As this semester comes to a close, I have had a lot to reflect upon. It seems as if we have gone through a whirlwind of technologies, only tapping into the top of the glacier. We have only briefly begun to see the immense resource that these technologies are. I hope that I will hold onto these various technologies and go back and explore more later. I am grateful for all that we have been taught and hope to carry this into my professional career.
The main message that this class has taught me is that technology in the classroom is not only important, it is imperative. It makes learning and teaching more upbeat and puts a fresh perspective on perhaps dried out subjects. This class has been a "gateway drug" so to speak, for the fact that it has pointed me in the direction of other technology that we have not covered.
I would have to say that Jing has definitely been my favorite technology we learned about, with Wiki's in a close second. I feel that both of these technologies will be extremely useful to me in the future and are ones that I can see myself most likely implementing.
Thank you Greg and CEP 416 for teaching me so many valuable resources. I hope we can keep in contact in the future and collaborate on the many new technologies that are soon to arise!
:)
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
wiki wiki yeahhhh
I have always been extremely curious what EXACTLY a wiki is and today, my mind was enlightened. I have been using wikis and felt kind of silly when I found this out. Of course, I was excited to see what creating my own wiki was all about.
Once again to my amazement, I was delighted to be presented with the amazing-ness of a wiki. This is yet another tool for my Tech Toolbelt that will be extremely helpful in my professional career. Not only can I use this for my classroom, but for my own personal life as well. A wiki seems to be the ultimate "opening" of outside of the classroom contact. It is different from a website, or as explained in the YouTube video Wikis In Plain English an email. On a website, the students can keep in contact, but multiple users cannot easily edit the information.
The wiki is the ultimate "online classroom" As we have seen from our classroom, it it an easy, accessible way for multiple users to edit and link their information. A wiki also has a multitude of other information available through the widget pages as well. The widgets are my favorite part of a wiki. Through widgets, the teacher and students can add relevant information that will be useful for the multiple collaborators.
I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Wiki and think that out of every technology we have learned about, it will be the one that I most likely use in the classroom.
You can check out my very first wiki here **** ENJOY!
Once again to my amazement, I was delighted to be presented with the amazing-ness of a wiki. This is yet another tool for my Tech Toolbelt that will be extremely helpful in my professional career. Not only can I use this for my classroom, but for my own personal life as well. A wiki seems to be the ultimate "opening" of outside of the classroom contact. It is different from a website, or as explained in the YouTube video Wikis In Plain English an email. On a website, the students can keep in contact, but multiple users cannot easily edit the information.
The wiki is the ultimate "online classroom" As we have seen from our classroom, it it an easy, accessible way for multiple users to edit and link their information. A wiki also has a multitude of other information available through the widget pages as well. The widgets are my favorite part of a wiki. Through widgets, the teacher and students can add relevant information that will be useful for the multiple collaborators.
I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Wiki and think that out of every technology we have learned about, it will be the one that I most likely use in the classroom.
You can check out my very first wiki here **** ENJOY!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
assistive technology and the OSK
I am so excited assistive technology was brought up as an option during this week's work. I think that a major problem with the special education is the lack of communication between general and special ed teachers. Did you know that general education students are not required to take ONE class about special ed students when they will MOST DEFINITELY have a student with some sort of special needs in their classroom? I'm glad this class is at least making general education students aware of the presence and need for assistive technology.
It is also quite interesting that Ira Socol's blog was posted, as I was in his class and am already following it and using it to gain ideas. For this week's assignment, I chose to look at on-screen keyboards. I chose this because over the years of volunteering I have been drawn to the students with fine motor disabilities and think that this would be a wonderful technology for them to get to know. It also fits in with the Toolbelt Theory and FreeTech that Socol speaks of. It is another tool for them to add, and there are free versions avaiable.
Better Living Through Technology is a fantastic website that can help teachers stay up-to-date with the latest assistive technologies. An On Screen Keyboard, or OSK is an extremely useful tool for students with fine motor or visual impairments. As the website explains, "An On-Screen Keyboar is a visual representation of a standard keyboard that can be installed on any Windows computer.OSKs vary a lot in their features. Some are accessible by a variety of pointing devices and some can be accessed by switches and a variety of other innovative access solutions." There are 7 different types of OSK's described on the wesbite, but going with the FreeTech stream, I am going to focus on the free Window's XP OSK.
The Windows XP OSK seems to be the least technologically advanced, but is perhaps one that is best suited for the classroom. A majority of the classrooms I have been in have not had brand new technology available to them, and using a newer OSK would not be suitable. This Windows is limited, but still extremely useful for our purposes.
The website first goes on to say that the visual appearance cannot be changed much. The keyboard stays the same size and you cannot change the colors. This might be a difficulty for students with visual impairments but at the same time still beneficial for students with fine motor impairments. The next aspect talked about is Dwell Delay. Students with fine motor problems find it difficult to double click and this solves the problem. By leaving the mouse over something for a certain amount of time, the user can easily double click.
I think that OSK's are extremely beneficial tools for the classroom. In a classroom that is more technologically adavanced, newer and more rich versions of the OSK can be put into use, but for most classrooms with a lower budget, the Windows XP OSK works great.
It is also quite interesting that Ira Socol's blog was posted, as I was in his class and am already following it and using it to gain ideas. For this week's assignment, I chose to look at on-screen keyboards. I chose this because over the years of volunteering I have been drawn to the students with fine motor disabilities and think that this would be a wonderful technology for them to get to know. It also fits in with the Toolbelt Theory and FreeTech that Socol speaks of. It is another tool for them to add, and there are free versions avaiable.
Better Living Through Technology is a fantastic website that can help teachers stay up-to-date with the latest assistive technologies. An On Screen Keyboard, or OSK is an extremely useful tool for students with fine motor or visual impairments. As the website explains, "An On-Screen Keyboar is a visual representation of a standard keyboard that can be installed on any Windows computer.OSKs vary a lot in their features. Some are accessible by a variety of pointing devices and some can be accessed by switches and a variety of other innovative access solutions." There are 7 different types of OSK's described on the wesbite, but going with the FreeTech stream, I am going to focus on the free Window's XP OSK.
The Windows XP OSK seems to be the least technologically advanced, but is perhaps one that is best suited for the classroom. A majority of the classrooms I have been in have not had brand new technology available to them, and using a newer OSK would not be suitable. This Windows is limited, but still extremely useful for our purposes.
The website first goes on to say that the visual appearance cannot be changed much. The keyboard stays the same size and you cannot change the colors. This might be a difficulty for students with visual impairments but at the same time still beneficial for students with fine motor impairments. The next aspect talked about is Dwell Delay. Students with fine motor problems find it difficult to double click and this solves the problem. By leaving the mouse over something for a certain amount of time, the user can easily double click.
I think that OSK's are extremely beneficial tools for the classroom. In a classroom that is more technologically adavanced, newer and more rich versions of the OSK can be put into use, but for most classrooms with a lower budget, the Windows XP OSK works great.
the art of digital storytelling
This week's lesson on digital storytelling was actually quite a challenge for me. While this is a very useful tool to use in the classroom, I had a difficult time trying to think of a story. I used the "get started" tools on the wiki but still spent most of my time trying to think of a story. I feel that in a classroom this would be much more useful.
In the classroom, when students have their thoughts and ideas in their heads, this will be more useful. For students, it is a more fun, innovative way to tell a story, rather than to write down words and draw pictures. It is useful because it also can be an assistive technology for special education students. Perhaps students who have difficulties writing or difficulties with their fine motor skills will prefer this over the more conventional way of telling a story.
This would also be useful for myself as a teacher to use. It is an unconventional way of reading a story (because in some cases the story reads itself). I feel that this is a more advanced version of the audio book.
I chose to use VoiceThread and I am mostly a fan. I like that the "editor" can comment in different ways, such as through audio and typing. I also like that the editor can draw on the picture to highlight specific things. It is also a benefit that multiple others can comment as well.
The only disadvantage to VoiceThread is that you must stay within the VoiceThread page to display the show. The comments are always visible, which is something that I did not like.
Overall, I enjoyed using VoiceThread and can see it as something I would like to use in the future.
In the classroom, when students have their thoughts and ideas in their heads, this will be more useful. For students, it is a more fun, innovative way to tell a story, rather than to write down words and draw pictures. It is useful because it also can be an assistive technology for special education students. Perhaps students who have difficulties writing or difficulties with their fine motor skills will prefer this over the more conventional way of telling a story.
This would also be useful for myself as a teacher to use. It is an unconventional way of reading a story (because in some cases the story reads itself). I feel that this is a more advanced version of the audio book.
I chose to use VoiceThread and I am mostly a fan. I like that the "editor" can comment in different ways, such as through audio and typing. I also like that the editor can draw on the picture to highlight specific things. It is also a benefit that multiple others can comment as well.
The only disadvantage to VoiceThread is that you must stay within the VoiceThread page to display the show. The comments are always visible, which is something that I did not like.
Overall, I enjoyed using VoiceThread and can see it as something I would like to use in the future.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
crazy for jing!
I AM IN LOVE WITH JING. Really, I am! This is the absolute greatest technology that can be used in the classroom! It has a more intimate feel and is not intimidating because it is not like a live chat on a webcam. You can check my first experience with Jing here. * I feel that this will be extremely useful in the classroom and once again opens up the door of out of school communication between the student and teacher. This would also be useful outside of the classroom, as shown in the demonstration video. This is my favorite technology we have learned so far and I plan on using it many times in the future. I LOVE JING!!! :)
Happy Father's Day!
Happy Father's Day!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
the news and technology
Today at dinner, my little brother made a comment that led me to this post. He said "Sis, Michigan has been in the news a lot lately." We further discussed what from MI has been in the news. He mentioned Jim Joyce blowing the Tiger's game and Izzo's decision to stay at Michigan State. When I mentioned the shutting down of Detroit Public Schools and the student from Kalamazoo who fell asleep during Obama's speech, my brother was speechless. He said he didn't really care if it wasn't related to sports. I think that using technology and some of the tools we have learned about in class would be great to keep students up on current events.
Using the tool GoogleReader in a classroom would be extremely beneficial. The student could have two folders, one for fun and one for classroom materials. While it would be no surprise that the student would check the fun folder more often, the classroom material will be there as well.
I was on the newspaper staff in high school (wayyy back in the day :)) and that was one of my teachers biggest concerns about students. She believed (maybe because she was the journalism teacher!) that all students benefited and did better in school when they were kept up on current events.
I decided to research online and see the different ways that this tool could be implemented in class. I found this fantastic and suggest you check it out if you are at all interested!
Google Reader in the Classroom
Using the tool GoogleReader in a classroom would be extremely beneficial. The student could have two folders, one for fun and one for classroom materials. While it would be no surprise that the student would check the fun folder more often, the classroom material will be there as well.
I was on the newspaper staff in high school (wayyy back in the day :)) and that was one of my teachers biggest concerns about students. She believed (maybe because she was the journalism teacher!) that all students benefited and did better in school when they were kept up on current events.
I decided to research online and see the different ways that this tool could be implemented in class. I found this fantastic and suggest you check it out if you are at all interested!
Google Reader in the Classroom
my mind is blown!
I think I finally finished my lesson plan! Man, it was a lot of work! When this weeks assignment was posted, there was something that really intrigued me. I had no idea that Michigan had specific standards for teaching technology! And to think that ten years ago half of the things posted on there didn't even exist...and there are so many standards! I think this is crucial for children in school now. Technology is only going to blast off even further into space and the children need to be well equipped with what to do in case of a technological "emergency" ;)
It also goes to show you how rapidly technology is changing. I truly believe that using technology in the classroom is extremely beneficial. This is my second class relating technology to teaching, and it has widened my horizon. Not only will I use it in my future classrooms, I have also begun to use some of the tools in my personal life. I love pageflake and tweetdeck. Actually, I'm OBSESSED with tweetdeck.
While I've been dreading having summer classes, I genuinely enjoy what we are learning about and can't wait to see what is up next. I hope that through this class, it opens even more doors for me finding relevant tools for my children with special needs.
It also goes to show you how rapidly technology is changing. I truly believe that using technology in the classroom is extremely beneficial. This is my second class relating technology to teaching, and it has widened my horizon. Not only will I use it in my future classrooms, I have also begun to use some of the tools in my personal life. I love pageflake and tweetdeck. Actually, I'm OBSESSED with tweetdeck.
While I've been dreading having summer classes, I genuinely enjoy what we are learning about and can't wait to see what is up next. I hope that through this class, it opens even more doors for me finding relevant tools for my children with special needs.
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