computer ready to run.
First, the BIOS determines whether the video card is operational. Next, the BIOS checks to see if this is a cold boot or a reboot. If it is a cold boot, the BIOS verifies RAM by performing a read/write test of each memory address. It also checks for a keyboard and a mouse, and any expansion cards that may be connected. If the BIOS finds any errors during the POST, it tells you with a series of beeps (I just found this out a few weeks ago when I was troubleshooting a problem with one of my computers),or a written message displayed on the screen. An error found at this point is almost always a hardware problem.
If it is a cold boot, the BIOS verifies RAM by performing a read/write test of each memory address. It also checks for a keyboard and a mouse, and any expansion cards that may be connected. If the BIOS finds any errors during the POST, it tells you with a series of beeps (I just found this out a few weeks ago when I was troubleshooting a problem with one of my computers),or a written message displayed on the screen. An error found at this point is almost always a hardware problem. The BIOS displays some details about your system. This typically includes information about the processor, floppy and hard drive, and memory.
Finally, BIOS launces the Operating System (OS), commonly referred to as boot (short for bootstrap loader).
The bootstrap loader loads the operating system into memory and allows it to begin it function. Now the BIOS turns the work over to the Operating System.
To be continued...
When you press the "On" button on the computer and the monitor, you begin to see the BIOS software doing its job. It begins by doing the power-on self-test (POST). On many machines, the BIOS displays text describing data ,such as the amount of memory installed in your computer and the type of hard disk you have. During this boot sequence, the BIOS does a lot of work to get the computer ready to run.
First, the BIOS determines whether the video card is operational. Next, the BIOS checks to see if this is a cold boot or a reboot. If it is a cold boot, the BIOS verifies RAM by performing a read/write test of each memory address. It also checks for a keyboard and a mouse, and any expansion cards that may be connected. If the BIOS finds any errors during the POST, it tells you with a series of beeps (I just found this out a few weeks ago when I was troubleshooting a problem with one of my computers),or a written message displayed on the screen. An error found at this point is almost always a hardware problem.
If it is a cold boot, the BIOS verifies RAM by performing a read/write test of each memory address. It also checks for a keyboard and a mouse, and any expansion cards that may be connected. If the BIOS finds any errors during the POST, it tells you with a series of beeps (I just found this out a few weeks ago when I was troubleshooting a problem with one of my computers),or a written message displayed on the screen. An error found at this point is almost always a hardware problem. The BIOS displays some details about your system. This typically includes information about the processor, floppy and hard drive, and memory.
Finally, BIOS launces the Operating System (OS), commonly referred to as boot (short for bootstrap loader).
The bootstrap loader loads the operating system into memory and allows it to begin it function. Now the BIOS turns the work over to the Operating System.
To be continued...
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Pirates of Silicon Valley and other things...
This week I got "Pirates of Silicon Valley" from Netflix and watched through the Wii. My kids took one look and quickly cleared the room. My husband graciously went to bed early. Who knew it was so easy to clear a room. Personally, anything with Noah Wylie in it can't be that bad, and even if it is....Noah Wylie's in it so I'll keep watching. Anyway....I had seen parts of the movie several times on TV, but this was the first time I watched all the way through. It was interesting to see the ups and downs of their creative escapades and how it fluctuated back and forth between the two pairs of inventors. Apple's ahead, now wait....Microsoft is ahead. They pretty much sacrificed everything, including relationships in order to create these dream machines. Of course most people would say that they've been more than compensated for their sacrifices. The one thing I found annoying, and I usually do, was that they kept switching from modern day (1999) to flashbacks the characters were having about the process, trials and tribulations. Overall, I thought it was a good movie and they picked good actors to play the parts of each of the characters.
Also, this week I decided to trade computers with my daughter. At home I had to use Vista and she got to use my Windows 7. It was a very long week for me. I found myself just waiting until I got to work to do things on the computer, whenever possible. I hated Vista. It kept freezing up, seemed really slow and nothing was where I expected to find it. I am really glad that I jumped right from XP to Windows 7 and didn't end up with Vista on any of my computers!
Another experiment was to play around with the additional features on Windows 7. I found some useful child safety features that allowed me to control my children's Internet usage. It's safe to say that they were not the least bit impressed. I also set up for backups on my computer. I tried optimizing set-up on my laptop, but I didn't notice any difference really.
Also, this week I decided to trade computers with my daughter. At home I had to use Vista and she got to use my Windows 7. It was a very long week for me. I found myself just waiting until I got to work to do things on the computer, whenever possible. I hated Vista. It kept freezing up, seemed really slow and nothing was where I expected to find it. I am really glad that I jumped right from XP to Windows 7 and didn't end up with Vista on any of my computers!
Another experiment was to play around with the additional features on Windows 7. I found some useful child safety features that allowed me to control my children's Internet usage. It's safe to say that they were not the least bit impressed. I also set up for backups on my computer. I tried optimizing set-up on my laptop, but I didn't notice any difference really.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
CEDu 581-Week 1
This is our final course. While I am extremely happy to be finishing this master's program (and can't decide what to do first with all of the spare time I'll have), I have to admit that the time has gone quickly and I've learned so much that I've been able to apply in my classroom immediately.
Anyway....This week we learned about the history of the computer. It's interesting to me because I have lived through most of it. I can remember when computers took up whole (large) rooms and most people never saw one. Our assignment was to take apart a computer and label its parts. I first saw the inside of a computer about 19 years ago when I took a computing for educators course. At the time I thought that was the first and last time I'd ever want or need to do that. Who new the machines would grow on me as they have. Looking inside reminded me of the time when my husband decided to add memory to our Macintosh computer. He dragged me to Circuit City on a Sunday morning to buy it because it was on sale. At the time I was student teaching and about 2 weeks from graduation. All the way home I begged him not to touch the computer until I had time to save all my lesson plans and my portfolio to a disk. Unfortunately, I fell asleep when we got home and awoke about 45 minutes later to find him with the computer in pieces. You guessed it....I hadn't save to a disk and EVERYTHING was gone. It's okay though because, "He didn't think that would happen and he didn't mean to." That's when I learned that I always need a back up and I usually have a back up for my backup.
Thanks for the walk down memory lane!
Anyway....This week we learned about the history of the computer. It's interesting to me because I have lived through most of it. I can remember when computers took up whole (large) rooms and most people never saw one. Our assignment was to take apart a computer and label its parts. I first saw the inside of a computer about 19 years ago when I took a computing for educators course. At the time I thought that was the first and last time I'd ever want or need to do that. Who new the machines would grow on me as they have. Looking inside reminded me of the time when my husband decided to add memory to our Macintosh computer. He dragged me to Circuit City on a Sunday morning to buy it because it was on sale. At the time I was student teaching and about 2 weeks from graduation. All the way home I begged him not to touch the computer until I had time to save all my lesson plans and my portfolio to a disk. Unfortunately, I fell asleep when we got home and awoke about 45 minutes later to find him with the computer in pieces. You guessed it....I hadn't save to a disk and EVERYTHING was gone. It's okay though because, "He didn't think that would happen and he didn't mean to." That's when I learned that I always need a back up and I usually have a back up for my backup.
Thanks for the walk down memory lane!
Sunday, May 2, 2010
534 week 5
For this week I created a WIKI on WIKI Spaces. Since I can't access it from work I made one for a personal project. It was an easy WIKI to work with and it is an effective way to organize and share information.
Throughout the course I enjoyed all of the different tools that we had the chance to look over and practice with. I found so many things that I can do with my students and use personally. I would rather not have had to do a videocast--only because I prefer not to be in front of a camera. My students on the other hand will probably love it.
Throughout the course I enjoyed all of the different tools that we had the chance to look over and practice with. I found so many things that I can do with my students and use personally. I would rather not have had to do a videocast--only because I prefer not to be in front of a camera. My students on the other hand will probably love it.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
534 week 4
This week we looked at different Nings. I had fun looking over them and I think they are are great resource for education, but I think there needs to be an adequate amount of training for teachers first before they are added to the curriculum. My district is not there yet. We also looked at bookmarking sites. We had been introduced to Delicious in a previous course, but I never got into using it because I can't access it at work. I saw a couple of others I liked so I want to try to access them from school. Sure would be convenient for me and a useful tool for me to teach my students for their use. Podcasting and videocasting is a project I have been wanting to do with my students. I will have to try the sites we checked out and see which ones work in our district and practice so I have the knowledge and patience to do it with my students.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
