Blog #5.

A) What are your "key learnings" from this course and how will you apply them in your work?

B) What activities and assignments were most and least useful and why?

     The most important things I have learned in this class is how to effectively plan for using technology in my class, finding good quality iPad apps, and how to create podcasts. The TIP project definitely taught me how and why it's important to think and plan out technology that you will use in your classroom - not just throw it in willy-nilly. It's an important consideration and it takes time to search, analyze, try, and revise your technology strategies to better your classroom environment and the learning that takes place. I look at adding technology in my classroom in a whole new light since completing the TIP project. The mobile learning assignments really pushed me into getting an iPad for my classroom - something that I thought was cool, but didn't really see the true value of it until we got to play with them in class and see just how many apps are out there for education. It was eye-opening for sure. My students LOVE having the iPad in the classroom, and will always try to fight over it (if I'd let them). Finally, I think adding podcasts to my classroom would be a great way to accommodate for my students. I could sit down and read several books and it would enable students to follow along in a book, without needing to be able to read on their own. I could also give instructions for assignments if I were absent or if I needed to put students into groups and didn't want to repeat myself 100 times.

     

C) What did you find most and least useful about the textbook for this course and do you think it will be useful as a reference in your teaching?

D) What could we do to improve this course going forward?

     Really the only time I used the textbook was for information about the TIP project. I found similar information online for free, so maybe the book would not be needed. Maybe WebQuests could be integrated into the course in the future instead of having the textbook. Students could create their own WQ to teach others about information learned in a section of the course - small groups could be responsible for different content areas, but everyone reviews/views the WQ to learn the material.

Sometimes the amount of work that was required to be completed in a week was a lot. For instance the week of the mobile learning assignment, we needed to complete a website post, blog post, a review of several apps, and post to the discussion board. It was quite difficult to complete everything on time, and be able to get other classwork and work-work done.

Blog #4: Emerging Educational Technologies

NMC Horizon Report: 2012 K-12 Edition

http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2012-horizon-report-K12.pdf

What is your experience with the six technologies to watch?

Near-term Horizon Technologies:

1. Mobile devices & apps - these I would say I have the most experience with, both personally and school-related. I have started using apps in my classroom and allow students to use my iPhone to access them. The students love "playing" and don't always realize they are learning something. 
2. Tablet computing - Here is a headline from a recent article: "Illiterate kids given sealed boxes with tablets figure out how to use, master, and hack them". This article was honestly fascinating and so exciting to me. Our students need to to be given access to tablets and then allowed to use them as they see fit, not just how we as the teacher wants them to use them (within reason, of course). If students with no knowledge of print can use tablets and learn from them, why are we still not allowing our students to do the same?

Mid-term Horizon Technologies:

1. Game-based learning - I use this in my classroom on a daily basis, in the form of BrainNook. Students are able to play games in both math and English and earn stars to buy goodies for their avatar. The assignments are individualized to each learner, and can be worked on at both home and school.
2. Personal learning environments (PLEs) - I honestly have no experience with this technology type, but I think my students would really benefit from having their own "personal" network of resources and technologies, individualized for just them.

Far-term Horizon Technologies:

1. Augmented reality (AR) - Once again I am not familiar with this technology, but can definitely see how it could benefit science and social studies education.
2. Natural user interfaces - I have personally used these interfaces via cell phones and game consoles, but it would be exciting to see how these could be used more in special education. I have had students in the past who have used AACs and switches to communicate, but these natural interfaces could remove some of these barriers and allow them to interact in a much simpler manner.

Which of the key trends are affecting your teaching and learning?

There are two key trends that affect the teaching at my school: (3) and (6).

• (3) Cost of technology decreasing: While our school does not have Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), many schools from the intermediate level up to high school are encouraging their students to bring mobile devices and tablets to class to broaden their learning reach.
• (6) New emphasis on challenged-based learning: in our 3rd grade classes, the structure is for 90% of the instruction to be delivered in the problem-based learning (PBL) format. Students are required to think outside the box and increase 21st century skills as they learn.

Which of the significant challenges outlined in this report are most relevant in your current teaching and which are least relevant and why?

• Most relevant: (3) Demand for personalized learning: It is imperative for students with special needs to have individualized, personalized learning, and technological advances and methods can help this become a reality. 
• Least relevant: (5) Incorporating real life experiences: Our school already includes PBLs to include real-life problems and experiences to our students. In our district this year, grades 3, 5, and 7 are using 90% PBL, while next year that will be increased to grades 4, 6, and 8. In the third year, all grades will be 90% PBL based, and open-ended problems and projects are designed for each grade level. 

Assistive Technology.

In their article, The Future is in the Margins: The Role of Technology and Disability in Education Reform, David Rose and Anne Meyer, provide examples and suggestions for assistive technology for students with special needs.

For even myself as a special ed teacher, one of their comments is very true. They state that "for students with disabilities, technology tools can make a dramatic difference, but they are still being used in traditional, “assistive” ways. These tools primarily provide access to traditional activities that are otherwise inaccessible" (page 1). This year, most of my students are able to access and interact with the classroom material in similar methods to non-disabled peers. I have a few students who have occupational therapy (OT) services, and use modified pencil grips and keyboards to assist them with writing assignments. Rose and Meyer pointed out that "in the years ahead it is clear that text, still dominant in education, will give way to a more intentional use of varied media for instruction" (page 3).

In the past, I have worked with physically handicapped students who used switches and nonverbal students who used communication boards and speaking devices. These technologies are important for the student to understand and use each day, at school AND at home. Many of those students used the technologies at school, but didn't use them at home, which impeded their ability to communicate and achieve independence at home. 

I really liked one of the final comments the authors provided: "the ultimate educational goals will no longer be about the mastery of content (content will be available everywhere, anytime, electronically) but about the mastery of learning" (page 6). 


There were several links that the UDL website provided. The first was checkpoint 3.1: activate background knowledge. Students with special needs have many issues with retaining taught information, so providing assistance with recognizing and activating background knowledge is key to them comprehending a reading passage or story. Along with this checkpoint is 3.4: maximize transfer and generalization. While it's great for students to be able to understand something in isolation, it is much more important for them to transfer that knowledge to other areas and skills/tasks.

Blog #2 Response

Even in a self-contained class of special education students, there are many levels of abilities. One of the greatest challenges is to appropriately reach and teach each of these levels. Additionally, my students' disabilities vary, from autism, to intellectual disabilities, to emotional disturbances. With these different disabilities, it can make differentiating instruction almost imperative. One way that I do this is through technology. 

Each day, we incorporate the SMARTboard into our lessons via our daily meeting/calendar, handwriting exercises, viewing PDFs to mark up during lessons, and for free time (teacher dimension: by process/product). The SMARTboard allows me to include all kinds of different activities and lessons in a fun and different way for my students. Often times, even if it is something they may not normally enjoy, they have fun because it's on the SMARTboard. If I were just lecturing and teaching in the "traditional method," they don't have as much focus.

Additionally, I have (in the past week) created accounts for each of my students on the website brainnook.com (teacher dimension: by content, student dimension: by readiness/interest). With this website, I am able to assign activities for single students or groups of students. Because of this ability, I am able to differentiate lessons for each of my students, depending on their ability level. Furthermore, my students love the website, since they are playing computer games, but learning about math and reading/language arts concepts. The website also allows the students to send their parents emails with updates about their progress.

Finally, we use Istation at our campus for reading interventions. This adaptive program allows for students to increase their skills at their own pace and ability level. With the results from their assessments and weekly practice, I am able to guide and inform my decisions on classroom small group and individual time.

Blog #1 Response.

A review of "Expanding the Possibilities of Discussion"

Ruday, S. (2011). Expanding the possibilities of discussion:  A strategic approach to using online discussion boards in the middle and high school english classroom. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 11(4). Retrieved from http://www.citejournal.org/vol11/iss4/languagearts/article2.cfm

1. What are the greatest opportunities and challenges for using online discussion boards in your area? 

Let me first say that I have a very atypical classroom from the rest of my classmates. Teaching in a 3rd grade self-contained special education classroom is very different than even a regular 3rd grade classroom. The majority of my students do not know their letter names and sounds, so writing and forming written opinions are quite difficult. Also, due to their limited ability level, it would be extremely difficult for me to implement this in my classroom or as a homework assignment. The greatest opportunity for using discussion boards would be to get my students actively thinking. This is one of the hardest parts of my job - to get my students to think independently.

2. In what ways could/do your students benefit from the use of online discussion boards? Do or would certain technologies work better for your students than others?

I really liked the quote in the article - Grisham and Wolsey (2006) characterized online discussion boards as “interactive, like discussion, but thoughtful, like written discourse” (p. 652) - because it really emphasizes the duality of discussion boards. My students would benefit from a discussion board that allows them to verbally "write" what they are thinking, thus eliminating the errors from writing, and enables my students with writing difficulties and handicaps to participate as well. Additionally, spelling and grammatical errors would be minimized for greater understanding and comprehension with this verbal discussion. 

3. What are the implications of this strategic approach for our use of Discussion Board questions in class this semester?

I really like the idea of discussion boards because it allows you to process other students comments and then reply. Sometimes in a classroom, certain students monopolize the conversation, you may have a great idea and forget it or get interrupted, and/or you're too shy to speak up. Discussion boards eliminate those barriers and allow everyone to have a voice. Plus, it allows us to write comments and questions when we're available, which could be anytime of day. Ruday stated that responsive instruction can enable the students to consider both the positives and negatives of the use and implementation of technology, much like we are doing with this third discussion question.