Using Twitter during this class has been an experience.
Before this class I had never used Twitter before. I had always viewed Twitter
as a site to keep up with celebrities. This class has really showed me how beneficial
social media can be.
When I first picked my five people to follow on Twitter, the
results weren’t looking good. The people I was following weren’t tweeting on
the topics we had for class. It was a struggle for me to find people who were
tweeting on our topics. It became easier for me to search the net for
information on our class topics and if the site had the Twitter symbol I could
post it on my Twitter page. I did notice
by reading other classmates blogs that most found it easier to search for
topics by hash tags. I will definitely be doing it that way from now on. The
tweeters I did manage to follow were edutopia@edutopia, KIDS_DISCOVER@kids_discover,
and Education World@education_world. These were Tweeters that discussed topics
of this class.
Reading my classmates blogs made me realize how informative
Twitter really is. The Tweeters that some people found sound really interesting.
Some of those Tweeters I will have to follow to learn about more useful methods
to use to teach my students. It was a struggle for me I guess because I wasn’t
use to the site. It will be a new source for me besides using Google from now on . My classmates have also given me an easier way
to search for certain topics by using the hash tags. I am still learning how to
maneuver through this site, but I will get it. Twitter is a useful site for my parents, students,
and me. This is a site that can truly keep everyone current on all information.
I am thankful for this class for opening my eyes to all this wonderful
technology to use for personal use and professionally.
Assistive technology is defined as any item, piece of
equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf,
modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the
functional capabilities of a child with disability (Robyler&Doering,2013,p.403).
Assistive
technology has been thought of as extending the abilities of an individual in
ways that provide physical access (e.g., wheelchairs, braces) and sensory
access (e.g., Braille, closed captioning), helping address special teaching and
learning needs(Robyler&Doering,2013,p.400). Using assistive technology in
the classroom helps students with disabilities participate in a general
education classroom the best possible way they can. We the devices they are
able to complete and participate in activities with the whole class. Below are
certain disabilities and how assistive technology can help.
Mild Cognitive Disabilities
Mild disabilities are considered to be the most prevalent
type of disability, according to Robyler&Doering, 2013, p. 406. Mild
disabilities include learning disabilities, serious emotional disabilities, and
mental retardation (Robyler&Doering,2013,p.406) The software used for these
students would be for developing reading, writing, and mathematics skills.
Reading software could be JumpStart Kindergarten Reading, Simon Sounds It Out,
and FastForward. Writing software that can be used is Dragon Talk’s Dragon
Naturally Speaking and Renaissance Learning’s NEO Writer. For math the students can use
specialized calculators, mobile apps that will help with math skills such as
Math Racer.
Moderate and Severe Cognitive Disabilities
These students have to devote a considerable effort to
ensuring that they acquire daily living skills such as personal hygiene,
shopping, and use of public transportation according to
Robyler&Doering,2013,p.408. Software that can be used for these students
could be AbleNet, Inc.and Attain Company.
Physical Disabilities
According to Robyler & Doering
,“Physical disabilities usually affects the person’s mobility and agility”(p.408)
These students will need technology that will provide them the opportunity to
operate it independently. Assistive technology for severe students could
be a joystick that is used for a wheelchair and to use the computer. Switches
are also commonly used for controlling and getting input to the computer as
well as activating environmental control systems (Robyler&Doering,2013,p.408)
Sensory Disabilities
According to Robyler &Doering,
“Sensory disabilities involve impairments associated with the loss of hearing
or vision”(p.409). For students that have vision impairments can use optical
character recognition and Scan and Read Pro software that will scan and
translate text. Resources for sensory
disabilities are VisionCue and TeleSensory .
Students with hearing impairments use assistive listening devices that may
involve the teacher to wear a wireless microphone. Software used is AudioEnhancement.
At-Risk Students
At-risk students are not disable
their academic performance is just on the level with students with
disabilities. “The use of assistive technology by students with disabilities
has helped the profession understand the types of academic tools that allow
them to be successful”, (Robyler&Doering,2013,p.409-411). According to
Robyler&Doering, at-risk students have difficulty remembering things to do,
sequence of tasks, inability to read and comprehend at grade level, difficulties
in written expression, math computations and concepts, and lack of motivation
to engage in school work (p. 411) Software that can help these students is
BrainPop, Don
Johnston, Inc ,
ReadPlease and
WebMath.
Gifts and Talents
Gifts and talents has been defined
as “students, children, or youth who
give evidence of high achievement capability in areas such as intellectual, creative,
artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who need
services and activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully
develop hose capabilities( NO Child Left Behind Act of 2001,Title IX, Part A,
Section 9101(22);U.S. Department of Education,2004), (Robyler&Doering,2013,p.411)
Software that can help gifted and talented students is DUKE TIP Program and Hoagie’ Gifted
Education Page , The
Creativity Web, the Center for Creative Learning .
These resources will help the students to be more engaged and self-directed in
the skills.
More information on Assistive Technology
The assignment this week was on Web 2.0. "All though the term
Web2.0, an Internet trend that puts the authorship of online content into the hands of a websites' users, has become very common in educational circles, what educators are hearing more about today are discussions around social networking." (Roblyer&Doering,2013,p.225). " Social networking sites are MysSpace.com,Facebook.com, Google Plus, which focus on building communities of individually web pages consisting of personal profiles,blogs,photo slideshowes,music and videos, podcast,and a network of connected friends or supporters"(Roblyer&Doering,2013,p.225). I've had the pleasure of using web 2.0 resources this week glogster, animoto, and classtools. All of these resources are ways to engage students in different and fun activities. These resources "are readily available and relatively easy to use, presentation software is often hypermedia authoring tool of choice for classroom integration and use.(Roblyer&Doering,2013,p.187). "Given the complexities and proliferation of various media, an understanding of media basics is a fundamental skill for the Information Age"(Roblyer&Doering,2013,p.184). All the resources were easy to use and will be used much more in my classroom. Globster is a great way to present information to the class. Animoto is a great way to review content skills taught in a animated way. Classtools was my favorite. The students will really enjoy playing arcade games to review skills.
This week our topic was technology and education. Educational technology is defined as “a combination of the processes and tools involved in addressing educational needs and problems, with an emphasis on applying the most current digital and information tools” ( Roblyer & Doering, 213, p.6). In the classroom technology is very helpful to keep the students current on the this changing world. With technology we are teaching are students different ways of learning to cope with the changes of technology. A favorite mobile technology device I am very pleased with is the iPad. Using iPads have become a device used by many people for different reasons. IPads are a great tool to use in the classroom. There are so many apps that can be used for every subject. I like the iPad because of the many apps and it is big enough to be seen by the kids when they are sharing it. I have used the ipad in my class to reinforce concepts that have been taught. I have used it during center time as well as whole group. During whole group I will display the iPad through my Apple TV which is connected to wi-fi so I am able to still move around with the device. The Apple TV was a great investment to my class. I am able to keep the students engaged because they are able to participate more with the device since it is wireless with the Apple TV. Here is a video on on using the Apple TV with the ipad.
Math
High order mathematics skills are becoming more emphasized. According to Roblyer & Doering students often need more resources to support the practice of basic skills.( p. 317) I use drill and practice apps. The purpose of the drill and practice is to allow students to practice specific skills in an exercise that will give feedback on their correctness (Roblyer & Doering, 2013, p. 81). The app I use is MathRacing. It is found at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/3d-math-racing-fast-free-math/id552783933?mt=8 The students are drilled math facts while racing cars. In order for the students to succeed they have to get the problems correct quickly. This app helps reinforce math facts.
"Teachers find it an ongoing challenge to motivate students", "Teachers are turning to the interactive and visual qualities of software and websites to increase motivation", Roblyer & Doering, 2013, p. 270). Using ipads in the classroom is a great tool to keep students engaged. IPads are a great device to begin the journey of keeping students egaged and motivated. Click here for more information on ways to use your ipad in the classroom.
This week the focus was on instructional software. Instructional software is defined as “a general term for computer programs designed specifically to deliver instruction or assist with the delivery of instruction on a topic” (Roblyer & Doering, 2013, p.77). In this chapter several types of instructional software were mentioned. The types of software mentioned were drill and practice, tutorial, simulation, instructional game, and problem solving (Roblyer &Doering, 2013, p.78-79). Each software function helps teachers help students learn in different ways. Drill and Practice
“Drill and practice software functions provides exercises in which students work example items, usually one at a time, and receive feedback on their correctness” (Roblyer &Doering, 2013, p.81). Students need the immediate feedback so they won’t continue to remember wrong answers. A drill and practice software I have used in my class is www.starfall.com. The activities allow the students to practice math, reading, and phonics skills that have been taught. The starfall site is used weekly in my class for review. Each student will have an opportunity to go to the site during centers. Tutorial
“Tutorial software is an entire instructional sequence on a topic, similar to a teacher’s classroom instruction” (Roblyer &Doering, 2013, p.86). Tutorial software is built to make the student feel as if the teacher was teaching. Tutorial software gives students help that includes one or more activities to check the comprehension of the student. “Tutorials are categorized as linear or branching. The linear tutorial gives the same instructional sequence of explanation, practice, and feedback to all learners regardless of differences in performance” (Roblyer &Doering, 2013, p.87). “Branching directs learners along alternate paths depending on how they respond to questions and weather they show mastery of certain parts of the material” (Roblyer &Doering, 2013, p.87). A type of tutorial software I have used is http://www.spellingcity.com. This program has free components as well as full site access for a price. This site helps students read and spell words. This is a site used weekly in my class to help with spelling words for the weekly test. The students will listen to the words as well as spell them from the site. We also review the definitions of the words for better comprehension. This site helps my struggling readers better prepare for the weekly test. Simulation
“Simulation is a computerized model of a real or imagined system that is designed to teach how the system works” (Roblyer &Doering, 2013, p.90). There are two types of simulations. There are the simulations that teach about something which are the physical and iterative simulations, and the simulations that teach how to do something which are the procedural and situational simulations. Simulation software I could use in my class is http://primarygames.com. The games on this site allow students to feel as though they are really taking part in this real life experience. It brings the outside world into the classroom. Students will be able to play games of different professions in the classroom. Instructional Games
"Instructional games are games that add game-like rules /or competition to learning activities" (Roblyer &Doering, 2013, p.94). Instructional games are a little different because they promote the challenge of competition and winning. The software used in my class is http://www.fun4thebrain.com. The games allow the students to practice addition, subtraction. The quick feedback helps the students recognize what they doing wrong and it pushes them to get correct answers. On these particular games if the student doesn’t answer enough right answers they are unable to play the video game portion of the drill. These games really engage the students because they are so eager to begin playing the video part. The class will play fun4thebrain after a fact family has been taught to continue review of the concept. Problem-Solving
“Problem-solving software functions may focus on fostering component skill and approaches to general problem-solving ability, or provide opportunities to practice solving various kinds of content-area problems” (Roblyer &Doering, 2013, p.99). I would like to use http://www.pbskids.com.The games will help my students utilize the three important parts of the software acknowledging their goal, mental activity, and processing the information. There are games on the site that can help review reading and science skills that have been taught. Integrated Learning Systems
“Integrated learning systems are networked or on-line systems that provide both computer- based instructions and track and report on student progress” (Roblyer &Doering, 2013, p.102). At my old school we used the Scott Foresman Reading Street reading series. With that series we would use the http://www.pearsonsuccessnet.com which would consist of test and activities to track student progress. The students would take their weekly reading test on this site. The site gave the students immediate feedback after the test was complete. This site truly helped the teachers to see what needed to be retaught. The site graphed the progress of each child for each test that was taken.
Using instructional software in the classroom is a useful tool. It allows the teacher to help the students in an engaging fun way. The different software allows students to work and understand concepts on their own individual levels.
