Thursday, November 14, 2013

Journal 11

Focus question: How can teachers use student participation systems as effective assessment methods?
A popular technology device used in classrooms today is the clicker. The clickers get students actively engaged in the subject area. Clickers are easily accessible and make students more involved in the lesson of the day. Teachers can use clickers throughout a lesson to engage students and have them respond collectively with their individual clickers. This device helps teachers evaluate and assess their students individually with the answers they have clocked corresponding to the questions asked. In college I used clickers for attendance and occasionally to answer questions or polls in class. I think that they are extremely helpful when it comes to communicating between students and teachers, especially in a bigger setting where it is harder to assess and acknowledge everyone.

Photo credit to Travis Goodspeed on Flickr


Tech tool: Digital Portfolio Building Resources
Teachers at school are now lined to their own website with their profile or an online portfolio. Technology is helping teachers get more to their students outside the classroom, or even before meeting the teacher. You can check up on teacher pages or portfolios to get their curriculum or any information pertaining to your upcoming class. For teachers to build their sites, they have different options. There are multiple sites that have templates and structures to build upon one being TaskStream. “TaskStream is an archiving tool used for web design and portfolio building.” On this website teachers are able to create lesson plans, customize measurement tools, and a time manager. These all help letting students know what is expected of them. EduTools is a cool website that students may use before entering into colleges. It gives great advice when students are ready to choose schools and teachers. It provides different reviews for students as guidelines on teachers, advance placement, and high school courses.

Summary
My favorite part about this chapter is the talk about clickers and the tech tools. Clickers were such a neat a fun thing to use as a college student in big stadium classes. Even if it was to just take attendance it makes kids feel important and involved in the room. Clickers can be used in many different ways which is a great tool when it comes to teachers assessing what each individual students has learned. The tech tools information about different builder sites for teachers and building portfolios is very helpful and a good thing to know for the future. I am not very tech-say or up to date on the different things teachers use to communicate. I think that ePortfolios are an awesome way to introduce parents and students to a teacher’s class and the standards they have set for the students. It is accessible from home, outside of school. It also provides a way to contact the teacher, as well as hidden answers to more popular questions.  This is a great upcoming technology for all ages in the educational field, people like knowing they can retrieve background information on teachers to get to know them better.





Thursday, November 7, 2013

Journal 10

Focus question: How does assistive technology support efforts by teachers to reach all learners?

Assistive technologies are tools that are used to navigate around learning barriers for those students with disabilities. Assistive technologies have become extremely useful in everyday life as well as in a classroom setting.  Some examples of assistive technologies would be: wheel chairs, voice recognition software, and iReaders. These tools all help reduce learning barriers in the classroom. Wheelchairs help physically handicapped children to mobilize around the classroom just as any other student may. Voice recognition devices help visually impaired student use computers, students can simple speak to the computer, giving answers to questions or simple not taking by speaking and the computer automates a speak to text.

Photo credit to Speakcomputers on Google


Tech tool:  Extra-large and online calculators

The CC16 extra large calculator is a great resource for those that are visually impaired or disabled. There are large buttons with large numbers and signs written clearly across the calculator making it easy for those whom may be sight-impaired. It is an intriguing calculator pulling students in to use it more so than a normal calculator with smaller numbers. The size, shape, and numbers of the large calculator interest students more so than your average calculator. Although I am not sight-impaired, I do wear contacts and larger calculators do help me a lot more. They help to make sure you are hitting the correct buttons to corresponding instructions.

Summary:


This chapter helps illustrate how awesome and assistive new technologies are becoming in creating an easy pathway to learning for disabled students. Whether it be a hearing deficit, sight-impaired, or physically disabled technology is finding ways around the learning barriers with different tools. This chapter shares many of the most popular helpful devices in classrooms. Voice-recognition software is a great device for those visually impaired. It enables them to still use computers, and creates and easy understandings with speak to text. Electronic storybooks are used so that those students can read along at the same pace as their peers. It is an automated voice in which reads a story out loud as the student listens and follows along. There are so many things that are of great use for all disabilities. Technology is helping to give equal opportunities to those whom are disabled.