Week 6 EDCI5825

Discuss the following on your blog in class:

How your view of instructional technology has or has not changed over the course of the semester.

I am very impressed with the wealth of Internet tools out there. I am very happy that I have been exposed to some which are very practical for classroom purpose. I believe when using these tools I would be able to engage my students in interactive learning and they too would be motivated to learn. It is also my hope that students with special needs would be able to improve tremendously with the use of technology. Preparing instructional plan has also become easy especially when I have to make changes I would not have to re-do the whole thing. I feel I have been initiated into a new dimension of of instruction and I love doing what I am doing.

The quality and appropriateness of what you have learned/created this semester.

As a beginner with Macbook and most of the Internet tools that were introduced, I have had my fair share of struggles trying to grasp and becoming efficient at it. SmartBoard is an excellent tool to use during instruction. It has myriads of functions that could vary my teaching method and not get the students bored with the same thing. Wiki, Glogster and making videos are essential to make a classroom interactive and to get students connected. Based on some video clips on youtube, I realize students love to use technology. Therefore,I should take advantage of what I have learnt.

Evaluation of your comfort moving forward with technology.

Although I still have some problems in using it efficiently, I believe they are teething problems. I intend to continuously practice so that I could use it efficiently in the Fall semester when do my student teaching. I should also be good at it so that I could help my students when they encounter problems. Besides, my cooperative teacher is also very keen on the things that I am learning and I would like to share it with her. I would really love to learn more of technology.

EDCI 5825 Week 6 Assignment

It was interesting to read my coursemates’ blog posts. It was convenient to browse through the posts because the posts were titled explicitly which made it easy for a reader to select what they want to read. I notice the blogs were written in many interesting and different ways for the same tasks that we had to do as assignments. In EDC I 5065, we have chosen to write our theories of learning based on our personal beliefs on what is effective. I read with interest how some theories of learning were interpreted and it gave me a different perspective to approach the theories of learning. Also, there was salient information, which is substantiated by reliable citations and succinctly explicated for the benefit of any reader. The Google reader is an efficient way of learning from peers. It provides a platform for a reader to learn from the more knowledgeable other that is a development from what the reader already know to what the reader can achieve. This is possible with educational support and in this case in the context of Google reader. This is actually the summary of what I read from my coursemates’ blogs on theories of learning. One post that I strongly identify with is one I found in Matt’s blog on the benefit of using new technologies in the classroom. It is stated in his blog that, “new technologies allow students to collaborate on projects and work individually on them while at the same time work together with other group members to accomplish a larger task.” I like the idea that although students work collaboratively they are actually working alone. It is true that individual students contribute to the collaborative work. What happens is that in the discussion of presenting the ideas, better ideas get selected. This is what peer learning is all about. It does not only enhance students’ learning but also social-emotional skills, which is necessary for students to be very motivated and self-regulated in the learning environment. Successful learning occurs when the environment is supportive which inevitably promotes positive learning situation in collaborative work.

Week 5 - website choice

Which two website would you consider using in your future classroom? Please explain and provide supporting details to you response.

There appears to be a wealth of resources for teachers to select and use appropriately for classroom practice. One informative website I would use is the Classroom Literacy Sources. First, it caters for different grade levels. Second, it is a comprehensive website not only teachers but also for students. For example, some of the relevant resources are on “effective principles of literacy instruction”, “Best practices for reading and writing strategies.” These resources are useful for special education teacher to provide differentiated instruction. Some of the strategies provided can be modified to suit the student’s needs. Since special needs students require individualized education plan, it is important for teachers to have a huge repertoire of resources.

This website also contains resources for lesson plans, educational materials such as graphic organizers as well as lessons that integrate technology. With these resources I can vary their instruction and not use rote method of teaching and learning. Special needs students too may be motivated to learn with activities that integrate technology. For example, to teach reading comprehension, I would use mind maps or concept maps for the students to list the main ideas or descriptions of character or places.

This website too can serve as a professional development for teachers because there are several useful resources with step by the step procedures which enable teachers to integrate technology in the classroom. Teachers have to take advantage of new technologies to reconceptualize their new role and engage in meaningful learning (Schrum & Levin, 2009).

For students, there are vocabulary and reading instruction, online games such as word play and writing den, which they can practice on their own to consolidate their learning.

Another website that I would select is the Journey North for Kids. This is essential for students to gather information on a particular topic of their science project. Journey North presents slides show and comprehensive data for students to do personal research on an assigned topic. Besides, the students can refer to this website to create their blog or Glogster. Journey North is a platform for learning to occur in social contexts through networking as well as connecting with other people. Diversified learning activities may trigger the interests of students. Also the website has links to other content area which student may be interested to look into them at their own time.

The Journey North for Kids also provide slide shows and projects that students can choose from. For students to have a choice means, they are not confined to teacher’s beliefs and interests. Students are given an opportunity to take control of their learning.

Teachers who incorporating technological activities in their lessons are meeting the standards of National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S) that is “developing technology-learning environments to enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress” (ISTE, 2007).

Reference

ISTE. (2007). National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S). Retrieved. June 13, 2011 fromhttp://www.comfsm.fm/national/administration/VPA/researchdocs/techPlan/ISTE%20National%20Educational%20Technology%20Standards.pdf

JourneyNorth (1997 – 2101)1http://www.learner.org/jnorth/KidsJourneyNorth.html

Literacy Web Homepage: Grades 5-6 (2007) Retrieved from http://www.literacy.uconn.edu/56home.htm

Schrum, L. & Levin, B.B. (2009). Leading 21st Century Schools: Harnessing Technology for Engagement and Achievement. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Wolinskyweb.com (2011) Retrieved from http://www.wolinskyweb.com/word.htm

Writing den (1996 – 2008) Retrieved from http://www2.actden.com/writ_den/index.htm

Week 5 T2P

Writing about my convictions of what a good teacher should be, made me think of myself. I realize that being a good teacher requires my conscious awareness of how to deal with students to ensure that they benefit from my instruction. I know that I will have to focus on the emotions that the students come to class with. I am now aware I am not just educating their mind but also their heart. How I present myself models my attitude and perceptions towards learning which affects my students’ emotions as well.

Today, another scaffolding activity was carried in relation to T2P. Focusing on the area of student’s weakness and re-teaching it provides an opportunity for the student to understand better. The students could also reconstruct what they have learnt and make connections. Also, getting the peers to provide good examples on the activity consolidates student’s understanding. Re-doing the activity is very beneficial to ensure students are on the right track. I find this method of instruction useful to direct students’ learning to the right path. Another interesting that occurred during this activity is the use of scaffold. This time the scaffold is not as intense as in the previous lesson and it relates to Vygotsky’s theory of learning on gradual withdrawal of scaffolds. Once mastery occurs scaffolds should be withdrawn and in this instance, since there was one area that required guidance, scaffold was limited.

Making connections is what I would like to think of this activity. Comparing the theories of learning and making connections from one to the other provides a broad understanding of the whole concept. Likewise, when teaching in the classroom, the teacher has to make connections from previous lessons to the current to ensure that students have a flow of thought and are able to make connections. This will provide meaningful learning and students will be engaged.

If students experience success overtime and it is reinforced then students would be able to take control of their learning because students would be able to manage their emotions and behaviors. In this way, according to Mitra, Noddings and Siemens students would be able to engage in meaningful learning and become autonomous learner and would be confident and competent in progressing on their own. They would be able to venture on their own because they will be motivated and will be willing to try alternative paths to acquire new information. Functional fixedness will no longer limit students’ creativity and learning would be viewed as fun. In other words, students would have developed intrinsic motivation to embark on learning.

Week 5: A good Teacher

A good teacher is cognizant of both students’ cognitive and emotional state. Imparting knowledge is the ultimate goal in a teaching and learning experience. However, effective teaching and learning does not occur if the students’ needs are not looked into. Therefore a good teacher would first assess students’ emotional state before beginning a lesson. A good teacher too will recognize the various levels of abilities students come to class with. A good teacher will vary her instruction to enable her students’ to benefit from the it. A good teacher will in her course of teaching identify how students learn best. She will provide collaborative activities and scaffolds for her students to progress in their learning. A good teacher will not coerce her students to focus on grades and limit their creativity. Her students will have freedom to expand on the activities given. More importantly, a good teacher is a partner in the teaching and learning situation. She has to be approachable and be able o empathize with student's predicament.

If a teacher carries out a question and answer session using good open-ended question strategy, then it will help motivate students’ curiosity about the topic. For, the teacher it will help assess the students’ understanding on the topic of discussion. Motivation is necessary to enhance students’ self-determination because it develops students' creativity. In a question - answer session, each student builds on the other student’s ideas and the feedback from the teacher builds the students' confidence and competence. Questions will get students to operate on their prior knowledge and assimilate new information gathered from peers' responses. Confusions that occur can be clarified during the question-answer session where either the teacher or peers can respond to the questions. Mutual enhancement occurs in peer-to-peer learning. As a result, students will be confident and competent when faced with new challenges in learning. Students will be able to ask the right questions and make connections using the previous knowledge to the new information. This eventually will lead the student to become an autonomous learner because students will now be more confident in constructing knowledge.

EDCI 5825 -Week 4

Please provide specific examples of technology/tools that you would recommend for a student with... (1) a hearing impairment, (2) low-vision, (3) a broken right arm, and (4) autism (non-communicative).

Specific types of assistive technology are available to ease the burden for students with special needs.

Hearing Impairment

For students with hearing impairment, would be able to function in a regular class if materials presented were posted in a blog, google. docs or wikispace, which could also be viewed via e-reader. The student also could respond in a cooperative activity via these tools and participate actively.

Low vision

Low- vision readers require larger print texts to facilitate reading. E-reader is one form of assistive technology that is suitable for students with low vision because it has various text sizes (WikiBooks, 2010). The e-reader also can convert text-to-speech, which would be feasible for someone with limited vision. What makes it excellent is that it downloads fast and available at a low-cost.

Another assistive technological tool that could be user for low-vision readers is Digital Accessibility Information System (DAISY). It is a talking book technology, which would make it easier for low vision students to listen to a text instead of straining their eyes to read (WikiBooks, 2009).

To write a task, a low vision student could use Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium. This tool would transcribe the spoken words into an active window (WikiBooks, 2011) and a written task can be produced.

A broken arm

A student who has temporarily lost the use of his limb could use Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium. He or she could still get on with schoolwork by using Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium to produce his or her work in print.

Autism (non-communicative)

Students with autism may sometimes find learning overwhelming due to their inconsistent moods. Since the student is non-communicative, it is important to get the student’s attention to focus towards learning. A possible tool would be a portable device, iPod Touch 4 G that takes videos or pictures to capture instructional information and new situations or environments (Assistive Technology, 2011). In this way, the student is not easily distracted and limits anxiety. For a student with autism, a device that has sensory applications would support his or her learning.

There are many other tools available in the Web 2.0 browser that students with special needs could use to help support their learning. One that I would recommend is to use keypals or e-pals (http:// epals.com) (Schrum & Levin 2009). Students of various levels of needs could communicate via e-pal to work on collaborative projects. Sometimes special needs students are too conscious of their needs and may not function well in a regular classroom but do better in the virtual world. E-pal may be a good approach.

The use of assistive technology is parallel to the requirement in the National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S). A teacher is to “ customize and personalize activities to address student’s diverse learning styles, working strategies and abilities using digital tools and resources” (ISTE, 2007). Therefore, the above-mentioned assistive tools are some ways to promote learning for students with special needs.

Reference:

ISTE. (2007). National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S). Retrieved. June 13, 2011 from

http://www.comfsm.fm/national/administration/VPA/researchdocs/techPlan/ISTE%20National%20Educational%20Technology%20Standards.pdf

Schrum, L. & Levin, B.B. (2009). Leading 21st Century Schools: Harnessing Technology for Engagement and Achievement. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Assistive Technology in Education/eBook

Tools for Students with Autism. (February 2011). Assistive Technology. Retrieved June 21, 2011. http://www.sheboyganfalls.k12.wi.us/csleynse/tools-for-students-with-autism/

WikiBooks. (2009). Assistive Technology in Education/DAISY. Retrieved June 17, 2011 from http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Assistive_Technology_in_Education/DAISY

WikiBooks. (2010). Assistive Technology in Education: Helping All Students Succeed. Retrieved June 17,2011 from http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Assistive_Technology_in_Education/eBook

WikiBooks. (2011). Assistive Technology in Education/Speech Recognition Software

Retrived June 17, 2011 from

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Assistive_Technology_in_Education/Speech_Recognition_Software

T2P Reflection and Week 4 T2P (third)

Breaking down the structure of T2P, and providing a sample was necessary for students who require more guidance. A very effective approach was to ask the students to highlight, underline or circle the information that represents the concepts required in a T2P. To consolidate, getting students to pull out one of the previously written T2P, and make amendments based on the required format, was reinforcing what students have been guided to do. Sharing the information with a partner also provided an opportunity to reconsolidate students’ understanding. Another strategy I would employ in my class when I become a teacher is to repeat the exercises in activities, which students have not mastered.

Question and answer session via a round robin strategy during a lecture is an effective way to get students to participate. This was possible because a video clip on the content was presented. The concepts have already been dealt with prior to the viewing of the video clip and this made it possible for the students to critically think of how what they have learnt can be applied in a classroom context. During the question – answer session, the teacher sometimes expands students responses for the benefit of understanding the concepts discussed. When posing the questions the teacher provides a context of the issue, which gives the students a focus on the direction of the response. The comfortable tone in which the questions were presented will make students feel safe and secure about sharing their responses.

The group presentation on theories of learning is important for both the presenters and the listeners as it consolidates understandings. Also, different presentations provide ideas how a presentation can be carried out. This is a form of modeling which would enable students to take important and creative aspects of presentation. The spreadsheet for theories of learning is an absolutely important strategy to get students to identify information that is salient to theories of learning. Providing the opportunity to fill in the spreadsheet while the groups were presenting sets the students on task because they have to focus to elicit information from the presentation.

If a teacher provides scaffolds when students have not mastered an essential skill, then students would feel highly motivated to make more attempts in mastering the skill. Scaffolds facilitate a student’s ability to build on prior knowledge and internalize new information (Vygotsky). With more practice the students would be able to master the skill. When the students’ knowledge and learning competency increases, the teacher can gradually reduce the supports provided. The students, on the other hand, would be feeling comfortable to take on more challenging tasks.

Link to my spreadsheet: