WEEK 2: Education Technology

In Week 2 we discussed Mac OS X, first with an orientation then with two follow up lessons. The initial orientation, or Lesson One, focused on learning what exactly Mac OS X was, powering a mac both on and off, and various on screen elements. We learned where the Desktop, Menu Bar, Dock, and Finder windows are located, and what they are exactly. Additionally, Lesson One focused on computing basics such as scaling windows, navigating a typical finder window, and using tools like the Dashboard and Expose.

Lesson Two focused on files and folders. We discussed file navigation, creating, and opening folders, and saving and renaming files. We also learned how to create aliases, or shortcuts for Windows users. Our assessment for Lesson Two was to create a folder with a Word document in it and make an alias for that folder.

Lesson Three discusses keyboard shortcuts within the Mac OS X operating system. Keyboard shortcuts allow for increased productivity because they are a faster alternative to navigating menu systems with a mouse.

Through my work in the Telecom department, I've become an experienced Mac and PC user, I was familiar with much of the content of Week 2. However, there were several things I learned that I had previously overlooked in my PC/Mac education. I learned both what aliases were, and how to create them. I also learned how to take screen caps on a Mac, a useful skill that I used in a previous blog post.

I chose the screen capturing link (above) because it represents a useful skill unique to the Mac. Mac OS X allows users the ability to customize the portion of the screen they wish to save and capture. This feature, unique to Mac computers, provides a distinct and time saving advantage to Mac users that PC users do not have. The link above also includes several videos illustrating the customizable screen capture feature in a more informative way than the link provided in the EME 2040 curriculum.

EXTRA POST: Embed Video

This is a collection of Mac vs PC commercials embedded into my Blogger blog.

EXTRA POST: Mac vs. PC

Last week in my "Introduction to Educational Technology" Course, we discussed the difference between Mac computers and PCs, or personal computers. While there are many similarities between the two OSs, or operating systems, there are an equal number of differences.

Mac preferences, such as display, sound, log out and shut down, can be found in the top left corner of the desktop under the apple icon.

On a PC, running the Windows operating system, the preferences are found in the default location, the bottom left corner of the desktop. Windows integrates commonly used applications directly into the tool bar, whereas Mac separates the applications from the toolbar by placing them at the bottom of the screen.

Mastering both the Windows and Mac OS X operating systems will benefit me in my film career as I will be a more versatile candidate for any job. Several programs, such as Final Cut Pro, run exclusively in the Mac OS X operating system. Conversely, many large production houses run windows primarily, as the cost of maintaining and upgrading PCs is less expensive than Macs.

Looking beyond the basic knowledge we learned in last week, I began looking into selective screen capturing. In the Mac OS X operating system, this can be accomplished by pressing Command-Shift-4 and using the cross-hair to select the portion of the screen you would like to capture. The finished image is then saved to the desktop.