Being a full-time college student, working three jobs, and maintaining a healthy social life can be pretty crazy and tiring at times. Right now in school, I am learning how to use multiple different apps and sites in my Microcomputer Applications class. We don't have a book which has its ups and downs. I enjoy not having a book because it gives us a little bit more freedom as far as our projects go. However, sometimes, I feel as if there is too much freedom allowed. It can be very difficult for me to choose between certain applications. For example, this week we had to research between a few sites on which to use for our presentation project. Slidebean, Emaze, and Prezi were our three choices. If I was on a computer, I would not be able to decide which one to use. I found that on a computer I enjoyed all three of them and what they had to offer. I just didn't have access to a computer long enough to do any of my projects. So, I had to use my iPad which decided which app I would be using. On my iPad, Prezi wasn't supported unless I got the app. I wouldn't use it over PowerPoint if I were to ever use them in my future, so I didn't download it. I couldn't figure out how to use Emaze on my iPad. So, that left Slidebean. Slidebean got the job done, but I wish there were more themes to choose from when creating my presentation. I found it kind of difficult to use compared to PowerPoint and Google Slides so I will not use it in my future. I have gotten to experiment with a lot of apps in these past 8 weeks. So not having a textbook was difficult at times. However, on top of having freedom with our projects, I also enjoyed the fact that we could watch videos about how to use each application. For other courses, where I had a book, I felt that I should only use the book to learn about the project I was to be doing. I really liked not having the book as it opened up more learning experiences.
I liked making the newsletter this week. Smore was simple to use and allowed for a lot of creativity. I did not like making the presentation.
As far as the rest of the school year has been, I have enjoyed it for the most part. I don't enjoy how busy I always am (especially with these 8-week classes), but I am surviving. My favorite project so far was probably the week in MicroApps where I got to experiment with all of the different Google Applications. I will most definitely be using these apps in my future. I love using them because I can access my project from any device including my phone. I used Docs to make my resume, slides to make a presentation for another class, and much more. If I continue down this path of becoming a teacher. I could even use these applications for teaching.
Link to my newsletter this week
https://www.smore.com/32a4b-abbey-s-journey
